How good soil management leads to the best trees

At Volentis, we take pride in good soil management every single day. Why? Because the benefits are felt not just by us, but also by you as our customer. Whether you’re a trader, horticulturist, landscape architect or grower, a good soil structure is essential to ensure the proper development of the root system, which is necessary to allow the tree to take root and grow in its final location. But what does good soil management involve? We’ve highlighted a few areas for attention below.

How good soil management leads to the best trees

The correct angle of the planting site

The best trees will only grow well if they are placed in good soil. One way to make sure that your crops grow as well as possible in the soil in which they are placed, is to ensure it has the correct profile. What does this mean? It is best to arrange the planting site in such a way that the tree stands at the highest point. In recent years, there has been a trend towards drier conditions, but with heavier periods of rain and increasing millimetres of water falling with each shower. This means the soil must channel away large volumes of water in a short period of time. It is also desirable that the planted trees do not remain under water for too long. Installing drainage can also help to improve water management. This allows peak rainfall to be channelled away relatively quickly.

Does the soil have right growth parameters?

A new plot of land, or a park in development that will be used to plant trees, must be carefully inspected. Specifically, we mean that it is important to know how the soil is build up in biological and chemical terms! After all, trees and plants will grow best in healthy soil that is suitable for them. This can be approached in two ways: either you go looking for the right tree for the planting site, or you improve the planting site to such a degree that the selected variety thrives. In practice, a combination of both approaches is most likely. To allow the best species to be chosen, a soil survey and sampling are desirable to make your planting project a success.  Specialist companies can effectively analyse both the chemical and biological situation, which can give a good picture of the condition of your soil.

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A good soil structure is essential

Your trees and plants will thrive best in soil with a good structure. How can you provide such a structure? One way of creating a good soil structure is by using a green manure. A green manure can prevent the nutrients essential for the growth of your trees and/or plants from being washed away. In addition, the use of a green manure can lead to a better structure, thanks to the deep roots. Volentis currently uses green manure cover crops, such as LUMA in a year of rest between periods of cultivation. LUMA is a mixture of various crops, which all have different root depths. This allows the soil to be optimally rooted for the crop planted afterwards.

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Making correct use of vehicle paths

The last element of ensuring the best rooting and growth through proper soil management is to use fixed vehicle paths correctly. The objective is to ensure that heavy machinery does not drive over the planting site. On clay soils in particular, this can lead to permanent soil compaction, which makes rooting more difficult and adversely affects the drainage capacity of the soil. In addition, a compacted soil structure has a negative effect on soil life. The use of navigation on your plot or planting project via GPS can help enormously in this regard. By plotting the plant locations beforehand using GPS, the machinery can be set up so that it never drives across the plant locations. By using this technology as standard during preparatory works, Volentis ensures that our trees grow optimally!

Would you like to know more about good soil management? Or would you like to visit and see how Volentis works continuously to develop all our soils? Contact us using the contact form, or call us now on +31 488 745 170. We would love to share all we know about good soil management and all related issues. We look forward to hearing from you! Want to read more about Volentis? Please have a look at our Volentis LinkedIn-page and our Volentis Instagram-page!

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