Turface in the Landscape
Healthy Home lawns, gardens and flower beds
What is Healthy Soil?
Soil should ideally contain 50% soil space and 50% pore space. Half of that pore space should be holding water and the other half should be available for holding air and for drainage. Space in the soil must be available for the roots of grass plants to grow. Air holding is important for providing oxygen to the root zone and to the microorganisms living in your soil.
These microbes are essential to healthy soil and require ample amounts of oxygen to live and reproduce. They include the bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes that are responsible for converting nutrients into the proper form for uptake by plants.
Clay and Sand
Clay soils can become compacted over time, reducing or eliminating the pore space needed for air holding and drainage. Sandy soils can resist compaction, but have little ability to hold water and nutrients. Turface brings clay and sandy soils back to ideal conditions by balancing pore space and providing nutrient retention. Each Turface particle is 74% pore space, 39% of this is capillary (water) pores and 35% non capillary (air) pores. The angular shape of the Turface particles promotes drainage and resist compaction.
What is Turface?
Turface is a true porous ceramic product engineered to solve and prevent soil problems. The base mineral is illite clay and amorphous silica. The mineral is processed using a computer controlled kiln, which permanently changes the base minerals to a stable porous ceramic particle. Turface is therefore a permanent soil amendment, whith a degradation rate of only 3.5% over 20 years. Available in 50lb bags, Turface is uniform in particle size and dust-free.
Application
Existing Lawns: Core aerify and backfill the holes with Turface (2 bags / 1000 sq.ft) for topdress
New Lawns: Turface can be rototilled into soil before planting (6 to 10 bags / 1000 sq.ft. ) tilled in 4-6 inches deep for new seed bed.
Turface can also be tilled into gardens and flower beds (one 50lb bag per 100 sqft, 2-3 inches deep). Add to potted plants (20% by volume) for improved root growth and water absorbtion.
