Living Earth is the largest manufacturer of compost, landscaping and mulch materials in Texas. The company was founded in 1985 as a single location in Houston, Texas and after a series of acquisitions, Living Earth has grown to 19 locations - 7 in the Dallas Ft Worth area and 9 the Houston area.
The product line has expanded to include various types of flag stone, chopped rock, boulders, crushed and decomposed granite, limestone, paver base, Mexican beach pebbles, pea gravel, sand, and a large selection of specialty mixes for a variety of Texas soils.
I recently had the opportunity to tour the Dallas location at 1901 California Crossing with one of the co-founders of Living Earth Technology, Paul Tomaso, and I was quite impressed with the size and scope of the operation. Paul patiently toured my group around the entire yard and explained what each product was, where it came from, and how it was made.
Coincidentally, I had researched compost and mulch options for a new flower bed that I created at my home a couple of months ago and happened to have purchased a couple of yards of compost from Living Earth. Now that the new planting bed has had a couple of months to get established, I can speak with some experience that a good compost has made a huge difference in the plants' size and shape as compared to an older garden bed that was not amended with Living Earth soil.
Paul explained that the specialty planting mix that I had used is made up of Texas Green Sand and Expanded Shale, and that combination helps promote drainage and over time breaks down the clay soil so common to our area. Living Earth makes several specialty soils including one for Dallas and one for Houston. The Dallas version has a “fine-textured sandy loam with fine compost added” to it, while the Houston version is of a heavier nature.
If you are one who purchases your mulch or compost each year by the bag full you might be surprised to learn that you can drive over to your local Living Earth and purchase in bulk for less pound for pound. The average price per cubic yard (about one bulldozer load) of compost or mulch is between $25-$40 depending on the mix. If you still prefer the convenience of purchasing bags of mulch and compost for small jobs, you can purchase Living Earth products at Albertson's and Kroger on a seasonal basis.
The staff from Living Earth is very knowledgeable and helpful about the proper soil amendment for plants and area specific mixes. If you have a do-it-yourself gardening project on the horizon, you might save yourself a lot of trouble by using the right dirt the first time. I can certainly speak from experience about the disappointment of clearing, preparing and planting a new bed only to watch it die from poor drainage and less than optimal dirt.
You can also feel good about buying from Texas based Living Earth because they recycle over 500,000 tons of green materials each year. Through partnerships with local lawn services, municipalities, and several food manufactures, Living Earth diverts, recycles and reuses cut and pruned tree branches, yard brush, leaves, grass clippings, and pre consumer fruit and vegetable waste away from the landfill and returns it to an organic material used for beautifying our yards and green space.
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