The Dirt on Sandpoint's Soils

Sandpoint and Bonner County have a wide range of soil types depending on where you might be standing at the moment. In much of Selle Valley you will find some of the best soil, a nice soft loamy dirt, rich in nutrients and organic matter, low in large rocks. Go north to Naples and you will be digging in pure sand, and many other areas are hard clay full of rocks. Areas of Dover are built over old lumber yard sawdust piles that have been mixed in or buried with fill dirt. What does this mean for your landscaping? Well in most areas it means you will have to amend and work the ground to get a better base for your landscape to grow. We till and sift the existing soil to remove rocks and other large debris that would otherwise work their up and into your lawn through frost heaving. We add a variety of soil amendments depending on your soil type. These range from sand, compost, and specialized conditioners that contain microbes and beneficial organisms that help plants take up nutrients. Some plants require very acidic soil, or perhaps additional iron, requiring these special fertilizers and treatments that help those plants thrive. The most important step of a landscape installation is most often the initial soil treatment and amendment. Once the sod is layed and trees are planted, it becomes much more difficult to maintain optimal growing conditions if the soil was poor to begin with. If you do have landscaping built on less than stellar soil, don't fret, you can still fertilize a few times per year, and also aerate then"top dress"your lawn. This is when small plugs are taken from your lawn, and then compost is spread over the lawn and worked into the holes. It looks bad at first, but after a few weeks your lawn will be thriving and growing thicker. In my opinion it is always best to improve the soil as step #1, which greatly reduces the need for these frequent fertillizations.