Maryland Department of Transportation State highway Administration (MDOT SHA) manages a standard specification for both a Topsoil and Bio-Retention Soil Mix. Producers must be pre-qualified via annual testing to be on the eligible supplier list.
Site Contractor
Maryland Department of Environment: MDE B.4.1 Bio-Retention Filter Media is designed to meet the Maryland Stormwater Design Manual, Appendix B.4.1, MDE B.4.1 Bio-Retention Filtering Media
Quality soil is the foundation of every great landscape. Our Enriched Topsoil is the highest quality, best performing all-purpose landscape soil, and we ensure unparalleled consistency from load to load, year in and year out. Enriched Topsoil is a well balanced loam soil with a rich dark brown color, is screened to a half inch, and is stored out of the elements in an expansive covered building. Because of our large scale infrastructure and state of the art equipment, we are able to stockpile inventories so that we can provide our soil year round to meet our customers’ needs, whether that be one truck load for a residential landscape or a thousand truck loads for a highway infrastructure project.
Laurel Valley Soils’s Premium Compost is an STA Certified, high quality all-purpose compost for landscapes, gardens, farming, commercial, reclamation, DOT Projects and soil blending. This high end yet practical compost is our go-to workhorse, thanks to its high organic matter content, broad spectrum of slow release nutrients and beneficial microorganisms.
We use Premium Compost as a core ingredient in most of our soil blends and it stands on its own as a great topdressing and in situ soil amendment. Premium Compost is made from a blend of the highest grade agricultural feedstocks, composted at our state of the art facility and tested regularly through the US Composting Council’s Seal of Testing Assurance (STA) Program to verify and ensure quality and consistency. Applying compost is the best way to build fertile, productive, and healthy soil.
LVS Bio-Retention Soil is designed specifically to absorb, infiltrate, and filter stormwater runoff into the ground where it can safely recharge our groundwater systems reducing or eliminating surface flooding and potential related damage. The goal of a bioretention basin is to capture and divert stormwater runoff displaced from impervious surfaces. Well-designed basins also filter out untreated pollutants that otherwise might flow directly into waterways. Many bioretention basins are large in scale and while they can have attractive plantings, these utilitarian designed basins are generally located out of sight, at the low end of a parking lot or downslope from a building or road. LVS Bio-Retention Soil is also designed to be used in Rain Gardens. Rain Gardens are basically smaller versions of bioretention basins and usually planted with a more ornamental and colorful planting design. Rain Gardens are used for both new construction and retrofitting older properties to bring them into stormwater compliance. These aesthetically pleasing rain garden features are typically designed to blend into the greater landscape design of the property.
A stormwater management plan is now a requirement with all new construction that creates impervious surfaces. Water must be contained on site or at least slowed down to prevent harmful flooding and pollutant movement. Bio-Retention basins and Rain Gardens are part of the building code and are required for most building projects including renovations and expansions.
PWD Stormwater Soil was originally developed by the Philadelphia Water Department as part of a large green infrastructure policy. The PWD Stormwater Soil was designed to mitigate stormwater runoff when used in applications such as rain gardens, bioretention basins and bioswales. The soil is designed to absorb, infiltrate, and filter stormwater runoff into the ground where it can safely recharge groundwater systems and reduce surface flooding. PWD requires blenders to certify their compliance of this mix twice a year. Laurel Valley Soils has been involved with the PWD Green Infrastructure program from inception and has been an approved supplier every year. Many other cities and municipalities have since adopted this well preforming specification. The goal of a bioretention basin is to capture and divert stormwater runoff displaced from impervious surfaces. Well-designed basins also filter out untreated pollutants that otherwise might flow directly into waterways. Many bioretention basins are large in scale and while they can have attractive plantings, these utilitarian designed basins are generally located out of sight, at the low end of a parking lot or downslope from a building or road.
A stormwater management plan is now a requirement with all new construction that creates impervious surfaces. Water must be contained on site or at least slowed down to prevent flooding and pollutant movement. Bioretention basins are part of the building and zoning code and are required for most building projects including renovations and expansions. The understanding and design of these soils is evolving rapidly.
Many projects have unique site conditions and landscape design criteria which can require custom soil solutions. We can create most engineered custom blended soils to fit your project’s design and performance requirements and in the absence of a specification we can offer one of our many off the shelf engineered soil options or collaborate to develop a site specific mix. We can make biosoils, rain garden soils, structural soils, light weight soils, planting soils, rootzone sports turf soils, divot mixes, container/planter soils, paver soil, other aggregates and more. We also provide CU-Structural Soil.
For Engineers and Landscape Architects looking ahead to incorporate new specifications for future projects, we can help with that as well. We can provide guidance and consultation for creating new custom specifications.
DOT Grade Topsoil is specifically produced to meet Department of Transportation “DOT” specifications for topsoil. Screened between a 0.50 and 1.25-inch minus, this heavier courser grade soil is our most economical offering and can be produced in large quantities year-round.
Aged Mushroom Compost (AMC) is an all-purpose compost for landscapes, gardens, farming, soil reclamation, commercial site work and soil blending. Aged Mushroom Compost is composted in the same windrows as our Premium Compost. The main difference is that it is not screened and it is not stockpiled in our covered storage structures. This is a great option for large volume budget sensitive projects, as the important nutrient, biological, and organic matter benefits are the same as with our Premium Compost. AMC is made from our standard blend of the highest grade agricultural feedstocks, composted at our state of the art facility and tested regularly to verify and ensure quality and consistency.
We provide many types of mulch, including Triple Ground Aged Natural Hardwood, Black, Brown, and Red Dyed, Playground Certified, Aged Pine Bark and Pine Bark Fines, Double Ground Natural Hardwood and Wood Chips. Mulches are shipped in either tri-axle or tractor trailers, depending on the service area.
