By Tim Barnes, Owner of the Landscape Shoppe
Well, we finally made it and are 100% moved over to our new location. This yard is laid out differently but with the additional square footage in our building, we are now able to offer more professional products and services to our customers. Thanks to all the asphalt, we no longer have an overwhelming amount of mud or dust. These were taking their toll on our equipment but mainly our employees and clients were suffering from the dust during the dry season – those days are gone! Below is a list of new products we’re working on bringing in for spring.
Flagstone
Fresh pallets of Bluestone from Pennsylvania, Sandstone from Colorado, and, of course, keeping our usual pallets well-stocked. Currently, I’ve got some colorful Montana flagstone on order – just a little time, and you can see if it shows up in the yard!
Bulk Soils for the Gardener
During those short breaks between the spring rains, we’re stocking in-house soils that we’ve developed over the years – of which, we always keep covered and dry. We make our 3-way 40% organic blend for grass, and our 3-way 60% organic blend for ornamental plants. Our four ingredient Cow Punch Soil is for vegetables, and so too is the five ingredient Cow Punch with pumice.
Bagged Soils
This planting season, most people will end up buying their bagged soils from Home Depot or Lowe’s. Generally, people don’t know that all those bagged composts and soils are made in one production plant, and that the base for those is recycled yard debris (Compost that comes from the local landfill). These are not certified compost products and there is no way for people to know exactly what’s in the bags they’re buying. Further, most of the product names on those bags are carefully researched, catchy marketing phrases meant only to get people to buy.
The bagged soils we carry are produced by Lane Forrest Products in Eugene. I buy from this supplier because I trust that the product in the bags is exactly what’s on the label. Mint Compost, Blueberry Mulch, Potting Mix, Veggie Boost Compost, and a high-quality Ocean Rich Fish Compost. These all come in 1.5 cu. ft. bags, and are excellent for your plants and vegetable gardens. Also, we stock Peat Moss and Perlite in 4 cu. ft. bags, and a new product that is excellent as a seed starter: ProMix HP Biofungicide and Mycorrhizae. The ProMix is what the professionals use to start their plants and vegetables from seed.
Soil Blending Ideas
All of our soils, both bulk and bagged, are excellent and ready to use for whatever project you are undertaking. However, many people like to experiment with their own blends using our base bulk products, or a combination of bulk and bagged products. For example, you can add Pumice or Perlite to any blend to enhance drainage. Incorporating Fish or Mint Compost to any bulk soil will make for slow-release Nitrogen, which further helps the microorganisms break down material into plant nutrients. Specifically, that allows the roots to take in the sugars and auxins that create those giant, red tomatoes!
I hope this helps, and have a fantastic gardening year!