The winter season is starting to push the summer heat wave away, and with it comes some temperate growing months for many southern BigYellowBag customers. That means now is as good a time as any to be gardening. Whether you’re looking forward to your first harvest of crisp winter lettuce, or the first pansy peeking up in your garden, BigYellowBag Black Garden Soil has everything your plants will need to grow healthy and strong through the winter season.

You: “Anyone can say their soil is better… what makes your’s so special?”

Me: “I’m glad you asked!”

Here’s some SCIENCE!

Organic Factors

It may not look like it from a glance, but soil is ALIVE. There is more variety of microorganisms in any 1 square meter of soil, than there is variety of animals in 1 square kilometer of rainforest! (The rainforest is the most diverse ecosystem on the planet.)  These microorganisms play an integral role in the health of your soil. They break down organic matter such as compost and manure, making nutrients more readily available to plants. Our Black Garden Soil is LOADED with microorganisms, and organic matter content is tested regularly to ensure product quality.

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. BigYellowBag Black Garden Soil contains 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, making your plants nutrient deficient. The pH scale is used to measure acidity. It is a scale from 0 to 14, 7 being neutral, less than 7 is acidic, and greater than 7 is 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. Here at BigYellowBag, we ensure our soil’s acidity is properly calibrated before it leaves our yard.

Soil Texture

The texture of a soil is also incredibly important. The texture of a soil will affect its ability to drain or hold moisture and to contain nutrients. Soils are categorized generally as sand, silt, or clay. There is a spectrum of soil composition; different mixtures of the three soil types. 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. This soil type is commonly called loam, and Black Garden Soil is actually a mixture of black loam, peat loam, compost, and well processed manure.

It’s Not Only Good For Winter…

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 calibrated to perfection. BigYellowBag Black Garden Soil is renowned across North America as the top-quality garden soil because of our rigorous testing. From coast to coast, BigYellowBag customers use our Black Garden Soil for topdressing, overseeding, flower beds and veggie gardens.

Make sure your winter plants have the best start they can… Only plant in BigYellowBag Black Garden Soil.