“Super Dirt” saves Greenfield Trees by Improving Transplant Survivorship

By knoxweb | March 8, 2018

We see it often in our cities and neighborhoods….

We see those little trees planted between the sidewalk and the road; either already dead or looking like they’re about to keel over. YUCK! All that money spent on dead tree removal, new tree planting, watering and other maintenance just for the poor thing to possibly wilt away and die.

The city of Greenfield, Indiana

The city has seen a significant amount of older and newly planted trees die due to the stresses of the everyday urban environment. To help reduce this, the non-profit organization, Re-Greening of Greenfield, has planted over 1000 trees in the last 30 years to combat this loss. Their mission is to “preserve and restore Greenfield’s urban forest.” Within the last four years, I’ve had the honor of treating about 150 of these newly planted trees with the “Super Dirt” soil amendment. The survivorship and health of these trees are noticeably higher than those that have not been treated.

A recipe for a “Super Dirt”

With the help of the American BioChar Company, who has developed a recipe for a “Super Dirt” called VITAL Blend soil amendment that will increase the survivability of newly planted trees by helping the tree become sustainably established. The trees show enhanced root growth and become less susceptible to stress from drought, salt damage, lack of nutrients, and soil compaction. VITAL Blend is actually an all-organic combination of an activated carbon blended with humate. The treatment is followed by a modified application of ShortStop tree growth management.

It makes me excited to know that our cities are becoming greener every year with the collaboration of folks who share similar visions of a greener future. With the help of volunteer groups like Re-Greening of Greenfield and of amazing products like VITAL Blend, GREENfield has a very GREEN future ahead of it.