Organic garden mix vs compost?

SmiTTy on 22/08/2014 - 21:42

Hi ozb'ers

I've got some pretty bad , clay soil in my garden bed that I need to amend. To do this, I want to add some good quality compost - originally thinking of purchasing lots of bags of soil amendments incl. mushroom compost, manures etc.

But i've also been looking around at few places that sell bulk "garden mix" or "organic mix" . Is this the same as compost and can it be used to amend my clay soil ? Or is this totally different?

2 Examples :
http://www.turtlenursery.com.au/soils-supplies.html
http://www.soilnstuff.com.au/bulk-materials/

The second link contains the makeup of the "organic garden mix" as :
60% River Loam
20% Cow Manure
10% Composted Greens
5% Coarse River Sand

One of my concerns is that it contains sand - from what I've read if you want to add sand you should add 75% sand to 25% soil … thats why I wonder if this is just a garden mix to plant in, and I should use different [bagged] compost for soil amendment or if these types of mixes can be use as a soil amendment.

Keen to hear your thoughts .. Thanks !

Home & Garden

Comments

  • MegaSuperUltraTight on 23/08/2014 - 04:58

    I like it organic, I pee on my garden veggies and place the poo around my plants. I collect water when it rains for garden use.

  • Shadow54 on 23/08/2014 - 10:48

    It takes a bit of time and effort to improve clay soil. If it's really bad, dig in some gypsum to break up the clay. I prefer using "homemade" compost because I know what's in it, whereas commercial compost could contain all kinds of rubbish and possibly chemical residues.
    To grow vegies, rather than breaking your back dealing with the clay soil, make raised beds in boxes. The process is simple:
    Construct a box to the size you want. Old railway sleepers are best (much better than treated pine).
    Cover the ground where you're going to place the box with thick layers of newspaper.
    Place a thick layer of pea straw over the newspaper.
    Place a layer of old manure over the straw.
    Place a layer of loam (good topsoil) over the manure.
    Repeat the layering (except for the newspaper) until the box is full.
    Water well.
    Top up the layering if needed.
    Allow to stand for a fortnight or so, watering every few days to settle the mix.
    Plant your seedlings.
    Good luck!

  • [Deactivated] on 23/08/2014 - 10:48

    That garden mix looks pretty boring. Just standard filler.

    What are growing in said garden bed? If vegies you probably just want to add compost/manure and maybe gypsum to break the clay down a bit.

    https://www.organicgardener.com.au/articles/jerry%E2%80%99s-…

    • Shadow54 on 23/08/2014 - 15:39

      Everything grows in the beds. The nutrients from the pea straw (nitrogen) and the manure are all the plants need. Been growing vegies like this for years and no probs except beds can dry out quickly in hot weather. No back-destoying digging though, which is a tremendous bonus!

  • SmiTTy on 23/08/2014 - 12:59

    Thanks for the guidance :)
    Part of the bed will just be some hedges and the other part of the clay bed will be veg. Unfortunately raised beds aren't an option for me…

    Looks like I might just need to get some bagged compost rather than bulk by the sounds of it.. :S

    • Marble250 on 23/08/2014 - 17:49

      An addition of sand is of course to give the soil good drainage……I wouldn't recommend it to you, but I use crushed sandstone… cheapest of all and does the job.
      If you are near to a vegetable market get as much green off-cut stuff as they will give you and plow it in, along with grass clippings, leaves and any small non fibrous garden material that will break down over time with shredded paper/cardboard (do you know anyone in an office?) Any time you can pick up cheap manure cow, sheep chicken, horse or sheep it's all good!
      As a previous OP said….use gypsum to help with the hydrophobic problems of the clay base.
      Just keep repeating the above and wait until "the worms arrive"….then you will know you're on the way.

  • SmiTTy on 23/08/2014 - 19:52

    Thank you all :D

  • alexisasche on 25/08/2014 - 21:30

    I think organic garden mix is much more useful than the compost and I myself use all organic things for my garden.

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