Are you a Healthy Soil Embassador? 10 Awesome Soil Facts

Soil is a necessary element to a healthy environment

While we realize spouting off about soil at the office holiday party might not make you the most popular person in the room (unless you work at Soils Alive), sporting some serious facts about soil could make you at least look like the smartest person in the room. And if your neighbor tells you your lawn looks great, use it as an opportunity to pass on some knowledge about why healthy soils are so important, and how organic lawn care helps your lawn look it’s best.

10 awesome facts about soil:

1. The North Texas area’s is called the Blackland Prairie and consists of heavy clay soil that is high nutrients but must be amended to unbind them so they are useable by our plant’s roots. While it may be hot around here, it isn’t an arid desert and that is why many who think it is, have a hard time planting cactus and agave without them succumbing to root rot from overwatering or the wrong kind of soil amendment.
2. The soil stores 10 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions in the soil! As the earth warms and plants and other organic matter in the soil break down quicker, more carbon dioxide is released.
3. Soil holds approximately .01 percent of the earth’s water, reducing flooding in many parts of the world.
4. There are more organisms in one-tablespoon of soil than there are humans on earth.
5. Why do we need to care for the soil we have? It takes a minimum of 500 years to make one-inch of healthy topsoil!
6. Earthworms are the hardest workers in your landscape. Earthworms can consume between 20 and 40 tons of soil per acre per year. This improves soil health because they help to break down soil, aerate it and leave behind waste used by plants.
7. Healthy soil provides plants a good amount of the nutrients they need. Feed your soil and you’ll have less need to feed your plants. Remember, we only add a dry organic plant fertilizer twice a year.
8. Soil is made up of 50-percent air and water, and 50-percent broken rock and decaying organic matter.
9. Soil filters out pollutants from underground water sources.
10. Without soil, there would be no life on earth! Think about it…soil grows our food, which feeds not only us, but our pets and livestock; it filters out pollutants from water; it grows the trees that clean our air; and it is the cornerstone of a gorgeous, healthy landscape.

In 2017, we hope you’ll make a commitment to improving your soil’s health naturally now that you know just how important soil is for your own little corner of the world. Happy holidays!

soil