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THE OAKVILLE BEAVER W ednesdsay M ay 17, 2000 Petrie's develops special soil for grass seeding T he M ay long w eekend, traditionally famous for planting the sum m er garden, has finally arrived. If you're like most O akville hom eowners, you've discovered by now that your grass is full o f brown patches-- unsightly destruction from grubs. M any o f the local garden centres have noticed a dramatic increase in overseeding in Oakville. Is your soil healthy? The three major elements of healthy soil are water, oxygen and nutrients. Remove any one or create the w rong balance and the soil becomes inferior. A ccording to Petrie's Quality Topsoil Ltd., many people may be mistaken in believing their soil is in `good enough' condition. Petrie's Quality Topsoil has a unique blend o f `triple m ix' 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 provides 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 replen ish 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 fer tilizer." O rganic fertilizers encourage m icrobial activity (i.e. worms) which is a vital component o f any healthy garden. Petrie's will supply any size load o f soil from 1 cubic yard to 30 cubic yards in one delivery to a customer. They also offer convenient sized bags for pick-up, easily maneuvered in and out of your car. W hen 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. New products this year at Petrie's are red or black coloured mulch. "People enjoy using mulch because it is decorative, low maintenance and retains moistur," says Wheeler. With con tinuing success, natural bark mulch is still avail able. 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 cus tomers. They are available 24 hours a day, seven New soil fo r grass seeding "W e've developed a soil called `Top Dressing Soil' especially for over-seeding," said Petrie's Q uality Topsoil Ltd. co-ow ner John W heeler. "It's a special blend of loam and m anure which decom poses much better than triple mix. If you use triple mix, because it d o e sn 't decom pose properly, you end up m ulching the law n." The Top Dressing Soil, a huge success since its introduction this spring, was developed by Petrie's agronom ist (or D irt Doctor as W heeler likes to call him) in response to the local grub problem. The intention was a soil that would decom pose well into the grass, with loam for w ater retention and m anure for nutrients. "Besides using fresh soil for seeding grass, people don't realize the im portance of soil for all th eir gardening n eeds," said W heeler. "Certain areas o f the town have clay-based earth. These areas lack drainage, which will rot the ro o tin g system o f plants, flow ers and shrubs. O ther areas are too sandy, which causes too m uch d rainage, dehydrating the plant growth. It's im portant to have the proper ratio o f organic material that holds on to some m ois ture but still offers good drainage as well as nutrients." Healthy soil is the key to having a lush gar den all season long. Soil is more than ju st a place where plants or grass anchor their roots. It acts like a living organism providing nutrients that are fundam ental to successful growth. W hen the elem ents are in proper and natural proportion, plant growth will flourish, becom ing larger, healthier and much more vibrant than if replanted in old soil or in the original soil environm ent. 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. sup plies soil to some o f the areas most well-known garden centres such as Cudmore's Garden Centre, Fleming Bulow G arden C entre and Clargreen Gardens. They also sup ply soil to over 800 landscaping companies. Nutritionally correct They have their soil analyzed by an independent agronom ist annually to ensure it is nutritionally correct for the garden. The agronomist reports the chem ical breakdown so that Petrie's can meet the chemical requirements of a good soil mix. "If this isn't done you never know what condition 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 gardens with grass or bricks are usually the people who took on too much all at once." W heeler recommends to add a little more each year to a small starter bed rather than over whelm yourself with what was supposed to be an enjoyable pastime. Petrie's Quality Topsoil Ltd. was established by Gordon Petrie in 1991 just following the recession. The business tied in perfectly with his excavating 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 G e t d o w n t o t h e d i r t - W hether you're re seeding your lawn, planting a vegetable garden or flowers and shrubs, success begins with hhealthy 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. 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 W eller Court and one at 4321 Sixth Line ju st north o f Dundas. Call 842SOIL and they'll be happy to direct you to the appropriate location. V IC T O R IA i DAY W EEKEND Saturday; Sunday & M onday For Pick-up and/or Delivery I TOP DRESSING MIX BUCK LOAM TRIPtI MIX · S C R E E N E D S O IL · 100% COMPOST · MANURE · BA R K M ULCHES · 1 " WC4][nni M A R B L E · R O U N D STO NE I " -- -- -- -- -- -- -- S C R E E N IN G S 3 / 4 CLEAR 3 /4 CRUSHER R U N 3 / 4 CO NCRETE STO N E B R IC K (P L A Y ) S A N D CO NCRETE S A N D · PEA STO N E · R E D C R U S H E D B R IC K HOW TO ORDER: LENGTH X W IDTH X DEPTH (in feet) -- ^27 = # OF CUBIC YARDS O lm pam al S e rv lc e m In c . "4-14 cu. yd. Mini Bins Now Available' Please inquire at 740 Weller Court, Unit D Present this c o u p o n fo r a . .. 1 Redeemable at 740 Weller Court Location Only. I ^Umit one per customer. Valid until May 31, 2 0 0 0 j FREE BAG OF . POTTING SOIL O akville_____ S O U T H S ER VIC E RD W Y E C R O F T RD I I . PETRIE'S 842-SOIL Member of: sail 7 4 0 W e lle r C o u r t r B ji the Yard or B y the SOPSOIL ] Pick-up or Delivery Milton/Oakville/Miss. -------------- 401 D E R R Y RO ^ EGUNGTON 403 L O W E R B AS E ^ r Ig * " * ; " R s 3 T UJ z m D U N D A S (H W Y 51 1 X to B a g Landscape Ontario -- H O R TICU LTU R AL TRAD ES AS S O CIATION 4321 6th Line, Milton 2 Locations to serve better · Open 7 Days a Week