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boid_gw

garden soil from western organics

Boid
12 years ago

I am wondering if anyone has used there garden soil and how good it is. I got a sample of pioneers and wet it pretty godd and when it dried it was real hard. So I'm looking for something better.

Comments (14)

  • MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ
    12 years ago

    Well there's has been a long, somewhat contentious, discussion about this at the Valley Permaculture Alliance website. The two folks debating this seem to have vested interests but if you want to check it out here's the link, hopefully GW is okay with the link to another forum. We'll see I guess. Tried to email Boid but did not find an addy.

    Here is a link that might be useful: VPA

  • ra
    12 years ago

    Is the sandy loam mix the same as the Sod mix they have? because I got the sod mix from them this past spring and used it on my new lawn. The extra i used in some of my garden beds.

    The stuff does get hard when dry, but I think it's because I compacted/flattened it on my lawn. But anyway, the stuff that i put in my garden beds does stay fluffy and the plants love it! The cannas I have planted in it are growing like crazy

  • thisisme
    12 years ago

    raimeiken if I remember right. The Sod Mix is 50/50 compost and dried manure. The Sandy Loam Mix was 1/3 compost 1/3 dried manure and 1/3 sifted native soil. I was told its best to keep it damp to finish composing the compost and manure for two months before use. The mix you put in your garden remained wet long enough to compost. The same mix you put on your lawn never finished composting and is acting more like a thin layer of mulch.

    Once this stuff has been given enough time to compost gardens love it. I know mine does.

  • Boid
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    2 months to wait at 38 bucks a yard is a little much, I called western organics and they told there soil is ready to plant. Any one have any experience with there raised garden soil.

  • ra
    12 years ago

    thisisme, I found the info on their website about the Sod mix. It's actually

    Sod Mix (60% Soil, 30%Mulch, 10% Sand)

    http://pioneersand.com/az/rock.htm

  • thisisme
    12 years ago

    raineiken you are not supposed to use a Sod Mix in a garden. I used their Sandy Loam Mix which is......

    SANDY LOAM

    33% screened fill dirt, 33% mulch, 33% manure. Sandy Loam is A great medium for vegetable gardens and other applications that utilize the warmth and micro nutrients of manure.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Pioneer Landscaping Materials

  • thisisme
    12 years ago

    Boid I only paid $ 27.00 per cubic yard at Pioneer. Online it looks like Western Organics and Grow-Well may be one and the same company. In the past I have used some of Gro-Well's bagged products. Some of which are great like their Seed Starting Mix but its very expensive. The soil products I have used of theirs in my garden had no sand or native soil in them. Basically 100 percent organic matter. Not something I would use in a vegetable garden.

    For raised beds it looks like they are using Mel's Mix from the Square Foot Gardener. A word of advice. If you go to the Square Foot gardening forum here you will find lots and lot of posts of people saying they don't like Mel's Mix. They say it does not work for their square foot raised bed gardens. Some say it worked great for them the first year. However the vermiculite breaks down pretty fast so nearly everyone hates it from the second year on.

  • ra
    12 years ago

    yeah well I had a bunch left over and didn't want to waste it. And the plants I have growing there are loving it. I might give western organics soil a try this fall and add some into that garden bed.

    the garden bed Im talking about is the one in the middle with the Cannas and hollyhocks. There's also a plumeria and a small banana in the front of it but you cant see them from this view.

    {{gwi:414567}}

  • thisisme
    12 years ago

    It looks beautiful raimeiken, simply beautiful.

  • MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ
    12 years ago

    Yes, very nice looking walkway. What is that green leafy plant in the lower left, behind the little tree?

  • ra
    12 years ago

    {{gwi:414568}}

  • MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ
    12 years ago

    It's the Chinese Parasol tree that caught my eye. Thanks.

  • ra
    12 years ago

    yeah I just planted it this spring to try it out and it's handling the heat surprisingly well. I thought it would burn its big leaves off but it hasn't at all.

    I have it planted on the north side, so it gets shaded from the afternoon sun.

    I got it from http://www.briansbotanicals.net/

    the quality of the plants he sells are amazing! I got the cannas from him as well.

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