More homeowners in Orland Park (IL) are creating their own at-home “farm-stand garden” – and for good reason. The taste and texture of a grocery-store tomato cannot compare with what you can produce and enjoy with your own garden.
When you grow and harvest your own food, you know where it came from, how it’s been grown and how long it’s been from harvest to table. Many would agree it’s worth the time and effort to grow your own produce.
The same can be said for creating a lush, green lawn. Commercial chemical applications can be costly while delivering only mixed results. Cookie-cutter prescribed applications of fertilizers, herbicides and even pesticides likewise leave many Orland Park homeowners wondering why they don’t have the lush, green lawn shown in the sales brochure.
Many Orland Park homeowners can also become concerned about the chemical products used in their yard. Are they safe for children and pets? Are they harmful to their property and the environment? Similarly as for your own vegetable garden, you can know what you’re putting onto your lawn, why it’s being used and how it’s being applied.
Tim Wallace Soil Mix Supply supports you with the ideas, advice and materials for the vibrant look and health you desire for your Orland Park garden, lawn and landscape.
Orland Park (IL) Success in the Yard: Start with the Soil
Achieving the best results for your garden, lawn or landscape bed begins with choosing the optimal soil. At Tim Wallace Soil Mix Supply, our soil blends arrive to you ready-for-use – no mixing required.
We have the area’s only onsite soil-mixing facility, where we move each soil mix through our four-step blending process.
Step One: We gather all required materials from their enclosed, covered storage bins
Step Two: The materials are piled atop one another in our mixing bin and then turned over several times with an end-loader
Step Three: Once blended, the soil mix is mechanically processed in our diesel-powered pulverizer
Step Four: A conveyor belt attached to the pulverizer moves your blended product up to where it drops the finished soil mix into the bed of the delivery truck
Orland Park (IL) Garden Soil: Three Key Elements
The best garden soil mixtures include three key elements: moisture control, primary planting media and organic fertilized soil.
Moisture control. All gardens depend greatly on moisture. A good soil mixture with plenty of organic matter will hold more of it.
At the same time, too much moisture can cause root rot. The same can be said of the wrong kind of sand, as sand either holds or sheds moisture depending on the type in the mixture. Coarse sand will support water drainage in raised garden beds, which can tend to hold water and get soggy. Fine sand for in-ground gardens and lawns will help retain moisture.
A soil mix that includes composted soil with horse manure – a natural moisture retainer – is best used without adding sand.
Primary planting media. A good garden soil mix with plenty of quality topsoil (black dirt) is essential. Note that topsoil alone isn’t enough for the garden to thrive.
Organic fertilizer. A quality garden soil with a vigorous organic material such as compost is likewise important to desired results. When included in proper proportions, compost adds vital nutrients to the garden soil mix for good soil health (too much can hurt plants and burn tender roots).
If any of this is forming question bubbles over your head, don’t worry. The soil specialists at Tim Wallace Soil Mix Supply have developed the following garden soil blends with the ideal ratio of premium materials for perfecting the lawn or farm-stand garden you’re planning in Orland Park.
Soil: Orland Park (IL) Customer Favorites
Tim’s Original Garden Mix: 50% topsoil, 25% organic compost, 25% fine sand
Even the best compost can dry out quickly, so mixing it with topsoil and fine sand is a great way to provide balanced bedding for vegetables. This soil mix gives your garden the best of all worlds, as topsoil offers a robust home for roots with plenty of water, compost provides a boost of nutrients and sand helps with soil porosity and water retention. You can also use this soil blend as a topdressing for your Orland Park lawn!
Enriched Vegetable Garden Mix: 50% topsoil, 50% composted horse manure
Topsoil is nutrient-dense – and it stays that way, which helps sustain plant life. Farmers also greatly value horse manure because composting it super-charges the compost pile while increasing soil fertility, regeneration and high-quality yields. The composted horse manure we use at Tim Wallace is aged and turned regularly, resulting in a distinctive subtle character.
Although not high in phosphorous and potassium, horse manure is nitrogen-rich, making it highly effective on non-flowering plants such as garden vegetables. Our Enriched Vegetable Garden Mix also requires no sand because the composted horse manure has its own water-retention quality.
Raised Bed Mix: 50% topsoil, 25% coarse sand, 25% organic compost
Gardening magazine’s trial of the best soil mixture for raised beds found that a blend of 50% topsoil, 25% coarse sand and 25% compost was best. It determined that although the mix was heavy to put in the bed, it didn’t settle much and was simple to dig. Weeding by hand also was easy, soil fertility was good and the beds produced the best yield.
The mix’s coarse sand – which creates porosity and allows more drainage – is desirable for making a dense soil such as clay more porous. Flowers, tomatoes and root vegetables such as beets and radishes are all examples of plants that can grow well in soil with coarse sand. Coarse sand is the preferred choice for raised-bed gardens of all kinds.
Organic compost, which is a by-product of recycled organic materials such as leaves, vegetable scraps and small twigs, turns into a rich soil amendment gardeners refer to as “Black Gold.” It is the perfect compost amendment for your raised garden bed.
The topsoil in the mix also contains its own lush blend of nutrients needed for healthy plants. Our Raised Bed Mix is by far one of our most popular garden soil mixtures.
Premium Compost Mix: 50% mushroom compost, 50% organic compost
Over time, garden soil will become depleted of vital nutrients. When that happens, plant growth, production and health will suffer. To keep your soil fertile and high in organic components, a re-application of compost every two or three years is recommended.
Our Premium Compost Mix is a powerful blend of two great organics that will rejuvenate and energize your garden. Because this mix has no topsoil, it should be introduced only into existing gardens that still have a sufficient amount of black dirt. Some of our Orland Park customers have also used this blend in their landscape beds with great success.
Mulch, which many homeowners use around plants and shrubs, will eventually deprive the underlying soil of nitrogen. Adding a 1″ layer of the Premium Compost Mix before you spread your mulch is a great option for fertilizing plants, trees and shrubs naturally.
Upgrade to Purple Cow
Nationally known and trusted Purple Cow Classic Compost is a proven, time-tested way to add beneficial microbes, carbon and balanced nutrients to your vegetable garden soil.
A 100% plant-based and organic component, the Purple Cow Compost improves soil structure and porosity in creating a better plant-root environment. It also reinforces nutrient retention and use while reducing nutrient loss caused by leaching. Purple Cow includes humus to assist in soil aggregation and nutrient availability for the plant as well.
As mentioned, even the best compost can dry out quickly, so mixing it with topsoil and sand is a great way to provide balanced media for lawns and bedding for flowers and vegetable plants. Our premium soil mixtures provide three top benefits for your garden:
- Topsoil for a healthy home for roots with plenty of water
- Purple Cow Compost for a healthy boost of nutrients
- Sand for soil porosity and water control
Our premium garden soil mixes save you both time and effort as everything your garden needs – high-quality black dirt, sand, naturally fertilized soil – is a prepared blend ready for spreading into your garden.
Premium Garden Mix: 50% topsoil, 25% Purple Cow Compost, 25% fine sand (best for in-ground gardens and as a lawn topdressing)
Premium Raised Bed Mix: 50% topsoil, 25% Purple Cow Compost, 25% coarse sand (best for garden beds raised above the ground)
Soil Mix Supply for Orland Park (IL) Lawns & Gardens: Contact Us Today
A flourishing garden and yard provides more than tasty, organic food; healthier plants and shrubs; and lush, green grass – it’s also beautiful to look at.
A name trusted by homeowners and contractors for over 40 years, Tim Wallace was one of the nation’s first landscape suppliers to offer specialty soil mixes. Our soil-mix offerings have increased through the years as we always continue seeking new ways to meet the demands of today’s savvy gardener. To find out more about the right “garden soil near me” for Orland Park, contact us at (630) 759-1080!
