An apparatus and method are provided for monitoring subsurface soil conditions in real time and communicating data about the subsurface soil conditions to a monitor that analyzes the data to provide warnings to the system operator and to automatically initiate one or more soil treatment processes. The apparatus includes nodes with soil condition sensors and radio transceivers. The nodes are communicatively connected by a network that includes at least one transceiver. The nodes optionally include means for controlling turf treatment devices in response to commands from the computer.