Overview
An elite product, Horticultural Compost is the choice for the most discerning horticulturists when landscapes require superior performance and the best quality compost. Horticultural Compost is a great choice for high profile landscapes, like public and botanical gardens, upscale ornamental plantings and turf. Horticultural Compost is STA Certified and made from only the highest quality agricultural feedstocks, composted at our state of the art facility, and tested regularly through the US Composting Council's Seal of Testing Assurance Program (STA) to ensure quality and consistency. Horticultural Compost is rich in organic matter, essential nutrients, is chock full of beneficial biology, and has a fine granular texture that gives this compost a lighter, more friable quality, making it a pleasure to work with.
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Ingredients
Horticultural Compost is made through the process of aerobically windrow composting our very own post-harvest mushroom compost. Mushroom compost is made from ingredients that include a majority of hay and straw with smaller proportions of horse manure, poultry litter, corncobs, cottonseed hulls, cocoa bean hulls, lime, gypsum and sphagnum peat moss. We add some proprietary carbon sources to improve the carbon to nitrogen ratio as we formulate our windrows. We also add a bulking agent that increases the oxygen content and temperature of the windrows. After six to nine months of composting the then aged and stabilized compost is moved into large cover-all buildings to cure for several additional months until is is screened and sold. The end result of this thorough process is a fine yet slightly granular texture that is nice to work with and provides a perfect balance of organic matter, fertility and biology.
Analytical
Horticultural Compost is STA Certified, with a rich brown black color. It has a high organic matter content, a fine particle size, and a nice granular texture. It has a broad spectrum of essential nutrients, beneficial soil biology and a near neutral pH. This light and spongy compost is screened to 1/2″ and weighs 1100 to 1600 lbs/cubic yard. STA Certified Technical Data Sheets provided upon request.
Benefits
Horticultural Compost is our premier compost designed and formulated to give discerning horticulturalists a high performance, stable, balanced, consistent product that can be trusted time and again. This is the number one choice for arboretums and public gardens. Applying compost is the best way to build fertile, productive, and healthy soil. The fertility supplied by compost is released slowly, lasting for at least an entire growing season if not several years, providing safe and sustainable organic nutrients. The abundant microorganisms in compost act to enhance the soil’s immune system, helping to fight off and prevent soil diseases. The physical characteristics of the organic matter help build strong soil structure, creating a well aggregated and porous, yet sponge-like soil matrix that is more resistant to compaction. This matrix provides for the right balance of moisture and oxygen in the root zone which promotes healthy deep rooting plants. It also improves the moisture holding capacity of light sandy soils while improving infiltration and permeability in heavier clay based soils. Compost also improves the cation exchange capacity (CEC) and can help adjust soil pH.
Benefits at a Glance
- Organic Matter
- Nutrients
- Biology
- Water Holding Capacity
- Improves Soil Structure and Porosity
STA Certified
Applications
STA Certified Horticultural Compost is a great choice for landscapes, trees, shrubs, turf, gardens, flowers, fruits, vegetables, farming, commercial construction and soil blending. Horticultural Compost is Laurel Valley’s high performance top shelf option.
Topsoil Upgrade: The US Composting Council recommends “Strive for Five,” meaning a good target organic matter content for an ideal soil should be 5% by weight. When amending depleted or shallow soils, depending on the results of a soil test, mix in several inches of compost aiming for a blended end result of 5% organic matter content by weight.
