Lawn & Flowers
What can I use for a raised flower bed, or for planting straight in?
What can I plant grass in?
I bought the organic plus and it got a crust on top, why?

---

What can I use for a raised flower bed, or for planting straight in?
A: The preferred soil blend or garden blend.

---

What can I plant grass in?
A: Garden blend, preferred soil blend will all work for seed or sod. The soil energy grows the best grass from seed.

---

I bought the organic plus and it got a crust on top, why?
A: That's the bark base at work. The barks job on a tree is to keep wood moisture in and outside moisture out. A good soaking or a light raking before watering is all that’s needed to break it up again. Putting a mulch over the top if you have used it in containers or beds will help to retain moisture better and keep the crust from forming. For best results, do not let the soil dry out completely, but keep it moist.

---

Soil
How do I know what kind of soil I have?
What is Preferred Soil Blend?
What is Garden Soil Blend?
What is Potter's Gold Soil Mix?
What is Soil Energy?
What is Enhanced Topsoil?

---

How do I know what kind of soil I have?
A: To check your soil drainage and find out what kind of soil you have, dig a 1 foot by 1 foot hole and pour 1 gallon of water into it. The water should take about 10 minutes to drain. Wait 24 hours and pick up a handful from the bottom of the hole and squeeze.

1. If the water drained too quickly and the handful crumbles completely when you open your hand, you have sandy soil. You will want to add lots of organic material before planting to improve nutrient and water retention. We suggest dairy compost or chicken compost.
2. If the water drained too slowly and the handful forms a tight, slightly slippery ball, you have clay. Again, you will want to add lots of organic material to loosen the soil and improve aeration. We suggest organic plus, soil energy, or even premium potting mix.
3. If the drainage was fine and the handful is slightly crumbly but will hold its shape until you break it, you have loam. This is the type of soil that you want and adding compost or manure before planting will keep your plants and worms even happier!

---

What is Preferred Soil Blend?
A: A perfect blend of engineered topsoil and compost that contains plenty of nutrients to help plants grow. This is our best seller and was designed for native shrubs and flowers, and works great in raised flowerbeds and containers. Sod and trees like it too as it drains well. Contains a blend of aged screened sawdust, compost, Mt. St. Helens volcanic sand, fir fines, composted chicken manure, and iron. (pH of 6.4, sandy black in color, 20.8% organic matter.).

---

What is Garden Soil Blend?
A: A blend of aged, screened sawdust, dairy compost, Mt. St. Helens volcanic sand, compost, fir fines, peat moss, composted chicken manure, gypsum and iron made just for the vegetable and flower beds. It has a balanced pH of 7.0 and great drain ability to keep root crops (such as dahlias, bulbs, and carrots) healthy even with frequent watering. It can be used for seeds, turf topdressing, vegetable gardens and flowerbeds that like a higher pH and will be watered regularly. (pH 7.0, sandy brown in color, 21% organic matter.)

---

What is Potter's Gold Soil Mix?
A: A lightweight potting soil with everything you need to do large-scale container, planter and rooftop garden jobs. Made with aged screened sawdust, fir fines, chicken manure, compost, dairy compost, pumice, sand, humic acid and oyster shells. This product works well for plants and vegetables that like a higher pH. (pH 7 – 7.4, brown tan in color, 32% organic matter).

---

What is Soil Energy?
A: This light, absorbent and nutrient rich manufactured soil provides an excellent medium for growing grass from seed or sod or as a soil amendment tilled into your existing soil to give it a boost and improve its drain-ability. It is our lightest and most free draining soil with great fertility and growth characteristics. Soil energy combines dark humus, aged screened sawdust, fir fines, cedar fines, sand, composted chicken manure, fertilizer, lime & gypsum. (pH 6.2, brown tan in color, 38.9% organic matter.)

---

What is Enhanced Topsoil?
A: This combination of basic topsoil, dairy compost, fir fines, chicken compost, dark humus, aged sawdust, compost, and sand makes a more fertile blend for lawns, flower beds, or anywhere you'd use "dirt" but still want a little more bang for your buck! 7.0 pH

---

Decorative Rock
What do you put between the rocks?
Do you have flagstone that isn't so big?
So how do you figure out how much rock you need?
Do you have a way to deliver the decorative rock products?
So how much rock is there on a pallet?
Is there a discount if you buy a pallet?

---

What do you put between the rocks?
A: People use a variety of things: sand, pea gravel, decomposed granite, plants, and mortar. We carry Gator Dust that sweeps like sand into the cracks, you spray water over the top, and when it dries it hardens like mortar. Gator Dust can be used to fill up to 4" joints and you never have to worry about weedy cracks, ant hills, or tracked sand and rock!

---

Do you have flagstone that isn't so big?
A: Yes! We call that patio stone size. These range in size from 6-18 inches long and wide. One person can easily handle laying these. We carry a variety of colors and rock types in this size.

---

So how do you figure out how much rock you need?
A: For the thin, flat flagstone or patio stone that's in the 1-2" range, you can figure that one ton of rock will cover approximately 100-125 square feet. For the thicker pieces that are 2-3" thick approximately 75 - 95 square feet per ton. For the one man boulders you will only get about 20 square feet per ton. Each type of rock will cover differently depending on it's size and thickness and how much space you want to leave between each rock.

---

Do you have a way to deliver the decorative rock products?
A: We can deliver the decorative rock in full pallet increments.  They come on a flatbed truck that carries a forklift. There is a delivery fee that reflects the added equipment and time necessary to make these deliveries.

---

So how much rock is there on a pallet?
A: Pallets range from 3800 – 4300 pounds each and the most are right around 4000.

---

Is there a discount if you buy a pallet?
A: The discount is actually when you go over one ton or 2000 pounds.

---

Retail Products
What kind of wood is the firewood?
How do I get a cord if my truck won't hold it?
What are mill ends?

---

What kind of wood is the firewood?
A: Mostly fir and alder, but we accept fir, alder, maple, cherry, ash, and hemlock. The firewood is all mixed together, we do not separate it by species.

---

How do I get a cord if my truck won't hold it?
A: We can deliver, but if you prefer to pick it up yourself, it takes 7 of the loader buckets poured loose to make 1 cord of firewood (stacked), so we can give you a card for the seven buckets and we will mark off the card as you pick up each bucket. The cards do not expire, we carry firewood all year long, and sometimes this especially works out for the people that don't have a lot of storage space for firewood. Some people like to save a couple of buckets for summer when they go camping, too!

---

What are mill ends?
A: Mill ends, or planer ends, are the cut pieces of wood that the mill couldn't use for lumber. For whatever reason it didn't meet their quality requirements, this is a perfect product for starting fires, using as a fire wood, and some people really like it for making art & woodworking projects. The pieces usually run small enough to fit in a fireplace, although because it is scrap they can be all sizes and lengths.

---

Pavers & Walls
I have hard clay ground, do I have to use the gravel anyway?
Do I have to compact the gravel?
Does it matter what kind of sand I use under the pavers?
Does it matter what kind of sand I use over the pavers?
Do I have to use paver edging?
How do I decide how many blocks I need for making a wall?
How tall can I build a wall?
How do you keep the caps on a wall?
Do I have to use drain rock behind my wall?
I am cutting out part of a hillside and putting in a retaining wall, how high should the wall be?
How much gravel needs to be used under a retaining wall?
Do you build the wall first and then fill behind or what?
I am terracing my backyard. How close can each layer be?

---

I have hard clay ground, do I have to use the gravel
anyway?
A: Yes, clay does not stay hard when moisture is present. To keep pavers nice and level, you must use the gravel base.

---

Do I have to compact the gravel?
A: If you don't, mother nature will do it for you and then you will have dips and bumps and all your work will have to be re-done.

---

Does it matter what kind of sand I use under the pavers?
A: You want to use the screened sand or mason sand under your pavers.

---

Does it matter what kind of sand I use over the pavers?
A: You can use the screened sand, mason sand, bagged joint sand or even better would be to use a polymeric sand product.

---

Do I have to use paver edging?
A: Not if your pavers will be up against a poured concrete edge. Otherwise, correctly installed restraints will keep the pavers in place through all weather and uses.

---

How do I decide how many blocks I need for making a wall?
A: If you know how long you want your wall, how tall you want it and which wall product you want to use, we can help you determine how many blocks you will need!

---

How tall can I build a wall?
A: Each of the wall products has a maximum height for gravity walls. In the state of Washington, any wall over 4 feet high must be engineered; we can order wall products that can go as high as you need to go!

---

How do you keep the caps on a wall?
A: Any cement adhesive will work. They come in tubes for use with a caulking gun. Do not adhesive the wall blocks, however, there must be room for some movement.

---

Do I have to use drain rock behind my wall?
A: Short answer--yes. Long answer-- if you are making a little wall two feet high that is surrounding your flower bed, drainage is probably not as big of an issue as if you were to build a raised area that your garage will be sitting on. Drainage in Southwest Washington should always be taken care of at the beginning of a project. If you have to go back to do something about it later, think of the cost and headache to tear it all apart again or worse, have your wall end up somewhere else when the pressure of the soggy dirt takes your wall with the hillside as it comes down.

---

I am cutting out part of a hillside and putting in a retaining wall, how high should the wall be?
A: If you are undercutting a hill around here--get an engineer to help you design it. Having a hillside come down and take your house with it (or your neighbor's) because you weakened the structure would be a catastrophe! They can also recommend which wall product will best suit your needs.

---

How much gravel needs to be used under a retaining wall?
A: NCMA Standards say 6" minimum depth. You also want the base to include the block , 6" in front of the wall, and 6" behind the wall to prevent movement when the wall settles. Example: The block you chose is 8" deep front to back. Your gravel trench would be 20" wide, the length of your wall and 6" deep.

---

Do you build the wall first and then fill behind or what?
A: Always backfill and compact each level as you go.

---

I am terracing my backyard. How close can each layer be?
A: However tall the first layer at the bottom is, you must at least double this for the space necessary behind that wall before you start your next wall up. If you don't follow this, the upper wall will be putting it's entire load on the bottom wall. If you will be putting more strain on a layer, like a parking area, a gazebo, a garage, you must have an engineer design your terraces so you don't end up with a big heap at the bottom of the hill!

---

Glossary
What is Compost?
What is Humus?
What is Mulch?
What are Living Mulches?
What are Permanent Mulches?
What are Green Manures (Green-growing Mulch)?
What is Sheet Composting?
What are Homemade Mulches?
What is Feeding Mulch?
What was Swanson Fuel?
What is 3/4" Minus?

---

What is Compost?
A: Organic matter undergoing or resulting from a heat fermentation process. Heat is the factor distinguishing compost from mulch.

---

What is Humus?
A: Dark, rich, well-decomposed organic material. The end result of all composting (and mulching, eventually) is humus. Rotting organic matter cannot be considered humus until you no longer can identify the original compost material. Humus is the final by-product of thoroughly decomposed mulch as well as compost.

---

What is Mulch?
A: Can be any material applied to the soil surface to retain moisture, insulate and stabilize the soil, protect plants, and control weeds. Properly functioning mulch has two basic properties.

Good mulch should be:
1. Light and open enough to permit the passage or water and air and

2. dense enough to inhibit or even choke weed growth.

Mulches can be divided into two fundamental categories:
1. Organic mulches are like unfinished, unheated compost. Any biodegradable material (anything that will rot) can be used as organic mulch. The most common organic mulches are shredded or chipped bark, leaves and leaf mold, hay, straw, and grass clippings.

2. Inorganic mulches don't begin as plant material. They can be substances that never rot, such as colored plastics, or they can be mineral products like crushed stone and gravel chips. Another example of inorganic mulch is geotextile landscape fabric, spun-bonded or woven from polypropylene or polyester, cut for and used as mulch.

---

What are Living Mulches?
A: Low-growing, shallow-rooted, ever-spreading ground cover plants like vinca, myrtle, thyme, sweet woodruff, English ivy, and pachysandra.

---

What are Permanent Mulches?
A: Usually made up of non disintegrating (not necessarily non biodegradable) materials. Examples are: crushed stone, gravel, and marble chips.

---

What are Green Manures (Green-growing Mulch)?
A: Basically cover crops like ryegrass, alfalfa, and buckwheat that meet the definition of mulch.

---

What is Sheet Composting?
A: A layer of organic matter (alfalfa leaves or stalks, for example) is laid on the top of the growing surface and then worked into the earth by plow, tiller, or spade. Once covered or partially covered with dirt, the organic matter decomposes very rapidly but without heat.

---

What are Homemade Mulches?
A: They include dry coffee grounds, tea leaves, chopped paper, stringy pea pods and vegetable leavings (no meat, bones, fat or dairy products, though, these will attract critters).

---

What is Feeding Mulch?
A:Rotten leaves, manures, and compost (compost can also be used as mulch) are the most obvious kinds of feeding mulches..

---

What was Swanson Fuel?
A: That was the name of this company until we changed it in 1997. Swanson Fuel was an appropriate name when all we did was take loads of bark and stuff to the mills for hogfuel (to burn). Once we began to expand and do new things, we needed a new name.

---

What is 3/4" Minus?
A: This is the Oregon State Spec for crushed base rock. Washington State Spec is 5/8" Minus, which we carry.

---