Tips for Buying Evergreen Soil Conditioner (Composted Pine Bark)

RobertB

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So this weekend, I purchased qty 4 bags of Evergreen Soil Conditioner (8 cubic ft total) . I use this as a component in all of my potted plant mixes including all my bonsai plants (I know its not all in-organic). This is really most economical for me as all my trees are in training and in oversized pots.

Sifting through the bags yielded roughly 7 gals of particles captured in my 1/4" screen.

I have been purchasing this product for about 2 years now and have seen a wide range in quality throughout this period. It seems like it might depend on when your purchasing it.

I would say that this most recent purchase of the 4 bags were the worst I've ever seen. First, the bark was basically black. It was extremely dirty. I had to rinse / wash the 7 gals that I did capture within my screen and the bark will still need to be washed again and then a final screening performed, not to mention the drying process before the final screening. Of coarse the bags were wet, but even if they were bone dry they still would have needed washing. I also found lots of rocks, balled up pieces of soil, and various other things. I noticed when washing the bark that some of it looked like chunks of treated wood within. Of coarse, I picked these pieces out. What a pain in the ass.

Now I thought that since the bags were from a fresh shipment to Lowes (while they were getting in all their spring stuff) and the fact that the bags looked perfect on the outside that the product would be good quality. Boy was I wrong.

Lesson Learned: Just because its a brand new shipment and its the first bags off the top of the pallet doesn't mean its going to be decent quality.

I seam to remember at some point last summer where I purchased some bags that yielded 1/2 to 3/4 of the bag, perfectly nice brown, clean pieces of pine bark. Of coarse I do remember a fair amount of sap wood being in there, but it was clean overall and the sifting was much easier and didn't need to be cleaned. The bags were fairly dry. This memory got me thinking about the timing of purchasing this material. It would make sense that purchasing the product in winter could yield a more decomposed product, as it could be from the bottom of the compost pile (as it seemed with the rocks, trash, etc not to mention the overall color) or have sat within the compost pile longer as overall demand for the product slows down exponentially after spring and summer.

I have noticed that at most places there are some bags normally nearby that are torn. I guess its worth taking a look within to try and gauge the quality of the overall lot, if your even able to link it to a lot / pallet load. Maybe you can look at the barcode on the bags or something and get an idea, other than opening every bag before purchase.

I am sure everyone that uses this product has experienced this issue or something similar. Would love to hear your opinions, experiences and or advice related to using this product.

Guess Im going shopping this week and hit up all the box stores that carry this product and see if I find some decent quality material. What a pain in the ass.
 

Vance Wood

Lord Mugo
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So this weekend, I purchased qty 4 bags of Evergreen Soil Conditioner (8 cubic ft total) . I use this as a component in all of my potted plant mixes including all my bonsai plants (I know its not all in-organic). This is really most economical for me as all my trees are in training and in oversized pots.

Sifting through the bags yielded roughly 7 gals of particles captured in my 1/4" screen.

I have been purchasing this product for about 2 years now and have seen a wide range in quality throughout this period. It seems like it might depend on when your purchasing it.

I would say that this most recent purchase of the 4 bags were the worst I've ever seen. First, the bark was basically black. It was extremely dirty. I had to rinse / wash the 7 gals that I did capture within my screen and the bark will still need to be washed again and then a final screening performed, not to mention the drying process before the final screening. Of coarse the bags were wet, but even if they were bone dry they still would have needed washing. I also found lots of rocks, balled up pieces of soil, and various other things. I noticed when washing the bark that some of it looked like chunks of treated wood within. Of coarse, I picked these pieces out. What a pain in the ass.

Now I thought that since the bags were from a fresh shipment to Lowes (while they were getting in all their spring stuff) and the fact that the bags looked perfect on the outside that the product would be good quality. Boy was I wrong.

Lesson Learned: Just because its a brand new shipment and its the first bags off the top of the pallet doesn't mean its going to be decent quality.

I seam to remember at some point last summer where I purchased some bags that yielded 1/2 to 3/4 of the bag, perfectly nice brown, clean pieces of pine bark. Of coarse I do remember a fair amount of sap wood being in there, but it was clean overall and the sifting was much easier and didn't need to be cleaned. The bags were fairly dry. This memory got me thinking about the timing of purchasing this material. It would make sense that purchasing the product in winter could yield a more decomposed product, as it could be from the bottom of the compost pile (as it seemed with the rocks, trash, etc not to mention the overall color) or have sat within the compost pile longer as overall demand for the product slows down exponentially after spring and summer.

I have noticed that at most places there are some bags normally nearby that are torn. I guess its worth taking a look within to try and gauge the quality of the overall lot, if your even able to link it to a lot / pallet load. Maybe you can look at the barcode on the bags or something and get an idea, other than opening every bag before purchase.

I am sure everyone that uses this product has experienced this issue or something similar. Would love to hear your opinions, experiences and or advice related to using this product.

Guess Im going shopping this week and hit up all the box stores that carry this product and see if I find some decent quality material. What a pain in the ass.
There are no guarantees, I have been using the stuff for many years and had no problems like you have described.
 

RobertB

Chumono
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I have definitely had bags that screened to little but this stuff was much different.
 
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