Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Sep 19, 2010 9:40 am A question for those in the Sydney area that have followed Fu's suggestions for soil preparation prior to turfing - can you provide a link (or contact) as to where you purchased your organic soil, and can you let me know how much per m3/tonne you paid for it? I've had similar issues to others in that a) not many seem to have much in the way of organic, or b) those that I do find don't seem to be "certified". Cheers. Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 2Sep 19, 2010 11:30 am I used vitagrow soil improver from Menai soil and sand http://www.menaisandsoil.com.au/mulches.htm is it certified ?? Dunno It says it is an organic product By ORGANIC it means that it uses Green waste rather than chemicals to improve the soil I am guessing you are trying to find something purely organic like farmed organic foods?? does it work ?? the lawn has already knitted after a week and a bit from been laid I cant remember how much a cube was but?? I went outside once. The graphics were alright, but the gameplay sucked! Settlement:22nd June Slab:27th August Frame:16th Sept Bricked:21st Oct Roof:24th Nov Linings HANDOVER23rd March! Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 3Sep 19, 2010 6:47 pm We had difficulties finding CERTIFIED organic soil, too Tried a few places down here in the shire, but in the end....gave up and just got organic. When I asked the suppliers if the organic soil was CERTIFIED, I got a bit of 'spin' that it was organic, etc ...blah, blah, blah Not one would answer in the affirmative OR negative It seems Sydney is behind the times as far as CERTIFIED organic soil goes. or maybe just the shire Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 4Sep 19, 2010 8:45 pm I'm sure you've tried Google, but ... here are some results http://www.google.com.au/#num=30&hl=en&cr=countryAU&safe=active&tbs=ctr%3AcountryAU&q=certified+organic+soil&aq=1&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=certified+organic+s&gs_rfai=&fp=7d8acfbc235fcf21 My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 5Sep 19, 2010 9:02 pm The word organic just means it can be called organic It is a term thrown around pretty loosely in the nursery industry CERTIFIED Organic is a whole different thing BFA or NAASA certification is required. With out them they are no more organic than you or I or the dog poo in the back yard if you get my drift. You can kind of call many things organic. I am not BFA certified (Well unless you can make up something funny that it may stand for you might be closer to the truth ) Kimbriki eco centre would be the first place I'd look Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 6Sep 19, 2010 10:16 pm Oh yeah kimbriki is great, its round the corner from where I buy my tubestock I went outside once. The graphics were alright, but the gameplay sucked! Settlement:22nd June Slab:27th August Frame:16th Sept Bricked:21st Oct Roof:24th Nov Linings HANDOVER23rd March! Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 7Sep 20, 2010 12:09 pm I got mine from ANL (Aust Native Landscapes) and they have certified organic products. They are at Terrey Hills and now at Nth Ryde. The soil conditioner/compost that I got was about $60 a cube with a $60 delivery charge but no-where else around seemed to have certified organic products. The first delivery I got was unreal - it smelt wonderful and I had neighbours walk past and asked where I got it as they hadn't seen decent stuff like this before and knew it couldn't have been from the local landscape supplies mob. I was a little disappointed in the second lot though because it had pieces of plastic and wire and stuff through it so I'm not sure why. Overall though I've been happy with their products and my plants are doing well and hopefully the turf (when it is laid in a couple of weeks) will do equally as well. Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 9Sep 21, 2010 8:33 am Jeg I got mine from ANL (Aust Native Landscapes) and they have certified organic products. They are at Terrey Hills and now at Nth Ryde. The soil conditioner/compost that I got was about $60 a cube with a $60 delivery charge but no-where else around seemed to have certified organic products. The first delivery I got was unreal - it smelt wonderful and I had neighbours walk past and asked where I got it as they hadn't seen decent stuff like this before and knew it couldn't have been from the local landscape supplies mob. I was a little disappointed in the second lot though because it had pieces of plastic and wire and stuff through it so I'm not sure why. Overall though I've been happy with their products and my plants are doing well and hopefully the turf (when it is laid in a couple of weeks) will do equally as well. This is interesting - they told me they sell "top soil" for $55/m3 and I didn't even inquire about organic. So, it could be worthwhile spending an extra $5/m3 for organic stuff (if that's all of the difference!!). Fu, how much of top soil is actually required? Some say 4cm, some say 10cm. I guess it's better with a thicker layer My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 10Sep 21, 2010 8:51 am I also used the ANL organic soil conditioner - I believe it's NASAA certified. After 4 years - we're in! Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 11Sep 21, 2010 12:23 pm Lex This is interesting - they told me they sell "top soil" for $55/m3 and I didn't even inquire about organic. So, it could be worthwhile spending an extra $5/m3 for organic stuff (if that's all of the difference!!). Fu, how much of top soil is actually required? Some say 4cm, some say 10cm. I guess it's better with a thicker layer Lex, I looked on their website first to read about their products. I've noticed the website has been updated recently though because they used to have a tab that said "Certified organic" products or something like that so that's how I knew which products to look at. I don't think they differentiate now as easily and you have to read through all the various products. I was referred to them by Flower Power because they said they were pretty much the only ones they knew about who did Certified Organic products. ANL also recommended me to the lawn underlay for my grass but I checked with Fu because I didn't want sand to go with my sand! Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 12Sep 21, 2010 1:29 pm Hi Jeg What do you mean with "ANL also recommended me to the lawn underlay for my grass but I checked with Fu because I didn't want sand to go with my sand!" - I thought that lawn underlay is the actual "top soil" that you bought ? Oh no wait, it could be a different thing ... top soil can go on top of anything, underlay goes under need to read more about this!! Or, somene here could just quickly lay out the differences for me FU, how much of new good soil needs to be installed under a new lawn?? (hope he can see this question ) It's going over hard core clay My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 13Sep 21, 2010 3:51 pm Hi Lex, no the lawn underlay that they recommended was a sand-based mix which a lot of landscape supplies place recommend. I actually ordered their product called Recarb Essence (I think) which was a certified organic compost soil conditioner and we've mixed it through our sand down to 400mm (with zeolite, spongolite, Olsens Bio and kitty litter). I didn't hire a rotary hoe because no-one had one that could till to this depth. Still got the blisters!!! I think the top soil that is generally sold is what you would use (well not us Fu-converts) to go on top of the grass each year when you do a bit of maintenance or you are trying to level off any mishaps when the turf was layed. Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 15Sep 21, 2010 11:15 pm The answers you seek are in the lawn thread. I outline why I don't suggest using sands and it is rteally important to not layer your soils. You get weak root growth and poor stress resistance. In other words, your lawn can get expensive to look after and make the whole job harder than needed. Do the work now and it will be great later Certified organic soils. I don't use lawn this and lawn that. I don't recommend lawn this and lawn that. You need a mix of your existing soil, some sand, and a large organic soil content. Nutrient leaching from sandy soils is a problem. It is also going to dry faster than a Billy Connelly ticket can sell on ebay. I put a heap of work in here to get you guys a better standard of advice and info than you encounter commonly. Read it here, do it and every thing works. Compromise on the soil types, structure methods and compromise on your results and your future budget for the landscapes you construct. Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 16Sep 21, 2010 11:16 pm This business of having layers of good soil on top of poor soil is a terrible practice. 300-400mm is the magic depth of soil prep where ever possible. If you do 200mm then it's better than nothing. Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 18Oct 22, 2010 2:32 pm I have been looking through the ANL website http://anlscape.com.au/ but I cannot find any mentioned about certified organic soil. Is there anyone in Sydney that has got the "Certified organic soil" in Sydney? Many thanks, Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 19Oct 22, 2010 3:36 pm Fu Manchu The word organic just means it can be called organic It is a term thrown around pretty loosely in the nursery industry CERTIFIED Organic is a whole different thing BFA or NAASA certification is required. With out them they are no more organic than you or I or the dog poo in the back yard if you get my drift. You can kind of call many things organic. I am not BFA certified (Well unless you can make up something funny that it may stand for you might be closer to the truth ) Kimbriki eco centre would be the first place I'd look Call them up, if they don't have it, they will know where you can get your mits on some good compost somewhere Re: Where to find certified organic soil in Sydney?? 20Oct 26, 2010 2:25 pm Thanks Fu, I have called them and they do have "Certified Organic Soil" for $58/m3. Since I am a garden newbie, I am trying to get all the ingredients ready for the soil prep in Fu's way. Zeoline and Spongolite is my next buy. My backyard is not bing, only 100m2 but since there is a big tree at the back, there are quite shady. Will start off with digging up all the stone (and construction waste in the garden) and then soil prep next before laying some turf. I find the feedback/answers in this forum very helpful, Thanks guys for all of your kindly sharing/advice. 8 7027 Thanks for the insight. Pretty surprised that anyone would do this to a regular customer. They are probably in a comfort zone with you for too long. Good of you always… 15 7125 4 2027 |