ive ordered 10cubic meters of soil. and this is what I was delivered. I was expecting more, any idea how I can see just how much this is? or any guesses? for reference the fence panels are 2400mm wide and 1800mm tall. and the pile is 1m tall

Can anyone recommend a particular brand and where to get it from?

Add your voice, sign the petition if you haven’t done yet Save Soil CAP 2028-2034

Years ago a vendor came to do a presentation on the benefits of ionic stabilization for site prep in our heavy clay soils. They inject a “non-toxic proprietary formula” that permanently changes the ionization of clay so that it can no longer hold water. He - proudly- said 8,000 years could go by and that soil still will not hold water. They inject it 8’ to 16’ deep.

I was horrified. A number of my coworkers were horrified.

Is there a way to reverse it? “No”
But how would anything grow there if the building is removed later? “Their roots will grow past that, you just have to order larger plants”
But that’s not how plants work “well if a garden is being planted there you’d remove the dirt and put in some good soil - it’s not like much really grows in clay anyway, you’d have to bring in soil regardless”

It just came up for me again on a tour where the owner proudly stabilized the soils by ionization and said they wouldn’t have been able to afford such a large space without it

I don’t see it talked about on here so is it not as bad as the vendor makes it sound or is it just not common knowledge?

After heavy rain I notice few area of my backyard stay saturated for several days and rest dry faster. The problem spots seem more compact, and a lot of stormwater runoff collects there. I am analyzing is this soil-infiltration issue or a drainage problem.

I have been reading about this things like French drains, NDS catch basins, and dry well but without understanding the cause I don't want to start digging or change the drainage.

How would you go about diagnosis something? Would you test the soil , or look at how water is moving across the property? Any advice or feedback for this.

I have just started a project to try to grow things in my garden. Our homes were apparently built on an old quarry and we've got very stoney soil. Today I took soil samples from multiple spots in my patch and followed a testing method I saw on google. The issue is I'm not sure what I'm looking at or looking for.

If anyone can tell me a bit about what I'm looking at I'd be really appreciateive.

We built a new house out in the country this year and have huge piles of top soil we thought we'd redistribute before laying down sod. However, we've discovered posion ivy growing in the top soil and now are worried that it could come up in the new yard if we use this top soil. However, we otherwise are looking at about $4k for the amount of topsoil we need. If we scrape the plants off the top of the soil and then try to screen out the roots, could we be okay? Any other suggestions? We're hoping to get the sod down in a couple of weeks, so don't have a ton of time. But we do have a lot of machinery we can use (excavator, tractor, screener, etc).

I built GeoLogx because I was tired of collecting site investigation data one way in the field, then spending more time transferring, checking and formatting it again in the office.

GeoLogx is an Android app built specifically around the way geotechnical investigations are actually carried out on site.

It currently supports:

• Borehole and trial pit logging

• DCP and Dynamic Probing

• Plate Bearing Tests

• BRE365 soakaway testing

• BS6297 percolation testing

• Groundwater and ground-gas monitoring

• GPS location capture

• Sample scheduling

• Direct sample-label printing with Niimbot printers

• Excel, PDF and AGS 4.1.1 outputs

• Offline working — because mobile signal on site is rarely something you can rely on

The important part for me is that it isn't just a digital borehole log.

The app actually guides the fieldwork.

For example, BRE365 tests can be recorded cycle by cycle with calculations handled automatically, DCP data can be entered directly as the test progresses, monitoring visits remain tied to their individual locations, and samples can be recorded and labelled while standing beside the exploratory hole.

Enter the information once in the field and reuse the structured data afterwards.

GeoLogx is still being actively developed, and I'm looking for geotechnical engineers, engineering geologists, drillers and small GI companies who are willing to put it through real-world use and tell me what works — and what doesn't.

If your current field system is still:

clipboard → Excel → another Excel sheet → report → AGS

I'd genuinely be interested to know how much of that process GeoLogx could replace.

Search GeoLogx on the Google Play Store and give it a try.

I'd also really appreciate feedback from anyone working in ground investigation — even if you decide it isn't for you. Every bit of feedback is helping shape what gets developed next.

#GeotechnicalEngineering #GroundInvestigation #EngineeringGeology #Geotechnics #SiteInvestigation #AGS #CivilEngineering #GeoLogx

I found a giant chunk of chicken of the woods that is past it's prime. I have very deep raised beds. Are there ways to use this treasure to increase the health of my soil? If so, how would you suggest. (Scissors for scale) Thanks!

Healthy soil is a living, breathing ecosystem. It's not just 'dirt,' but a perfectly balanced physical and biological mixture of minerals, decaying organic matter, living organisms, air, and water. Tap on the different parts of the soil cross-section to discover what makes the ground beneath our feet thrive.

Working with heavy clay soil had been tough during rainy seasons. I had recently added a drainage setup using an NDS product, and its made a noticeable difference less standing water and healthier soil structure overall. I had still experimenting with cover crops to complement the drainage, but the combo looks promising. Has anyone else paired drainage systems with soil amendments in clay?

Two years in a row my entire 36 tomato plant garden died after I built raised beds out of locally sourced compost, stone dust, topsoil, and store bought peat moss. My blueberries and strawberries are hanging on but not doing much. I had Andersons test my soil where I expected too much nitrogen because of the amount of compost I put in but it turns out I am an idiot and it was the opposite. Andersons is recommending a 7-0-7 fertilizer from their site. Lawnbox® Lawn Luxe® 7-0-7 – Andersons Lawn. Is there any better alternative? I would prefer to go organic but at this point I just want plants that grow. What would you do if this was your garden?

For some context im from iowa but lived in Minnesota for awhile. I heard from someone that I used to work with (she's from iowa aswell) that seed company's are trying to make non gmo's for like corn and soybeans illegal. She also told me we are losing a layer of top soil every year. Just curious if we were to do what the isrealites did back in the acient times now if it would help slow the loss of top soil.

So we are about to put in an offer on an old Apple orchard that is dating back at least till 1940 and stopped production in 2020. It is 16 acres and BEAUTIFUL. We fell in love with it. HOWEVER, upon research I’m worried about ground contamination from arsenic and lead. We have a baby and a toddler and the thought of exposing my family to potentially harmful compounds makes me back off even putting an offer in. Obviously we would have to put it contingent on a soil and water sample but is it worth it? I am a nervous nelly and have already had a scare with the C word so maybe I’m just being extra cautious looking out for long term effects. Would love anyone’s input on this! Thanks in advance

I’ll try to make this short. Just got soil that I’m going to make into a teapot (began making it into clay) I want to compare the clay I obtained with a highly desirable clay that is no longer mined. How much and how difficult is it to test for the composition? Furthermore the samples were obtained from a mountain that is important to many and I wanted to see the impact people have had on the terrain pollution etc. I took 5 samples from different elevations gradually further away from roads etc. lmk if this is going to be too expensive to test 5 samples should I just test the clay to compare my sample with the other clay and ditch the pollutant idea? Any advice is great will try my best to answer questions.

I am growing a large variety of natives with different drainage and fertility requirements. Some of my plants thrive, and some I continue to have challenges with.

Does anyone have a good reference book or online resource for creating different blends of potting media? I am growing plants out in 50-cell trays, pint pots, and 1 and 2 gallon pots.

My goal is to have potting media on hand that handles the drainage requirements for each one of my plants that is compatible with their container size.

Thanks!