{"id":4255,"date":"2026-06-10T10:22:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T10:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/?p=4255"},"modified":"2026-06-10T11:15:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T11:15:23","slug":"soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Soil decompaction works around the Streatham campus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"438\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/10-june-1024x438.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4259\" style=\"width:820px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/10-june-1024x438.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/10-june-300x128.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/10-june-768x328.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/10-june-1536x657.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/10-june-2048x876.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why all the roped off areas<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Year upon year the foot traffic and machinery use over the root plates of mature specimen trees along the top of Reed Hall, has caused the soil to become heavily compacted altering the vitality of several mature specimens.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We have been using an air spade to reverse the effects of soil compaction and repeat mulching to try and revive a line of struggling mature specimen trees<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using an air spade around trees is one of the safest and most effective ways to relieve soil compaction without damaging roots. An air spade uses compressed air to break up compacted soil while leaving most roots, utilities and buried structures intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are the main benefits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Reduced Root Damage<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Traditional excavation with shovels or machinery can sever fine feeder roots and larger structural roots. An air spade loosens soil by air pressure, exposing roots with far less physical injury. This is especially important for mature or valuable trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Improved Soil Aeration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Compacted soil limits oxygen availability around roots. Tree roots need oxygen for respiration and nutrient uptake. Air spading creates pore spaces in the soil, improving airflow and restoring healthier root-zone conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Better Water Infiltration and Drainage<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Compaction often causes water runoff or waterlogging because water cannot move properly through dense soil. After air spading, water penetrates more evenly into the root zone, helping trees access moisture more effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Enhanced Nutrient Uptake<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Loosened soil allows roots to expand and function more efficiently. It also makes it easier to incorporate organic matter, compost, biochar, or mycorrhizal inoculants into the root zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Encourages Root Growth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Roots tend to struggle or circle in compacted conditions. Decompaction encourages new feeder root development, which improves overall tree vigor, canopy density, and resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Safer Around Sensitive Trees<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Air spading is commonly used around:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>veteran or heritage trees<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>trees under construction stress<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>declining urban trees<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>recently transplanted specimens<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It is widely used in arboriculture because it minimizes disturbance compared with mechanical digging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because roots become exposed without major damage, arborists can inspect for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>girdling roots<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>root rot<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>buried root flare<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>construction damage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>poor planting depth<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This makes air spading both a treatment and diagnostic tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Common Situations Where It Helps<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Air spading is especially effective when compaction has been caused by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>pedestrian traffic<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>parked vehicles<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>construction equipment<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>hard landscaping<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>repeated mowing over root zones<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>After decompaction, our arborists will continue to apply mulch to help maintain improved soil structure and reduce future compaction.&nbsp; Air spading is most effective when combined with longer-term soil management. If the source of compaction continues \u2014 for example constant foot traffic or vehicle loading \u2014 the soil may compact again relatively quickly this is why these areas are roped off to pedestrian traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"767\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/photo-2-10-june-edited-1024x767.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4275\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/photo-2-10-june-edited-1024x767.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/photo-2-10-june-edited-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/photo-2-10-june-edited-768x575.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/photo-2-10-june-edited-1536x1150.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/photo-2-10-june-edited-2048x1533.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why all the roped off areas Year upon year the foot traffic and machinery use over the root plates of mature specimen trees along the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3077,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Soil decompaction works around the Streatham campus - Budding news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Soil decompaction works around the Streatham campus - Budding news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why all the roped off areas Year upon year the foot traffic and machinery use over the root plates of mature specimen trees along the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Budding news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-10T10:22:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-10T11:15:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/10-june-1024x438.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ay315\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ay315\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/\",\"name\":\"Soil decompaction works around the Streatham campus - Budding news\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/10-june-1024x438.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-10T10:22:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-10T11:15:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/#\/schema\/person\/e1f70484bde25131652f8aeedc10cdb6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/10-june-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/10-june-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1095},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Soil decompaction works around the Streatham campus\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/\",\"name\":\"Budding news\",\"description\":\"University of Exeter Grounds Team blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/#\/schema\/person\/e1f70484bde25131652f8aeedc10cdb6\",\"name\":\"ay315\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec072e2e7cdf72c78ebf100432791357?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec072e2e7cdf72c78ebf100432791357?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ay315\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/author\/ay315\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Soil decompaction works around the Streatham campus - Budding news","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Soil decompaction works around the Streatham campus - Budding news","og_description":"Why all the roped off areas Year upon year the foot traffic and machinery use over the root plates of mature specimen trees along the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/","og_site_name":"Budding news","article_published_time":"2026-06-10T10:22:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-10T11:15:23+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/10-june-1024x438.jpg"}],"author":"ay315","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ay315","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/","name":"Soil decompaction works around the Streatham campus - Budding news","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/10-june-1024x438.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-10T10:22:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-10T11:15:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/#\/schema\/person\/e1f70484bde25131652f8aeedc10cdb6"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/10-june-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/303\/2026\/06\/10-june-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1095},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/2026\/06\/10\/soil-decompaction-works-around-the-streatham-campus\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Soil decompaction works around the Streatham campus"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/","name":"Budding news","description":"University of Exeter Grounds Team blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/#\/schema\/person\/e1f70484bde25131652f8aeedc10cdb6","name":"ay315","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec072e2e7cdf72c78ebf100432791357?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec072e2e7cdf72c78ebf100432791357?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"ay315"},"url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/author\/ay315\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4255"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3077"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4255"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4281,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4255\/revisions\/4281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/buddingnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}