Why Should I Buy High Quality Soil?
During almost all landscaping projects there comes a time when you have to decide “What kind of soil should I buy?”. There are so many options on the market, how do you know that the soil you are buying is going to help your garden, lawn, or other landscape feature? I am going to lay out exactly what factors are important to select a quality soil for your project.
Organic Factors
It may not look like it from a glance, but soil is ALIVE! There are more species of microorganisms in any 1 square meter of soil, than there are species of animals in 1 square kilometer of rainforest! These microorganisms play an integral role in the health of your soil. They break down organic matter such as compost and manure. Microorganisms also process nutrients to make them more readily available to plants. When selecting a soil, a high percentage of organic matter is an important factor to watch for.
Moisture content is also an important factor in soil. Having a mid to high range moisture content is essential to allow proper air flow in the soil, and in order to provide plants with the necessary water required for photosynthesis!
Nutrient Factors
Plants require a certain amount of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium in order to have proper growth. Most people have heard of these values on fertilizers and didn’t realize what they really were. For example, a triple sixteen fertilizer mix (16-16-16) is named due to the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, or N-P-K for short. High quality soils use this concept, but in the context of the soil and not of an added fertilizer. A good soil will contain a proper ratio of N-P-K to promote strong plant growth in any application.
Acidity
A soil’s acidity can make or break the success of your garden or lawn. If a soil is too acidic or basic then some essential nutrients in the soil can convert to forms that are more difficult for a plant to absorb, resulting in nutrient deficiencies. The pH scale is the scale used to measure acidity. It is a scale from 0 to 14, 7 being neutral, <7 acidic, and >7 basic. For most garden and lawn applications, having a mid to low pH is ideal (neutral to slightly acidic) seeing as most common plants prefer a soil pH of 6 to 7.2.
Soil Texture
The texture of a soil is also incredibly important. The texture of a soil will effect its ability to drain or hold moisture and to contain nutrients. Soils are categorized generally as sand, silt, and clay. There is a spectrum of soil composition, and ideally soil will contain a perfect ratio of sand, silt and clay so that it will hold the right amount of moisture and nutrients necessary for effective plant growth.
Our Quality Soil
All BigYellowBag soil producers are subject to incredibly strict soil standards. Professional agronomists are constantly testing our soils and making sure that each one of the previously mentioned factors is dialed in to perfection. BigYellowBag Black Garden Soil is renowned across North America as the top quality garden soil because of our rigorous testing.