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Community Editor

Home and Garden Editor

Andrew McCredie Layne Christensen

985-2131 (147) 985-2131 (113)

tr

Roy
wonssen

sow it grows

VERY SPRING, thou-
sands of gardeners and
: home owners start
looking for topsoil to improve

‘soil is not scraped off some Fraser
“Malley farmer's field and hauled into
urban areas for sale. It is against the
law to strip topscil from agricultural
land. : ;
In fact, all commercial topsoil is
manufactured and the quality varies
greatly depending on what materials
are used in the mix.

- Good soil is the foundation of
-any garden or Jandscaped area and
poor quality topsoil will cause prob-
‘lems for years into the future. top-
soil prices range from $8 to $28 per
cubic’ yard and generally reflect the
quality of the product. ;

Natural. soils: consist. of four

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Res 2B Entertainmont.............32

“FOUR

basic components and each is deter-
mined by size — clay. silt. sand and
tocks, Any combination of these
three materials is generally referred
toas loam.

Ifthe principal ingredient of the
soil is sand then it becomes a sandy
loam,

Clay loams have the smallest
particle size. They are sticky when
wet and tend to compact. preventing

drainage. air movement and root

penetration.

Sit loums have the next largest
particles and behave much like clay
loams but are seldom found here on
the North Shore.

Sandy loams have the largest
particles, with excellent qualities for
drainage. air movement and root
penetration but they lack nutrients
and dry out too quickly.

By adding humus — dead or

decaying organic material — soils -

can be modified and greatly
improved. The addition of a coarse
but well-rotted humus to. soil
improves aeration and drainage.
Clay soils can be loosened up and
sandy soils will have more nutrients
and better water-holding qualities.

Manufactured topsoils normally
fall into three categories.

The first type is made primarily
from excavation material dug out of
construction sites.

This sand (gravel) or clay loam is
quite deficient in nutrients and has a
tendency to compact. It may also
contain a variety of weed seeds or
roots from noxious weeds that were
on’ site. After the material is

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NOLOCT E

5520 Minoru Boulevard, Richmond, 8C Te

“
NEWS photo Torry Paters

GOOD SOIL is the foundation of any garden or landscaped area. Poor quality topsoil will cause
problems years into the future. Compost-based soils improve aeration, drainage and soil structure.

screened to remove the larger rocks
and roots the soil is amended with
materials such as manure (mush-
room. steer or horse), peat and or
raw sawdust.

A second type of soil is based on
sedge peat. dug from a Lower
Mainland peat bog and amended
with river sand, manures and raw
sawdust.

The peat and sand won't contain
weed seeds but the fresh manures

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Park Royal South (behind Zelfers)

are often a source of weed seeds.

Peat-based soils are very good at

holding water but tend to be acidic
and short on nutrients unless heavi-
ly amended with manures,

The third type of topsoil is man-
ufactured from composted organic
waste and amended with sedge peat
and sand. ;

During the composting process
the materials heat to 65°C to 70°C
and pasteurize the compost, killing

weed seeds. coliform bacteria from
animal manures. and~ plant
pathogens. Not only is this type of
soil rich in nutrients and beneficial
to microbial life but it is also a
usable recycled material. 2 ;

For those who are accustomed to
using a fine peat soil, you may find
compost-based soils coarse in tex-
ture. This quality improves aeration,

See Compost page 14

ROEN CENTR

ae

922-5990