Show All Answers

1. What happens to yard trimmings bags when they leave the curb?

Texas Pure Products are made at the Regional Compost Facility in Melissa from the yard waste collected in Allen, Frisco, McKinney, Plano and Richardson. This partnership diverts about 60,000 tons of yard debris from the landfill each year to produce high-quality compost, topdressing and mulch.

Keeping the yard bags clean and free of contamination like plastic, glass, bricks and rocks is very important. A cleaner stream of materials coming in ensures a higher quality of compost going out.

After grinding, biodegradable lawn and leaf bags and their contents (grass clipping, leaves and tree branches) are transported to the Regional Composting Facility in Melissa. At this facility, the ground materials are combined with organics from grocery stores and markets to form large, long rows called windrows (just like hay). Moisture and temperature of the windrows are closely monitored to meet strict requirements set by the United State Compost Council (USCC) to ensure compost is clean, mature and ready for sale. Windrows are turned to aerate and add water as needed to ensure a high-quality product. After about six months, the composting process is complete and the product is screened, cured and made available for sale bagged or bulk for pickup or delivery.

2. Do I need to remove my old mulch before putting down fresh mulch in my flower beds?

No, nature has been working hard all year using earthworms, beneficial bacteria and fungi to turn your old mulch into compost – the gold seal of excellence for any living plant. Old mulch quickly becomes, through nature’s natural breakdown process, the best food for anything you choose to plant.

You do want to take a garden fork and stir up your old mulch so water and nutrients can easily travel through the old material to complete the conversion from much to compost. Water the bed well with a garden hose being sure to wet the old mulch.

Top the area off with a fresh new layer of mulch in any variety you choose! Texas Pure makes a whole-tree grind 2-inch mulch in Native (fresh ground), aged (a few months old to give it a nice dark color), Dark Brown or Black (colored with an iron oxide to keep it natural – no paints or dyes).

Please feel free to contact any of the Texas Pure team to answer questions you have about our various organic garden products. Happy Gardening!

3. How can I identify good compost from bad compost?

Good compost is mature compost. It’s ready for use when it is dark and crumbly with an earthy odor (like the forest floor). You will not see eggshells, leaves or acorns, or recognize any pieces of what the compost was before it aged. If the compost smells like manure or ammonia, or you recognize the original material that creating it, then it is not ready for use yet. This immature compost robs nitrogen from the soil, causing plants to become yellow and stunted. Your plants are starving at this point! Good mature compost provides a nutrient boost for your plants, aerating, holding moisture, feeding and improving soil structure. Compost attracts earthworms by offering them with a healthy diet. In return the earthworms leave behind nitrogen rich castings to feed your plants!

Our Texas Pure Products Compost carries the Seal of Testing Assurance as Certified Compost by the U.S. Composting Council. Try it today!

4. How should a first-time gardener get started?

The easiest garden for a first time gardener to start with is a fall garden. One advantage is you can get your garden established without battling the challenges of the Texas sun and heat. Start small at first. You can expand your garden later. Some vegetable to consider are: broccoli, arugula, spinach, Swiss chard, lettuce (Romaine & Black-Seeded Simpson) and carrots. These need to be planted by September to get a complete growing season. Do not plant squash, tomatoes, cucumber or any warm season vegetable like these because they do not have time to mature for harvest before our first killing frost. Choose the right variety for Texas. Avoid plants suggested for other regions. We want your gardening experience to be a successful one.

When you prepare your garden bed, use an ample amount of compost (at least 6 inches). Work the compost into the soil no deeper than 12 inches (90% of plants roots reside in the top foot of soil). Be sure to check out our Texas Pure Compost.

If you choose to get your garden bed ready for planting next spring rather than tending veggies through the winter, you will want to let your garden bed lie unplanted or tilled over the winter. You can then plant in the spring mulching after planting your little plants. You can also plant a cover crop like cereal rye in August or September which will grow through the winter and adds nitrogen to the soil. This enriches the soil even more over the winter months. In the spring hoe or till the cereal rye under the soil, this natural nitrogen feeds your new spring plantings beautifully. The cover crop also adds organic matter to your soil and keeps your garden soil from flying away in the wind. Farmers have been utilizing this organic method of delivering nitrogen to the soil for hundreds of years. Cereal rye is also a beautiful rich green and grows about 12-inches high. This form of delivering nitrogen to the soil is called a green manure. Remember only choose varieties of plants for this region regardless of whether they are vegetables or landscape plantings for gardening success.

Doing a raised bed and need soil? Try our Texas Pure Pro-Bedding Mix, a nice blend of soil and compost for a nurturing beginning. A step up from this product is our Powerful Potting Mix but you have to order it in advance if you need bulk. It includes shale and worm castings to add an extra boost of minerals and nutrition.

We’d love to watch your garden grow. Feel free to share photos with us on our Texas Pure Products Facebook page. It’s a great place to learn about upcoming gardening classes, plant sales and other gardening resources.

Happy planting!