Soil Carbon Sequestration is Building Top Soil. These two images were taken at our arboretum in Los Lunas, where 32 years ago the soil was a salty high pH clay with terrible structure. The images showing the cracking and light colored clay is the before Soil Secrets. Using the Biomimetic Soil Ecology protocol of Soil Secrets we've stimulated and instigated the process of top soil development which requires that carbon from the atmosphere is harvested by plants and turned into a molecular form in the soil that allows for long term storage. The image showing the darker soil with aggregates is the same spot the arboretum after three decades of Soil Secrets treatment.
The Shantung Maple ( Acer truncatum ) is also known as the Purple Blow Maple due to the color of its newly emerging leaves which are red-purple (see photo below). These young expanding red-purple leaves change to green as they mature. Leaves are small, about the size of Japanese Red Maple leaves, perhaps 3’-4’ wide at maturity. The Shantung Maple grows 1′-2′ annually reaching 25″ tall and wide. This is our tree for all planting situations. This Maple does well in heavy clay, sandy soils, full sun, or part shade. It can be planted in a lawn or next to a hot asphalt street (see photo below). It seemingly is a happy tree enjoying life wherever it is placed. One place we would not recommend planting this tree is in a rockscape which is just too hot and inhospitable to support this beautiful tree. A smaller tree, the Shantung Ma...
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