New Soil Specification System

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ASLAs New Landscape Soil Specification System
ASLA Professional Practice Committee By Barrett
L. Kays, Ph.D., FASLA www.barrettkays.com
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ASLA Professional Practice Committee

• ASLA PPC is developing two new publications
  entitled
• Soils Analysis and Design for Landscape
  Plantings
• Soils Design Testing and Specifications for
  Landscape Plantings

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Publication Chapters

• Soils Analysis and Design for Landscape
  Plantings
• Selecting the Type of Landscape/Soil Setting
• Selecting the Type of Landscape Plantings
• Solving Soil Landscape Design Issues

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Publication Chapters

• Soils Design Testing and Speci-fications for
  Landscape Plantings
• Selecting the Types of Landscape Soil
• Determining the Types of Design Soil Testing
• Determining the Types of Construct-ion Soil
  Testing
• Preparing the Soil Specifications

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Structural Soils at the Great Lawn in Central
Park
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Types of Custom Soil Solutions

• Amended on-site topsoils
• Amended on-site subsoils
• Imported native mineral soils
• Imported native organic soils
• Manufactured structural soils
• Manufactured light weight soils
• Manufactured moisture retentive soils
• Manufactured layered soils

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Landscape/Soil Setting

• Determining soil characteristics from your county
  soil survey
• Soil texture
• Soil depth
• Drainage classes
• Soil structure
• Soil density
• Permeability
• Hydrologic groups
• Hydraulic conductivity
• Available water capacity
• Depth to seasonally high water table
• Shrink-swell potential
• Soil disturbance

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Soil Drainage Classes

• Select plants by the drainage class of the soils
  on your site
• Very poorly drained water table within 12 and
  dark surface soil obligate facultative wet
  plants
• Poorly drained water table within 12
  facultative wet facultative plants
• Somewhat poorly drained water table 12 to 24
  facultative plants
• Moderately well drained water table 24 to 48
  facultative upland plants
• Well drained water table 48 to 72 upland
  plants
• Somewhat excessively well drained water table
  72 to 96 drought resistant plants
• Excessively well drained water table greater
  than 96 drought resistant plants

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Depth to Seasonal Water Table

• Gray soil colors are due to high water table and
  leaching of iron
• Soil horizons that are dominate gray are due to
  water table in the horizon for extended periods
  of time during normal year
• Soil horizons that have gray mottles are due to
  seasonal water table in the horizon for at least
  28 days during the wetter season
• Iron oxides produces the reddish colors in soil
• After the iron leaches, it leaves a gray color
• The iron that leaches then moves downward in the
  soil and then precipitates and forms red mottles
  just above the normal water table.

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Munsell Soil Color for 10 Yellowish Red Hues
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Seasonally High Water Table Using Gray Soil Colors

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Soil Water Calculator
Soil Water Characteristics Hydraulic Properties
Calculator http//hydrolab.arsusda.gov/soilwater/in
dex.htm
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Amending Clayey Soils On-Site
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Installing Manufactured Structural Soil Material
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Installing Manufactured Sandy Soil Material
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Types of Soil Testing

• Soil texture Analysis
• Sand, silt clay percent
• Sand graduation
• Soil physical analysis
• Bulk density
• Hydraulic conductivity
• Infiltration rate
• Moisture holding capacity
• Soil chemical analysis
• Soil fertility analysis
• Soil incubation fertility analysis
• Biological testing
• Layered soil testing
• Compost testing

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Soil Core Sampling for Laboratory
Hydraulic Conductivity Testing
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Incubation Soil Fertility Testing

• Mixing of limestone
• Raises soil pH
• Mixing of sulfur
• Lowers soil pH
• Mixing of gypsum
• Improves soil structure in alkaline soils
• Mixing of phosphorus
• Overcomes fixation in acidic soils
• Mixing of organic humus
• Improves structure, moisture and nutrients

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Appendices

• RFP for on-site soil survey
• State and provincial soil testing laboratories in
  US and Canada
• Laboratory testing method references
• Physical testing
• Chemical testing
• Fertility testing
• Fertility incubation testing
• Biological soil testing
• Layered soil testing
• Compost testing
• Imported topsoil standards
• Compost and peat-humus standards
• List of commercial physical amendments
• List of commercial fertilizers
• List of organic fertilizers
• Limestone standards

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ASLAs New Landscape Soil Specification System

• ASLA Professional Practice Committee
• By
• Barrett L. Kays, Ph.D., FASLA
• www.barrettkays.com