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Keep Your Yard at Home
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By Stan Rosenthal, Leon County Forester
Photos by Jess Van Dyke
The Importance of Percolation and Healthy Soil
 Healthy yards and gardens begin with healthy soils. Soil is its own ecosystem and it should be teeming with life. Most plants love loose, porous soils that are more open to air, where roots breathe more easily. Lack of oxygen is the biggest factor that limits root growth and critters such as earthworms that are helpful to plants. Soil compacted by heavy foot or vehicle traffic loses its porosity or openness. Loose, porous soil slows the flow by absorbing and holding more water and helping water reach plant roots.
This simple percolation test can test your soil's porosity. Use a 46 oz. can (like a large juice can) with both ends removed and mark a line two inches from the can's end. Pound this end into the soil so that the mark is level with the ground surface. Then pour one quart of water into the can and time how long it takes to drain into the soil.
Less than two minutes:
excellent porosity and air circulation
Two to eight minutes:
somewhat compact or dense
More than eight minutes:
overly compact or dense, little absorption of water
Many plants and grasses won't grow well or at all in such compacted soil.
What can you do to improve compacted soil? It's easy. Keep people, cars and bicycles on designated paths or walkways. Use "slow the flow" methods to minimize loss of good, porous top soil. For lawns, leave grass clippings. For garden beds, add leaves and other mulch. Over time, this process will build the soil's organic matter, will allow better root growth, and will attract beneficial critters as the porosity of the soil improves.
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