ben662•1mo ago

Appreciation post: That $40 air spade rental that proved me dead wrong about soil compaction

I spent years thinking soil compaction in residential yards was overblown. Finally rented an air spade from a place in Portland last fall and dug into a client's maple root zone. The difference in root health between the compacted spots and where I used the spade was night and day. Has anyone else had a tool that totally changed how you diagnose tree problems?

2 comments

2 Comments

mary7761mo ago

@patriciap52 I've heard this before but I'm still not totally sold that air spades are a game changer for every tree issue. I'm curious how much of the root health difference you saw was actually from fixing compaction versus just the soil disturbance itself. Like maybe the roots were already toast and the air spade just exposed it better?

patriciap521mo ago

Oh man, that's a great find. I was the same way about soil compaction for years until I used an air spade on a stubborn oak at a customer's place and saw roots actually breathing again. It's wild how something so simple can totally shift what you think you know.