There has been discussion here about it. It has been said you must contact a nursery and ask to buy some from what they use. Try asking Plantland or one of the independant places that grow their own plants.

I have purchased them from WalMart before. Greensmix is the brand and they just call it 'Soil Conditioner'.

While WalMart is a Greensmix retailer they do not all carry every product. I had to ask the garden mananger to order some for me. She ordered 2 pallets and unfortunately at the end of the season there wasn't much more sold than what I bought. The following year they didn't stock it.

I am pretty sure you can buy it direct, but have to order 1 or 2 pallets so not real practical unless you need a lot or have multiple people interested in sharing it.

The goofy thing about the bark fines being hard to find in Wisconsin is that Greensmix is a Wisconsin company.

My advice is call your Walmarts and ask them to carry Greensmix Soil Conditioner and then buy more than you need in case it becomes hard to find again the following year. If they agree to carry it please post here the location of the WalMart as I am sure others would be interested.

thanks for the info , if i find a place to get some i will post it on here , i just found some turface after a month search . It was at reinders in appleton , i bought 10 bags , they had 22 more left . there phone # is 920-788-0200 the address is 900 randolph drive appleton , wi.

I get my Turface at Reinders as well. W239 N390 Pewaukee Rd (Hwy J) Waukesha, WI 53188. They usually have a pallet or two in stock all year.

I found some nice aged pine bark fines at bfg supply in brookfield , wi . phone # is 800-269-8816 It comes in 2.8 cu. ft. bags $ 8.89
jim

Now for the last item on my list , coarse sand . Does anyone know where i can find some ?
jim

Shopko stores also had pine bark fines last year.

Isn't course sand the same as builders sand? You will be able to find bags of it at Fleet Farm and other big box stores.

Isn't course sand the same as builders sand?

Kind of, but it all depends on the manufacturer. Builder's sand is generally not graded so the particle size will vary from tiny to large.

I am assuming from the list of things shoofly22 is looking for that the goal is to make a container planting mix. In this case the important criteria for the sand is that the particles be approximately 1/2 the size of a BB to the size of a BB. I would want to look at the contents of any bag of sand before purchase and would probably want to screen it through window screen to remove the really fine stuff.

Shoofly,

How did you get the bark fines from BFG for $8 something each? They charged me $12 each. It was Fafard brand, is that what you got?

JAG
i got mine for 8.89 its on page 243 of their catalog and its fafard brand also. maybe their price increased since i bought it , he told me some of the prices in their catalog were going up.
I got some sand at a local garden center they said it was coarse so i bought it and 90% of it is like powder there are chunks up to 1/2 " so im just screening it .
jim

I think I got ripped off. I will call them and ask about this. I would like to recommend this place to those in SE Wisc seeking quality aged pine bark, but can't unless they get their pricing in order. You paid $9 and I paid close to $13 for the same thing.

That just ain't right.

More than likely it is a simple 'computer' mistake, but still I want to see how they handle it after the sale has been made.

Justaguy, what came of the price difference?

I'm planning on heading to BFG for some pine bark fines.

I actually got distracted with other things and never asked.

I would suggest calling them on the phone and asking them the price before you head over. I didn't do this and didn't even consider the price until I was driving away.

They are a wholesale operation and don't put prices on anything I recall seeing so I suspect they charge whatever they think a customer will pay.

For 2.8 cubic ft I think the $8.89 Shoofly paid isn't too unreasonable, but the $12 I got charged was.

I'll head over there tomorrow.

I saw the FAFARD brand mix at Steins today, but I'm not sure what mix it was and didn't make a mental note of the cost or size.

I picked up three bags of fafard aged pine bark, 2.8 cubit ft bags, cost me $12.35/each. I was told if I purchased 10 bags or more I could get them for approx. $10/each. I couldn't possibly fit 10 in my truck, nor would I have anywhere to store the unused bags.

Maybe next time fellow Wisconsinites can plan on purchasing at the same time, buy in bulk to get the bulk rate? Or, maybe we should just head over there with Shoofly the deal breaker. :)

Justaguy, do you get UNCOMPOSTED pine bark fines for Al's Gritty Mix? I asked them about uncomposted, but they said they don't carry that. Where would I find the uncomposted product??? I wanted to use the gritty mix for my houseplants.

How much should I expect to pay locally for Turface, and what size bag? Any auto parts store? I have one up the street, but I don't think it's NAPA.

I don't use the gritty mix for anything, Kimcoco. I use hydroculture for houseplants. For the few I don't have in hydro I have them in Turface MVP and bark. I used to be able to get Greensmix Soil Conditioner which was fairly fresh, but that product is no longer being sold. I have no source of uncomposted pine bark currently.

For outdoor succulents I use 90% Turface and 10% bark. I use a wick rather than worry about screening fines to eliminate the PWT which is minimal anyway (1/8" or less).

I don't think you will find much difference between uncomposted bark and the bark you have now if you screen it. To remove the fine stuff just use a window screen. If you want only the real coarse stuff use 1/4" hardware cloth.

Turface can be had for around $10 per bag at Reinders (262) 524-0200 W239 N390 Pewaukee Rd (Hwy J) Waukesha, WI 53188 (there are other locations as well). It's a 50lb bag and is 1.4 cubic feet. There are Napa stores all over, but their product is, if I recall correctly, $7 for a 25lb bag. It's called Floor Dry. I don't know the amount in the bag, but it's somewhat less. Judging with my eyes I would say it's the same price as Turface MVP by volume. It weighs much less than Turface if weight is a concern. I like it's appearance better as it is multi colored (all earth tones), but it also has a larger percentage of fines than Turface MVP does. To make the gritty mix "by the book" you would want to screen either product with window screen to remove the fines.

Next year we definitely will have to have a meet up at BFG and pool our order. I bought six bags this year, would have bought 10 had I known about their price drop.

What is BFG? I couldn't find anything on the net about them. Do they only sell to people with a business number?

BFG= Nursery/Greenhouse supply company. They will sell to the public if you use a credit card. Here is a google search that will pull up some locations.

Is Turface MVP the same product as Schultz's Aquatic Plant Soil, which also used to be marketed by Schultz as a Soil Conditioner?

Yes, it's the same thing (or it was the last time I saw it. However, it's typically priced around $1/lb instead of $1/5lbs when purchased in the larger bags.