Urban landscapes are struggling with an unseen crisis. While urbanization continues to rise and is expected to reach 65% in 2050, soil health is still disregarded.
As visual designs continue to grow, social and economic sustainability is reduced. The soil quality is unseen, while the problems and maintenance costs keep increasing.
By restoring urban soil structure and prioritizing its health, you can unlock ecological benefits and also build an eco-friendly and long-lasting city landscape.
What is Soil Health?
Soil health refers to its physical and biological qualities, which often indicate how effectively it performs important functions such as water absorption capacity, climate resistance, and plant growth.
It is necessary to maintain the overall quality of the soil for urban green space.
Healthy soil consists of minerals and other organic matter that increase nutrient availability to the plants. Natural elements such as plants require crucial micronutrients for their growth and development.
Good soil health helps in reducing erosion and pollution, protecting the environment. This results in improving the perseverance of the urban landscape and significantly enhancing urban infrastructure.
The Hidden Problems With Urban Landscaping
Understanding the hidden problems of urban landscaping is essential for future city planning. They are often ignored, which affects the landscape performance in the long term.
Here are common complications with urban forestry.
Poor Soil Structure:
The quality of the soil is reduced because of higher pollution in the cities, construction sites, and traffic.
This contributes to water stress, less nutrient availability, and weak root growth.
Further, poor-quality of the soil has a huge impact on the plants and trees in waterlogged parks and gardens. That’s why proper soil care is utmost important in urban landscaping.
Environmental Change:
Climate changes like sudden rainfall, drought, and extreme heat make it difficult to maintain the urban landscape.
It becomes difficult to control soil erosion and surface material damage.
Environmental change also affects the structure of the soil, which needs to be restored for vital ecosystem services. Not only that, but the better environment also improves plant quality.
Limited Space:
In urban areas, space constraints are not just visible but also contribute to major problems in urban landscaping.
Here, soil layers are burdensome to find, as they have narrow spaces horizontally and vertically.
This reduces the available planting area and prevents roots from growing properly.
Aesthetic First Design Often Ignores Reality
Most urban landscaping projects are developed to show aesthetic designs. While they are attractive, the harsh realities and ecological and practical complications are often neglected.
For example, designers may place luxurious and vigorous green plants for visual purposes.
But in reality, the area does not receive a proper amount of sunlight, water, and rain, which ruins the plants within a few months.
This happens when preparing the projects, the climatic conditions are abandoned, and charismatic, trendy sights are prioritized.
That is why the green infrastructure does not stay sustainable for a long period, causing economic losses.
Common Soil Challenges In City Landscape
As discussed earlier, urban soil undergoes severe conditions due to pollution and interference during city development.
This ushers in poor soil and a weak chemical structure of the land.
City landscapes struggle with these 5 common challenges of soil:
- Water Drainage: Urban soils suffer from severe surface crusting, making it hard for the water to flow easily. This leads to waterlogging and an unproductive surface. And here plants and trees struggle to fulfil water needs.
- Uneven Soil: According to research, urban soil contains debris and pollutants such as lead, zinc, and copper. This culminates in different soil textures, affecting indoor and outdoor structures.
- High Temperature: Urban areas have concrete and other metals in the soil, which raise soil temperatures. This promotes dry soil and less moisture, which can cause stress on the plants.
- Urban Runoff: The excessive rainwater on the rooftops, streets, and parking lots does not seep naturally into the city soil. With this, the water reaches the open soil patch, and it becomes dense.
- Soil Aeration: Many times in urban areas, the soil is stacked with different sources due to construction. This turns out to be man-made soil layers instead of natural, productive soil, disrupting the aeration process.
Agronomic Principle Every Urban Landscape Should Follow
To preserve landscaping for an extended time and ensure healthy plants, every urban landscape should abide by these core agronomic principles:
Soil Testing:
Before the installation begins, make sure to conduct a soil test of the specific area. This indicates the health and pH level of the soil.
It also solves hidden problems like nutrient imbalance, acidification, and compaction, building a solid foundation for better design.
Strong Soil Structure:
As mentioned previously, a well-structured soil helps in a sustainable green infrastructure.
While designing, the first thought should be how to improve soil health in cities. A healthy soil is a strong start to the green spaces and urban landscaping.
Plant Selection:
While selecting the plant for urban landscape spaces, important factors should be considered, such as, Adaptability to the environment, tolerance to stress, plant growth capacity, and nurturing.
How To Improve Soil Health In Urban Landscapes?
Improving soil health is not only important for gardening but also for creating an ecosystem that is required for city areas. Here’s how you can enhance soil health using these simple strategies:
For restoring the compact soil structure, start by breaking and tilling to loosen the hard surface. This allows aeration and movement, which improves water drainage and provides environmental benefits.
You can use organic vermicompost and natural soil amendments to increase nutrient content and retain moisture.
It also increases soil capacity to tolerate heat stress and strengthens the overall structure.
Remove any kind of debris, stones, lumps, or gravel from the soil to prevent blockages. It reduces soil structure degradation and helps the land to absorb amendments easily.
Incorporate soil mulching practices to control erosion and enhance fertility. Mulch protects soil from heat and restores the landscape.
Improving soil health is not a one-time attempt, but a continuous effort to maintain its quality. By following these basic actions, it is possible to improve landscapes and enhance greener spaces.
Soil Management Techniques For Urban Landscape
Urban soils require regular care and attention, as weather and environmental conditions keep changing. Soil management is crucial for long-term benefits in the urban landscape.
Irrigation directly affects the moisture level and quality of the soil. Various types of soil, such as sandy, clay, and heavy soil, require a particular and fixed water quantity.
The key is to match the type of soil with the irrigation system. You can also use a smart irrigation technique that uses a sensor to analyze the dry or moist condition of the soil. Then it customizes water application spending based on the situation.
One of the techniques also involves seasonal care, in which the soil is prepared for the upcoming season.
- Summer: In this season, soil temperatures are high, and it remains dry. Here you have to focus in improving moisture content in the soil by adding organic amendments.
- Monsoon: Clean and loosen the soil to prevent rain wash. It is also recommended to improve drainage channels to reduce waterlogging conditions.
- Winter: This season is ideal for restoring soil health. As the soil is without the stress conditions, such as extreme heat and rainfall. It is the perfect time to add compost and nutrients to the soil.
Other than this, soils are also prone to pests and diseases, which can damage their structure. To prevent this, remove the weeds on a regular basis and practice plant rotation.
You can also use biological controls, including organic pesticides, fungicides, and other solutions to manage diseases and harmful pests naturally.
Soil-Focused Landscape Saves Money Long Term
When the focus is on improving soil rather than designing beautiful decor, it saves cost and conserves budget. Here’s how:
- A healthy soil can absorb water effectively, reducing water requirements.
- Better soil structure prevents plant death, eliminating the cost of replanting.
- A well-managed soil remains stable throughout the year, avoiding repair fees.
- Balanced soil allows trees to last longer and maintain landscaping features.
- Healthy urban soil does not require expensive chemical treatments.
Applications Across Modern Urban Projects
Modern urban projects are soil concentrated, whether it’s for ground-level, commercial, or residential public spaces. Here’s a brief overview of the applications required for:
Terrace and Rooftop Gardens:
Terrace and rooftop gardening requires a lightweight and well-draining soil that is designed to reduce the burden on the buildings. The best application for this type of soil is a combination of cocopeat and compost.
Vertical Garden:
Vertical Garden prefers nutrient-rich soil and a light, well-draining growing medium. The soil health remains stable if amendments like vermicompost and sand are added.
Commercial and Residential Space:
Outdoor commercial and residential spaces demand a loamy soil that is a balanced mixture of sand, clay, and silt. Premium compost is used for this type of soil to improve drainage and fertility.
Quick Soil Health Checklist For Landscape Owners
Here’s a rapid soil health checklist for a green and healthy urban landscape:
- Moisture Content: Notice the moisture level of the soil to prevent overwatering and underwatering.
- Water Drainage: Check if the water oozes in the soil quickly after the rainfall.
- Nutrient Deficiency: Ensure proper nutrient content of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium is maintained.
- Soil Temperature: In the summer season, the soil shouldn’t remain extremely hot, and it should be moderate.
- Soil Texture: Inspect if the soil is crumbly and black or brown in color. The cracks and spots are a sign of drought stress.
A successful urban landscape is not just about elegant and artistic design. But it is a combination of planning and designing for sustainable landscaping.
The core of the thriving cityscape is soil health, which plays a major role in activities like water retention, pest resilience, and overall ecosystem.
With soil conservation techniques and specific soil-nurturing applications, you can definitely improve landscape performance.