Composted Hardwood Humus

Composted Hardwood Humus is an all plant based compost that is modeled after the mushroom composts of the east coast. When reading a gardening blog, it is hard not to run into the benefits of a mushroom compost. A mellow level of nutrients, very high organic matter and light fluffy texture makes it an easy tool to make use of in most garden beds here with our heavy native soils.

Composted Hardwood Humus is a unique compost to our local area. The pH is unique. The pH is often found to be between 6 and 7. The lowest pH compost that we have been able to put together. Another unique aspect to Composted Hardwood Humus is it's very low salt level. The salt levels are often found to be around .004 mmchos. By far and away the lowest salt level of any of our composts. There are more interesting aspects to this compost, but I'll have to address those another day.

1-5 cubic yards purchased

Compost

6 plus yards, volume discount

Compost

A compost that is differant from the rest.

We hunted this material out because of its unique attributes. This compost is not someone else's waste, it's a treasure.

Benefits of Composted Hardwood Humus

Produced from plant material
High in organic matter, loosens soil
Increased water-holding capacity for soil
Low in available nutrients, low propensity to burn plants
Free of weed seeds
Beneficial soil biology
No unpleasant odor
Free of harmful pathogens
Fine texture, easily handled with a shovel

Recommended Uses

Gardens
Flower beds
Berry beds
Tree planting
Shrub planting
A dense peat moss substitute
Pathway mulch, fine and dark
Bed mulch, to be turned under at the end of the season

Directions for Use

Confirmation - Be sure to cross reference the product on your receipt of purchase to confirm you are reading the directions of use for the correct product.

Location of use - Composted Hardwood Humus is a soil amendment and therefore has many uses. These uses include, but are not limited to, vegtable and herb gardens, flower beds, tree planting, topdressing trees and berry bushes. Any application where you wish to increase water holding capacity and encourage biological diversity, particularly soil borne fungi.

Gardens and flower beds - Depth recommendations for gardens and flower beds vary between 1 - 4". Wherein this parameter a particular garden will follow depends upon the history of the garden (new plots require more than established plots) and the depth of incoporation of the Composted Hardwood Humus (the deeper the compost is incorporated into the existing soil, the greater the amount of material within the recommendation). If you are planning to till the compost to a shallow depth (3"), then add only a small amount of compost (1"). If you are planning to till the compost deeper (10 - 12"), then add the maximum amount of compost (4"). In a vegetable or herb garden, never exceed a 70/30 mix ratio of existing soil to compost. If you are incorporating other amendments (leaves, grass clippings, etc.) at the same time, calculate them in as a part of the compost in the ratio.

Turf establishment (sod or seed) - Composted Hardwood Humus is not recommened for turf establishment. Because this compost is mellow in nutrients it will not encourage lush green growth. This compost is high in organic matter and does contribute to the water holding capacity of your soil.

Topdressing turf - We do not recommend using Composted Hardwood Humus for topdressing turf. Due to the mellow nitrogen level in this compost, it will not boost the growth of a stand of grass. We recommend the use of one of our other composts, particularlly Dairy Compost.

Tree planting - The amount recommendation for tree planting is 35% of the volume of material put back into the tree's hole. Composted Hardwood Humus is mellow and will not harm the tree via nutreint burn. Be sure to mix it well with the whole of the soil that you are using to backfill the tree. If you have any carbonaceous organic matter available, we recommend using an additional 15% of that. Good examples of carbonaceous organic matter are decomposing mulch, decomposing leaves, etc. Trees enjoy soils rich in organic matter, but do not thrive in an excess of nutrients that a nutrient rich compost will bring with it. If you are looking for a compost to use in excess of 20% in tree planting, consider our Composted Hardwood Humus, Garden Compost Recipe #5, or our Fertile Mulch.

Tree and berry topdressing - Water retention and biology can be easily made available to trees or berries by using Composted Hardwood Humus. Depth recommendations for tree and berry topdressing vary between 1/4 - 5". The use within this recommendation would vary dependant upon the size of the plants being topdressed. Composted Hardwood Humus is a wonderful way to encourage biological diversity in a garden bed. The low bacterial population and high fungal populations are remonisent of an old world forest floor. Incorporation is optional when topdressing trees and berries. If you do incorporate the compost, be sure not to damage the existing roots of your plant. When you topdress or incorporate the compost into the top few inches of soil, biology and water will take the nutrients down into the root zone.

Mulch Calculator

Figure out how much mulch you need.

How much compost do I need for my project?

To calculate the volume amount of material that you may want, we recommend using the material calculator. You are also welcome to phone us and we would love to help you calculate the answer to your question. We recommend using a depth ranging between 2 and 4 inches, followed by tilling as deep as is possible. The deeper you are able to incorporate the compost, the deeper your improved root zone for your plants will be and the greater your water bill savings as well.

Does your compost smell?

Yes, our compost, like any good quality compost should have the sweet musky smell of freshly turned garden soil. Composts that are not finished with the composting process will have a foul smell like any decomposing organic matter or manure. These foul smelling materials are to be avoided. Smell is an indication of quality. Pleasant smells are good, foul smells are a sign of an unbalanced and mismanaged compost recipe.

Weed free, is your compost?

Yes, we monitor our compost pile temperatures to insure that they exceed a temperature of 135 degrees for three days, which ensures that the unwanted weed seeds are sterilized. This is one of the greatest differences between weed free composts and weed burdened manure.

Are there pathogens in your composts?

We monitor our compost piles to insure that their temperatures exceed 135 degrees for a minimum period of three days. This process ensures that the harmful pathogens found in the beginning ingredients are destroyed by heat from the composting process.

Can compost burn or "harm my plants"?

Compost is intended to improve the condition of a soil. When a compost is rich in nutrients and is added to a soil at an excessive amount it may well harm the plants. This is good reason that compost should never be used at a percentage of higher than 50% when amending a soil. Also good reason that compost should be evenly spread and thoroughly incorporated into the soil being amended.

Can I plant into 100% compost?

No, compost is meant to be used as an amendment to the soil rather than as a soil or as a planting media. Compost must be blended, tilled or mixed into another soil for successful results.

Where do the ingredients for these compost originate?

The origin of ingredients that we begin our compost piles with is very important to us. We choose to work with only farms that are paid a premium to abstain from the use of synthetic hormones such as rBST, within their herds. We seek out carbon sources (sawdust, straw, hay) that only come from clean consistent sources. Some competing composts are derived from yard waste or biosolids which can contain high amounts of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides or heavy metal contamination. Our goal in composting is to provide a compost that will benefit our customer, rather than pawn off your neighbors' waste.

Is the compost you sell organic?

The compost we provide to you as a customer is not certified organic. We do follow the required protocol for producing organic compost, but we choose not to register as a certified organic compost because of the high cost of registration. You may be suprised to find out that the standards for producing a certified organic compost have little to do with where the parent material comes from and more to do with the processing of that material. For example an organic compost must be turned a minimum number of times, maintain a pathogen killing temperature of 135 degrees for a minimum number of days. Look for our article "How to Choose a Good Compost." We do sell our compost to several certified organic produce farms.