Some of our most popular blogs have been about Topsoil, Firewood, and Planning for Spring. Other blogs have been about Permit Processes, Sales Processes, Lawn Renovation, Snow Plowing, and Mulching, just to name a few.

Today I just wanted to let you know about some blogs that I’ll be posting in the future:

Cleaning & Sealing of your brick pavers
Polymeric Sand vs. Fine Sand
Building your own retreat space
Permits & the many new regulations for a lot of the villages in the Chicagoland area

I’m looking forward to continuing posting blogs.

If you have a topic or subject you’d like me to discuss regarding landscaping or landscape materials, please don’t hesitate to submit it to me via my web site at www.agvangundy.com.

Have you thought about changing your landscape at all? We are more than happy to come out and work with you on installing plants or a new patio or walkway.

Do you have drainage issues on your property? We can come out and get the area graded correctly and install the drain tile so that your spring lawn and basement will be drier.

Once the leaves are down – do you have the time to rake them up and dispose of them? Here at A.G. VanGundy Landscape, we do. While we’re there we’ll be able to put down a layer of mulch, which is so very important to protect your plants against what could be a harsh Chicago-area winter. Installing mulch in the fall will help keep a consistent root zone temperature and help retain some moisture.

Don’t forget to call for your firewood. A.G. Landscape Materials carries both Mixed and Oak firewood. We sell it in a variety of quantities (30 pieces, 60 pieces, ½ Face Cords, Face Cords). We deliver throughout the Chicago-land area all year long. Don’t have a fire pit? Would you like one? How about an outdoor fireplace? Contact us and we can help. We have various sizes, styles and shapes available.

You can call us at (630) 295-8190 or e-mail us at www.agvangundy.com for details about any of the services we offer (from delivery of mulch, topsoil, gravel and firewood to installation of complete landscape projects).

Remember it’s not too late to get your outdoor projects done. Do them now and you may be one step ahead in the Spring.

When trying to fill a deep void (over 10”) i.e. a swimming pool or larger build ups, fill dirt may be used. The “fill dirt” from A.G. Landscape Materials is a product developed from the removals of soil, sod, and land from our customers’ projects. There can be almost anything in it (including, but not limited to, soil, clay, decomposed sod, and some stone), but it is predominately soil. This material usually needs a top covering of pulverized topsoil to first be able to smooth out the top layer and then to have something better to grow into. A real plus for using fill dirt in these applications is that it is inexpensive and a heavier soil. The drawbacks are that it can be difficult with machinery to place and work with.

Rough vs. Pulverized Topsoil: First off, we at A.G. Landscape Materials, Inc. do not carry rough or un-pulverized topsoil. We can have it direct shipped, but like fill dirt you may need a machine or Bobcat to spread it. We prefer to sell pulverized topsoil. Pulverized topsoil is mainly a soil that is removed from farm fields and brought by truck to our location and then reloaded on trucks and sent to homes throughout the Chicago- land area. I discussed “What is Topsoil?” in a blog back on April 1st, 2010. Pulverized topsoil is relatively easy to work with and rake out since most particles are less than ¾” to 1” at most. It is also easy to plant grass seed or other plants into and can be used in either deep applications or thin applications. A con to topsoil may be that the particles can “melt” together and in deeper applications settling may occur if it was not compacted.

Garden Mix is a blend of pulverized topsoil, compost and sand. It is best to use when establishing a new garden or when adding to a garden. I have seen people use this material for lawn seeding application due to its finer granulars, drainage capabilities and being more fertile due to its compost. Although it costs more, since it is premixed, it simplifies the process. You can also plant right into it.

The compost sold at A.G. Landscape Materials, Inc. is developed from a mix of organic materials and turned over and over until it becomes compost. It does not contain manure, and I feel it is easier to work with. It is best when tilled into the soil and can be used with new or existing gardens and flower beds. It also helps loosen clayish soils. Ground covers love this product. I suggest compost on most of our landscape planting projects. A con to this product is that it is light and thus has no weight carrying capabilities and may be more susceptible to wash out in extreme conditions. You should also not plant directly into only compost. It can dry out faster and the solidity of topsoil is helpful.

Most of these materials have other uses than those we discussed here. For your needs, you can e-mail or call us at (630) 295-8190 and we’ll be happy to assist you and hopefully get the right material to you so you can do your job right.

Well, today I’m going to try and clear up some things about topsoil.
At A.G. Landscape Materials, Inc. we sell pulverized topsoil that has predominately been stacked in a farm field or development. This topsoil is the excess that is not needed for the development. Weather it is our topsoil or another company’s; it is always sold from the excess. The soil is usually taken from a huge pile that was made when large earth moving scrapers skimmed the top 6” – 1’ of soil off and deposited it out of the way. Engineers calculate how much is in the pile and how much is needed to cover the areas for the development and the excess is sold off. Some is sold as pulverized topsoil, soil that is lifted into a hopper, then lead into a shredder and separator where particles/stone larger than 1” go to the side and the rest goes down a long conveyer to either a waiting dump truck or to again be stacked for later loading into trucks. For our purposes, it is loaded onto a semi-truck, shipped to our location in Roselle and deposited into our topsoil bin for distribution. That is the easy part.

The quality of topsoil depends first on the location the soil is removed from and then how deep the scrapers go into the surface. There is always a layer between the “subclay” and the top layer. This is usually entered into and some usually goes into the original pile. This year will be challenging to first find the best soil and a site that is not too far away as construction and the creation of large developments has really slowed down due to the economy. We are fortunate to be associated with suppliers that bring the best soil possible. That’s a key phrase – “The best soil possible”, because as I mentioned above, the scrapers sometimes enter a heavier soil.

Most of the state of Illinois has mineral based soil. Peat is not topsoil. It is broken down vegetation and moss, giving the soil a compost-like texture. It is considered to be an additive to topsoil not the base of it.

The consistency of the particles can have many variables. Moisture can have a lot to do with marbling that occurs when the soil travels down the conveyers. Clumping can happen when the that soil is moist is placed on a truck, dumped here and then re-handled by the tractor, placed again on a truck and then deposited on your driveway. This is what generally causes clumping. Any gardener will tell you that handling moist/wet soil will cause clumping and should be refrained from excessive handling. However, this may be impossible. We tarp our soil, but that does not guarantee the soil will remain perfectly pulverized, but it does keep clumping to a minimum.

Have you ever had topsoil brought in only to find out that after a rain or two and baking in the sun that it becomes hard? This is not an uncommon occurrence. It does not mean that the soil is clay. Since the first settlers came to this area our soils have been a challenge. Fertile but hard, that is why special plows were developed to break up the soil to farm it. Today is no different. Pulverized topsoil is great for lawns, gardens, and planting beds. For vegetable gardens it is great to mix in compost to keep the soil looser and make it more fertile. Pulverized topsoil is also easier to handle as compared to raw or rough topsoil which could have 1’ – 2’ clumps that even the best shovelers have a hard time breaking.

All in all the topsoil from A.G. Landscape, Materials, Inc. is a great product for all of your landscaping needs.