Urban Soils
Soils in urban and suburban areas affected by development are frequently compacted, cut, and filled, resulting in a poor environment for plant growth and increased risk of runoff and harm to the aquatic environment. Our research to date has focused on compost amendment of landscape soils to improve soil quality and plant growth. It includes a comparison of surface-applied and incorporated compost in a woody landscape established on converted agricultural land (begun in 2001), and a project comparing surface-applied and incorporated compost and biosolids products applied to cut and compacted subsoils within a highway landscaping zone (begun in 2007). Future work will include rain garden and bioretention research as part of a low-impact development project planned for WSU Puyallup.
Compost amendment of landscape soils:
- Cogger, C., R. Hummel, J. Hart, and A. Bary. 2008. Soil and Redosier Dogwood Response to Incorporated and Surface-applied Compost. Hortsci. 43:2143–2150. [Email for pdf e-copy].
- Soil Amendments for Long-term Urban Soil Improvement. [online pdf].
Low-Impact Development/Green Infrastructure
Links to collaborators
- City of Puyallup and WSU-Puyallup Stormwater WSDOE Project. The WSU Puyallup campus will be retrofitted to reduce stormwater runoff. Rain gardens, perveous pavement,
- WSU Pierce County Low Impact Development, Curtis Hinman. Description of local low-impact development projects, and guidance for gardeners, landscapers, and stormwater managers.
- University of Wisconsin Rain Garden Research, Nick Balster