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'Leading The Wav' .A+h-niai>u l̂ yurur1 >'; W INDOW S & DOORS - J B S B I p I B B i RIDLEY SHOWROOM 35 Crawford Cr., Campbellville • S A L E S • S E R V I C E For All Your Window, Door, Column & Moulding Needs THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday. Mav 19. 1999 _ „ grass seeding BŷN,enke r ' retains moisture. The hippest qpIIptq ar#=By Nienke T. Jonkman ADVERTISING FEATURE T he May long weekend, traditionally famous for planting the summer gar­ den, has finally arrived. If you're like most Oakville homeowners, you've discovered by now that your grass is full of brown patches--unsightly destruction from grubs. Many of the local garden centres have noticed a dramatic increase in overseeding in Oakville. New soil for grass seeding "We've developed a soil called 'Top Dressing Soil' especially for over-seeding," said Petrie's Quality Topsoil Ltd. co-owner John Wheeler. "It's a special blend of loam and manure which decom­ poses much better than triple mix. If you use triple mix, because it doesn't decompose properly, you end up mulching the lawn." The Top Dressing Soil, a huge success since its introduction this spring, was developed by Petrie's agronomist (or Dirt Doctor as Wheeler likes to call him) in response to the local grub problem. The intention was a soil that would decompose well into the grass, with loam for water retention and manure for nutrients. "Besides using fresh soil for seeding grass, people don't realize the importance of soil for all their gardening needs," said Wheeler. "Certain areas of the town have clay-based earth. These areas lack drainage, which will rot the rooting sys­ tem of plants, flowers and shrubs. Other areas are too sandy, which causes too much drainage, dehy­ drating the plant growth. It's important to have the proper ratio of organic material that holds on to some moisture but still offers good drainage as well as nutrients." Healthy soil is the key to having a lush garden all season long. Soil is more than just a place where plants or grass anchor their roots. It acts like a living organism providing nutrients that are fun­ damental to successful growth. When the ele­ ments are in proper and natural proportion, plant growth will flourish, becoming larger, healthier and much more vibrant than if replanted in old soil or in the original soil environment. Is your soil healthy? The three major elements of healthy soil are water, oxygen and nutrients. Remove any one or create the wrong balance and the soil becomes inferior. According to Petrie's Quality Topsoil Ltd., many people may be mistaken in believing their GET DOWN TO THE DIRT--Whether you're re-seeding your lawn, planting a vegetable garden or planting flowers and shrubs, success begins with healthy soil. With the recent grub problem in Oakville, many people have been using Petrie's new "Top Dressing Soil" developed especially for overseeding the grass. soil is in 'good_,enough' condition. Petrie's Quality Topsoil has a unique blend of 'triple mix' consisting of 50 percent screened soil, 40 per cent organic compost and 10 per cent horse manure. "The organic compost ingredient makes our product better," said Wheeler. "It provides a well balanced nutritious mix which is necessary for plant growth, and contains wood fibre which pro­ vides porosity." Many people turn over their soil each spring with the belief that this will provide the plant roots with enough air. All this does is break up the compactness of the soil, it does not replenish lost nutrients or provide the proper level of porosity. "All soils lose nutrients due to rain and con­ sumption," said Wheeler. "The soil then needs supplements and additives. We offer an alterna­ tive to chemical fertilizer, ours is an organic fertil­ izer." Organic fertilizers encourage microbial activity (i.e. worms) which is a vital component of any healthy garden. Petrie's will supply any size load of soil from 1 cubic yard to 30 cubic yards in one delivery to a customer. They also offer soil by the bag for pick­ up. When you pick up the bags, they will provide you with a handy trunk liner that is covered with gardening tips from insect control to vegetable care. Also new this year at Petrie's is a supply of nat­ ural bark mulches. These too have been very suc­ cessful, Wheeler says people enjoy using mulch because it is decorative, low maintenance and retains moisture. The biggest sellers are shredded pine mulch and shredded cedar mulch. The Petrie's staff are very proud of their ser­ vice, and go out of their way to please customers. They are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and waiting is at a minimum (usually same day delivery) because they have a fleet of a dozen, well-maintained trucks at their disposal during the busy spring season from April 1 to Father's Day. The service is also very personal, with staff members always eager to help over the phone and in person. Petrie's Quality Topsoil Ltd. supplies soil to some of the areas most well-known garden centres such as Cudmore's Garden Centre, Fleming Bulow Garden Centre and Clargreen Gardens. They also supply soil to over 800 landscaping companies. Nutritionally correct They have their soil analyzed by an indepen­ dent agronomist annually to ensure it is nutrition­ ally correct for the garden. The agronomist reports the chemical breakdown so that Petrie's can meet the chemical requirements of a good soil mix. "If this isn't done you never know what condi­ tion your soil is in," said Wheeler. "If the soil isn't mature enough it will take out nutrients rather than provide them, and too much salt would kill plants. "Oakville is an upscale community that takes pleasure in its nice homes and gardens," said Wheeler. Asked what advice he would give the new gardener, he said, "Start small, don't take on too much initially. People who replace their gar­ dens with grass or bricks are usually the people who took on too much all at once." Wheeler recommends to add a little more each year to a small starter bed rather than overwhelm yourself with what was supposed to be an enjoy­ able pastime. Petrie's Quality Topsoil Ltd. was established by Gordon Petrie in 1991 just following the reces­ sion. The business tied in perfectly with his exca­ vating business which produced soil from the sites which could either be dumped in landfill or reused. This healthy product is screened and mixed to Petrie's unique blends and serves as the base for the products at Petrie's Quality Topsoil. They have two pick-up locations, one near QEW and Dorval at 740 Weller Court and one at 4321 Sixth Line just north of Dundas. Call 842- SOIL and they'll be happy to direct you to the appropriate location. SCREENED SOIL 100% COMPOST MANURE BARK MULCHES 1" MKlinni MARBLE ROUND STONE L Present this coupon for a . .. 1 HREL BAG OF 1 | CEDAR MULCH ■ I Redeemable at 7 4 0 W eller Court Location Only. I Limit one per customer. Valid until July 1 /9 9 . j Oakville___ _ Yard or SCREENINGS 3/4 CLEAR 3/4 CRUSHER RUN 3/4 CONCRETE STONE BRICK (PLAY) SAND CONCRETE SAND STONE CRUSHED BRICK HOW TO ORDER: LENGTH X WIDTH X DEPTH (in feet) -- 3 7 = # OF CUBIC YARDS SOUTH SERVICE RD WYECROFT RD. SPEERS RD 7 4 0 W e lle r C o u r t B y the Bag PETRIE'S OPSOIL 842-SOIL ^D isposal S e rvice s In c. "4-14 cu. yd. Mini Bins Now Available' Please inquire a t 7 4 0 W elle r Court, Unit D 338-9662 Pick-up or Delivery Milton/Oakville/Miss. Member of: Landscape Ontario HORTICULTURAL TRADES ASSOCIATION D E R R Y R D H -- 401 ' r r L O W E R B A S E < E G L IN G T O N □ <OJ Z --i m 1 403 D U N D A S (H W Y 5) to Locations to serve you better • Open 4321 6th Line, Milton