The problem I had with coir peat which was in a commercial mix I used to buy when before I sold my organic nursery was I ended up with an invasive weed - rice grass also I found it dried out much faster than peat😊
We are not big fans of the coir peat. It’s OK but just a by product being pushed, that we find to be so - so. We haven’t really seen any ill effects of harvesting spagnum peat moss. Don’t want to go down a rabbit hole on this. Best thing is find a component for your mix that holds some moisture. Lots of options, shredded bark, peat moss, both work great.
Other sources of potting mix ingredients are triple ground hardwood bark triple ground pine bark and for those close rice hulls are great. If your big enough the can be delivered in huge quantities reasonable. Pea gravel is nice with bigger pots/plants as it helps keep them from tipping over
Hi Thanks, The one we didn’t mention is rice hulls. Looks like a great soil amendment. It’s heavy so it would probably be better to find a source to pick up from. 🌲🌲🌲
Very good video. Thank you for going through several of your favorite mixes. They look like they hold fair amount of moisture but drain well. It's hard to beat finely-ground pine/fir bark and perlite. In areas with windy conditions would it be acceptable to use bark and chicken grit or pea gravel to add a bit of weight, and remove the perlite entirely?
Hi and Thanks. We use the hardwood bark mulch as we can’t find pine or fir bark locally at a reasonable price. It’s 3-5 times more expensive. Fortunately we can get get humus at around $20 per yard. We put about 8, 4 cubic foot bags in about 20 yards of humus and bark. We like this mix and the cost, if you buy in bulk is reasonable. With the perlite we must be right around $30 a yard for a really nice mix. I think we mentioned pea gravel. It’s a good substitute for the perlite as would be the chicken grit. We do prefer the perlite for a few reasons. We order it and it gets delivered to our door in 2-3 days. It’s light and helps lighten up the overall mix. Also looks processional, the little white specs look great. But this is what we do and work for us. Try different mixes of what is available in your area. We would jump right to fir bark if we could. Best to you!!!
@@Growing-Our-Retirement Thank you very much for the reply. Your soil mixes are well thought out and assembled. I agree, you need to use what you can find locally, and what makes financial sense. A local big box store sells finely ground pine bark fines for about $2.50 for a 1 CF bag, and it makes excellent soil mix. Regarding perlite, I agree it makes an excellent addition to soil mixes. The only thing I don't care for is that perlite eventually floats to the top of the container, whereas chicken grit or pea gravel remain in place. Also I've found that perlite quality varies greatly. Coarse perlite is somewhat expensive in my area, while the cheaper perlite tends to be mostly fine material and quite dusty. At least that is my experience. Continued success on your nursery and here on YT.
Absolutely agree, best to find materials you can purchase locally in bulk. I was at a supply yard this weekend and noticed they do have Hemlock much and it was fairly finely ground. It costs twice as much as the hardwood bark we buy but a lot less than Perlite. I might try some. I try to cost out to the yard price. I know I pay $20 per yard for humus and $25 for hardwood bark mulch. With the perlite, I still come in at less than $30 per yard. With there being 27 cu ft in a yard you can do the math from there. I think most people can order Perlite the same way we do, from Amazon in 4 cubic foot bags. Works out to about $10 a cubic foot so we only use about 5% in our mix. Used sparingly we have not had a problem with it floating to the top or blowing away. We do also use it for propagating. This is the perlite we buy. www.amazon.com/PVP-Industries-PVP105408-120-Quarts/dp/B07S4FTPYB/ref=sr_1_12?crid=2YYP4SHEXPSKL&keywords=Perlite&qid=1688952307&sprefix=perlite%252Caps%252C206&sr=8-12&th=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=growingourret-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=e4af1aa985443e74158d7d55c0a071e6&camp=1789&creative=9325 Thanks for the good conversation! Larry
Do you guys ever do an ph testing on your media? Just wondering if you’ve ever had an issue with that especially with growing ericaceous plants. I’m assuming with wood and peat your mix runs slightly acidic. I know a lot of big brand companies add lime to their peat based medias to balance it so I’ve often worried about the ph if I was making it myself. I’m probably just overthinking it. Any thoughts? Also, leaf compost aka leaf mould makes an excellent potting soil. It’s really widely used in the UK. It’s pretty dang heavy though so it would probably be best to cut it with some pine bark and/or perlite. Pretty similar properties to peat moss, but much higher nutrient content.
Hi good questions. We didn’t get into ph testing but it’s a good idea. We also don’t use peat the way we used to. We use it with perlite in rooting mix but not so much with woody plants and trees. I don’t know if UK peat moss is the same as the Canadien Spagnum Peat we have? The humus we use is essentially leaf mold. We mention that on our website but should have in the video. The humus we get is about 70% leaves and 30% grass clippings. It is aged, turned and screened. Nice stuff and only $20.00 per yard delivered if you can take 10 yards at a time. Mixed with hardwood bark and perlite it’s probably fairly ph neutral. The bark we use has very little wood in it. Probably less than 5%. As we mentioned wood or wood chips isn’t good in a potting mix. The decomposition of the wood will rob phosphorus from your mix and probably mess up your ph. Easy enough to get a ph testing kit and if needed like is very inexpensive here. Thanks, hope that helps 🌲🌲🌲
Hello. Thanks for all the info y’all share. We really enjoy your videos, very helpful. I’ve been hearing that we should stop using peat moss and I’m a little confused on the topic, not so sure if I agree. Anyone have any insights on the subject? Thanks
Hi thanks for watching and asking a great question. Peat moss is excellent at holding moisture but alone it won’t drain well enough. The store bought mixes have a lot of peat moss in them but also bark or perlite to give that needed drainage component. There has also been some negative mentions about peat moss and its sustainability. While it may be an issue in certain places like the UK, peat moss appears to be very sustainably harvested in Canada. I think competing products have done a bit of an attack on peat moss. Since a naturally occurring plant, it just grows back. It’s something to watch and read about. You have to decide for yourself. We really prefer using locally sourced components of our mix and buying in bulk. Peat moss gets expensive. We primarily use compost, hard wood bark and about 5-10 perlite. Other than the perlite this all comes in bulk, supports a small business and there is no packaging. It’s a great mix if you can buy the components in bulk form. Thank you 🌲🌲🌲
Yes, course sand is an option and inexpensive. The bark will make most mixes drain ok and still retain moisture. Sand and perlite drains really quickly and doesn’t retain much moisture. We prefer the look of the perlite in our mix and it lightens the mix. We have found sand mixes can become a little hard and compacted. Hope that helps, Larry 🌲🌲🌲
In a previous video you mentioned osmocote fertilizer. Do you add that to the potting mixes? If so, how much. If not, when do you use it? It's pretty expensive on amazon
Hi, Thanks for the question. We use about a teaspoon for a one gallon pot and a tablespoon for a 3 gallon pot. A little goes a long way. We don’t mix it in but sprinkle it on top. We rub it in a little so it doesn’t get washed away. It’s best to let it slowly dissolve and work downward into the roots. We buy larger bags and it’s fairly economical. Smaller bags might be less economical but you only use a little bit on each plant. Going without would not be recommended, plants need a good balanced but slowly released bit of fertilizer. Don’t substitute anything that is a faster release. You just want slow fertilization to enhance already good soil. Hope that helps. 🌲🌲🌲
Quick question about fertilizers. Your website recommends Osmocote 19-5-8 slow release fertilizer, which advertises providing nutrients for 8-9 months. As I understand it, for most trees and shrubs you only need to apply this once in the early spring. Do you apply a second round of Osmocote later in the season or is the one spring application enough for the entire growing season? My potting mix for trees is similar to yours. I've read conflicting information about CRFs where some growers indicate products like Osmocote are useful as 'starter charges' but they suggest also using liquid or water-soluble fertilizers on a regular basis along with CRFs. Any thoughts or opinions? Thanks.
We find one application in spring is enough. A fertilizer like Osmocote is going to take many months to break down and all that time will be providing nutrients to the plants. There may be some fast growing plants such as annuals or perennials that could benefit from a little extra fertilizer while they are in growth mode. Since we grow primarily woody trees and shrubs, the slow release is perfect. Thanks 🌲🌲🌲
@@Growing-Our-Retirement Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. For trees and shrubs in containers I'd much rather do a one-time spring feed of Osmocote and skip the weekly or biweekly liquid fertilizer additions. Based on your experience it sounds like the Osmocote CRF spring application is sufficient.
Yes, once in the spring seems to be enough. Wanted to add that your spring fertilization should be done almost in the late winter. The slow release fertilizer takes time and water to start breaking down and providing nutrients for your plants. If you wanted to fertilize twice per year I would recommend something like January and June. Happy growing, Larry 🌲🌲🌲
@@Growing-Our-Retirement Thanks Larry, much appreciated. In years past I fertilized in late winter/early spring (March or early April) using CRF. Last year I tried using liquid fertilizer on a weekly basis since I have a very small number of trees and shrubs in containers. It seemed to work well but took significant amounts of time. This coming year I'm going back to using Osmocote CRF. I see why nurseries like yours use CRFs, as the time/labor savings is significant. Hope you and Martha had a successful growing season.
Thanks, I think as you start to scale up you will find the slow release is a must in terms of time spent. Once a year is enough in most cases. When we are doing 10,000 plants in the large nursery it’s an all day chore. We did have a good growing and selling season. Got a little side lined from making videos this summer. We did a renovation on a rental property we own and it took a lot of our time. We will be back at it soon. Best to you! Always enjoy talking backyard nursery. Larry
Thanks for asking, here is a link to just about everything we use. Pots, tools, fertilizer, perlite, etc. growingourretirement.com/backyard-nursery-resources-guide/
hi, i have watched all your series. i have watched many youtube videos, but nobody shows or even mentions how to store thousands of plants over winter. in my area its gets below -20c, i have tried couple of conifers which were hardy to zone 3(my area is zone 5) i kept them in a green house to protect from winds but they just died. i was watering them quite well. but thousands of plants you would need really large greenhouse. so how do you keep them alive overwinter?
Hi thanks for watching. We don’t cover our plants in pots over the winter. We are in zone 6a/6b. The plants we are propagating over winter stay in their plastic totes. The big threat in winter is the winds. If you are having trouble a low tunnel cover would probably help a lot. Even some burlap attached to stakes to make a wind stop fence would help against the wind. You might also want to keep your planting to just spring. This would allow your plants to become more established before winter. We don’t do any additional watering over the winter, just what occurs naturally. Plants should be dormant in the winter and don’t require a lot of water. Don’t quit! We have had winters where we lost some plants. We reuse the pots and soil mix. Keep at it!
Good question. Getting larger deliveries can be an issue but it saves a lot of money. If you have a driveway that a truck can back into they can back in and dump. If you got for example a load of bark and a load of humus, they could be dumped side by side. Then you can do some mixing in the middle of the piles. We have a good size space to receive materials in but the truck needs to come down, do a bit of a K turn, dump and pull out. They dump on a space about 50’ x 20’ and we take it from there. We do have the 4 cu feet bags of perlite delivered. Sometimes 10 bags at a time, two bags per box. They come in big boxes right from Amazon. The driver drops them and we open them, pretty heavy. Once opened, each bag is not to heavy. Hope that helps. You can do this without a whole lot of space. Just the end of your driveway. Thanks 🌲🌲🌲
Softwood bark is perfect. Fir or pine is good. It’s widely used in the South and Pacific Northwest. It just needs to be finely ground so you don’t end up with air pockets around your plant roots. If it’s too chunky, you could add some humus. Hemlock is great too, but not at $30-40 per yard. We have an easier time finding hardwood bark. It doesn’t come finely ground so we buy it at least 6 months in advance and let it decompose a little. We even scrape it out of plant beds and then use it in our potting mix. Then we put new hardwood bark in the beds.
Golden material. Some of it I already knew but I appreciated the in-depth discussion on all the material. Thanks, and for this I have subscribed.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for subscribing! More to come! 🌲🌲🌲
Great run-down of the ingredients and what they bring to the mix!
Thanks Jason! There really are so many options. Much is about where you are and what you can access in bulk. We have tried so many mixes!!!
Thanks for the great video. Greetigs from El Paso Tx.
Thanks for watching 🌲🌲🌲
The problem I had with coir peat which was in a commercial mix I used to buy when before I sold my organic nursery was I ended up with an invasive weed - rice grass also I found it dried out much faster than peat😊
We are not big fans of the coir peat. It’s OK but just a by product being pushed, that we find to be so - so. We haven’t really seen any ill effects of harvesting spagnum peat moss. Don’t want to go down a rabbit hole on this. Best thing is find a component for your mix that holds some moisture. Lots of options, shredded bark, peat moss, both work great.
Other sources of potting mix ingredients are triple ground hardwood bark triple ground pine bark and for those close rice hulls are great. If your big enough the can be delivered in huge quantities reasonable. Pea gravel is nice with bigger pots/plants as it helps keep them from tipping over
Hi Thanks, The one we didn’t mention is rice hulls. Looks like a great soil amendment. It’s heavy so it would probably be better to find a source to pick up from. 🌲🌲🌲
Very good video. Thank you for going through several of your favorite mixes. They look like they hold fair amount of moisture but drain well. It's hard to beat finely-ground pine/fir bark and perlite. In areas with windy conditions would it be acceptable to use bark and chicken grit or pea gravel to add a bit of weight, and remove the perlite entirely?
Hi and Thanks. We use the hardwood bark mulch as we can’t find pine or fir bark locally at a reasonable price. It’s 3-5 times more expensive. Fortunately we can get get humus at around $20 per yard. We put about 8, 4 cubic foot bags in about 20 yards of humus and bark. We like this mix and the cost, if you buy in bulk is reasonable. With the perlite we must be right around $30 a yard for a really nice mix.
I think we mentioned pea gravel. It’s a good substitute for the perlite as would be the chicken grit. We do prefer the perlite for a few reasons. We order it and it gets delivered to our door in 2-3 days. It’s light and helps lighten up the overall mix. Also looks processional, the little white specs look great.
But this is what we do and work for us. Try different mixes of what is available in your area. We would jump right to fir bark if we could. Best to you!!!
@@Growing-Our-Retirement Thank you very much for the reply. Your soil mixes are well thought out and assembled. I agree, you need to use what you can find locally, and what makes financial sense. A local big box store sells finely ground pine bark fines for about $2.50 for a 1 CF bag, and it makes excellent soil mix.
Regarding perlite, I agree it makes an excellent addition to soil mixes. The only thing I don't care for is that perlite eventually floats to the top of the container, whereas chicken grit or pea gravel remain in place. Also I've found that perlite quality varies greatly. Coarse perlite is somewhat expensive in my area, while the cheaper perlite tends to be mostly fine material and quite dusty. At least that is my experience.
Continued success on your nursery and here on YT.
Absolutely agree, best to find materials you can purchase locally in bulk. I was at a supply yard this weekend and noticed they do have Hemlock much and it was fairly finely ground. It costs twice as much as the hardwood bark we buy but a lot less than Perlite. I might try some.
I try to cost out to the yard price. I know I pay $20 per yard for humus and $25 for hardwood bark mulch. With the perlite, I still come in at less than $30 per yard. With there being 27 cu ft in a yard you can do the math from there.
I think most people can order Perlite the same way we do, from Amazon in 4 cubic foot bags. Works out to about $10 a cubic foot so we only use about 5% in our mix. Used sparingly we have not had a problem with it floating to the top or blowing away. We do also use it for propagating.
This is the perlite we buy. www.amazon.com/PVP-Industries-PVP105408-120-Quarts/dp/B07S4FTPYB/ref=sr_1_12?crid=2YYP4SHEXPSKL&keywords=Perlite&qid=1688952307&sprefix=perlite%252Caps%252C206&sr=8-12&th=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=growingourret-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=e4af1aa985443e74158d7d55c0a071e6&camp=1789&creative=9325
Thanks for the good conversation! Larry
Do you guys ever do an ph testing on your media? Just wondering if you’ve ever had an issue with that especially with growing ericaceous plants. I’m assuming with wood and peat your mix runs slightly acidic. I know a lot of big brand companies add lime to their peat based medias to balance it so I’ve often worried about the ph if I was making it myself. I’m probably just overthinking it. Any thoughts?
Also, leaf compost aka leaf mould makes an excellent potting soil. It’s really widely used in the UK. It’s pretty dang heavy though so it would probably be best to cut it with some pine bark and/or perlite. Pretty similar properties to peat moss, but much higher nutrient content.
Hi good questions. We didn’t get into ph testing but it’s a good idea. We also don’t use peat the way we used to. We use it with perlite in rooting mix but not so much with woody plants and trees. I don’t know if UK peat moss is the same as the Canadien Spagnum Peat we have?
The humus we use is essentially leaf mold. We mention that on our website but should have in the video. The humus we get is about 70% leaves and 30% grass clippings. It is aged, turned and screened. Nice stuff and only $20.00 per yard delivered if you can take 10 yards at a time. Mixed with hardwood bark and perlite it’s probably fairly ph neutral.
The bark we use has very little wood in it. Probably less than 5%. As we mentioned wood or wood chips isn’t good in a potting mix. The decomposition of the wood will rob phosphorus from your mix and probably mess up your ph.
Easy enough to get a ph testing kit and if needed like is very inexpensive here. Thanks, hope that helps 🌲🌲🌲
Hello. Thanks for all the info y’all share. We really enjoy your videos, very helpful. I’ve been hearing that we should stop using peat moss and I’m a little confused on the topic, not so sure if I agree. Anyone have any insights on the subject? Thanks
Hi thanks for watching and asking a great question. Peat moss is excellent at holding moisture but alone it won’t drain well enough. The store bought mixes have a lot of peat moss in them but also bark or perlite to give that needed drainage component.
There has also been some negative mentions about peat moss and its sustainability. While it may be an issue in certain places like the UK, peat moss appears to be very sustainably harvested in Canada. I think competing products have done a bit of an attack on peat moss. Since a naturally occurring plant, it just grows back. It’s something to watch and read about. You have to decide for yourself.
We really prefer using locally sourced components of our mix and buying in bulk. Peat moss gets expensive. We primarily use compost, hard wood bark and about 5-10 perlite. Other than the perlite this all comes in bulk, supports a small business and there is no packaging. It’s a great mix if you can buy the components in bulk form. Thank you 🌲🌲🌲
Bark humus perlite seems like a good and economical mix! Did you try replacing perlite with coarse sand in this mix? Would it drain well
Yes, course sand is an option and inexpensive. The bark will make most mixes drain ok and still retain moisture.
Sand and perlite drains really quickly and doesn’t retain much moisture. We prefer the look of the perlite in our mix and it lightens the mix. We have found sand mixes can become a little hard and compacted. Hope that helps, Larry 🌲🌲🌲
@Growing-Our-Retirement very helpful. Thank you. Wish you the best in all your works
Thank you and also for you! 🌲🌲🌲
@@Growing-Our-Retirement ❤️
In a previous video you mentioned osmocote fertilizer. Do you add that to the potting mixes? If so, how much. If not, when do you use it? It's pretty expensive on amazon
Hi, Thanks for the question. We use about a teaspoon for a one gallon pot and a tablespoon for a 3 gallon pot. A little goes a long way. We don’t mix it in but sprinkle it on top. We rub it in a little so it doesn’t get washed away. It’s best to let it slowly dissolve and work downward into the roots.
We buy larger bags and it’s fairly economical. Smaller bags might be less economical but you only use a little bit on each plant. Going without would not be recommended, plants need a good balanced but slowly released bit of fertilizer.
Don’t substitute anything that is a faster release. You just want slow fertilization to enhance already good soil.
Hope that helps. 🌲🌲🌲
Quick question about fertilizers. Your website recommends Osmocote 19-5-8 slow release fertilizer, which advertises providing nutrients for 8-9 months. As I understand it, for most trees and shrubs you only need to apply this once in the early spring. Do you apply a second round of Osmocote later in the season or is the one spring application enough for the entire growing season? My potting mix for trees is similar to yours. I've read conflicting information about CRFs where some growers indicate products like Osmocote are useful as 'starter charges' but they suggest also using liquid or water-soluble fertilizers on a regular basis along with CRFs. Any thoughts or opinions? Thanks.
We find one application in spring is enough. A fertilizer like Osmocote is going to take many months to break down and all that time will be providing nutrients to the plants.
There may be some fast growing plants such as annuals or perennials that could benefit from a little extra fertilizer while they are in growth mode. Since we grow primarily woody trees and shrubs, the slow release is perfect. Thanks 🌲🌲🌲
@@Growing-Our-Retirement Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. For trees and shrubs in containers I'd much rather do a one-time spring feed of Osmocote and skip the weekly or biweekly liquid fertilizer additions. Based on your experience it sounds like the Osmocote CRF spring application is sufficient.
Yes, once in the spring seems to be enough.
Wanted to add that your spring fertilization should be done almost in the late winter. The slow release fertilizer takes time and water to start breaking down and providing nutrients for your plants.
If you wanted to fertilize twice per year I would recommend something like January and June. Happy growing, Larry 🌲🌲🌲
@@Growing-Our-Retirement Thanks Larry, much appreciated. In years past I fertilized in late winter/early spring (March or early April) using CRF. Last year I tried using liquid fertilizer on a weekly basis since I have a very small number of trees and shrubs in containers. It seemed to work well but took significant amounts of time. This coming year I'm going back to using Osmocote CRF. I see why nurseries like yours use CRFs, as the time/labor savings is significant. Hope you and Martha had a successful growing season.
Thanks, I think as you start to scale up you will find the slow release is a must in terms of time spent. Once a year is enough in most cases.
When we are doing 10,000 plants in the large nursery it’s an all day chore.
We did have a good growing and selling season. Got a little side lined from making videos this summer. We did a renovation on a rental property we own and it took a lot of our time. We will be back at it soon.
Best to you! Always enjoy talking backyard nursery. Larry
Love all the info. Would you share the link for peralite that you use from Amazon?
Thanks for asking, here is a link to just about everything we use. Pots, tools, fertilizer, perlite, etc. growingourretirement.com/backyard-nursery-resources-guide/
hi, i have watched all your series. i have watched many youtube videos, but nobody shows or even mentions how to store thousands of plants over winter. in my area its gets below -20c, i have tried couple of conifers which were hardy to zone 3(my area is zone 5) i kept them in a green house to protect from winds but they just died. i was watering them quite well. but thousands of plants you would need really large greenhouse. so how do you keep them alive overwinter?
Hi thanks for watching. We don’t cover our plants in pots over the winter. We are in zone 6a/6b. The plants we are propagating over winter stay in their plastic totes.
The big threat in winter is the winds. If you are having trouble a low tunnel cover would probably help a lot. Even some burlap attached to stakes to make a wind stop fence would help against the wind.
You might also want to keep your planting to just spring. This would allow your plants to become more established before winter.
We don’t do any additional watering over the winter, just what occurs naturally. Plants should be dormant in the winter and don’t require a lot of water.
Don’t quit! We have had winters where we lost some plants. We reuse the pots and soil mix. Keep at it!
@@Growing-Our-Retirement thank you that helps a lot. i am not quitting, was thinking about sheltered location, now you clarified it :)
Glad you won’t give up! Let us know how you do.
Thank you! Where do you store your truckloads of additives delivered?
Good question. Getting larger deliveries can be an issue but it saves a lot of money. If you have a driveway that a truck can back into they can back in and dump. If you got for example a load of bark and a load of humus, they could be dumped side by side. Then you can do some mixing in the middle of the piles.
We have a good size space to receive materials in but the truck needs to come down, do a bit of a K turn, dump and pull out. They dump on a space about 50’ x 20’ and we take it from there.
We do have the 4 cu feet bags of perlite delivered. Sometimes 10 bags at a time, two bags per box. They come in big boxes right from Amazon. The driver drops them and we open them, pretty heavy. Once opened, each bag is not to heavy.
Hope that helps. You can do this without a whole lot of space. Just the end of your driveway. Thanks 🌲🌲🌲
@@Growing-Our-Retirement Thank you! I'll talk with my husband about the best places.
Interesting content, but please improve your volume level. It is hard to hear.
Thanks again! Really do appreciate the comments. Helps us improve 🌲🌲🌲
@@Growing-Our-Retirement Thank you for your kind reply.
We do truly appreciate the comments. Thank you 🌲🌲🌲
Have you considered adding charcoal?
We haven’t but it would be great for drainage. We have a fair amount of wood ash from burning wood. Could probably add that with good results.
Where are you all at in the north east?
Hi, We are in Northwest New Jersey. Much more rural than what people think of when thinking of New Jersey.
All I find is non hardwood mulch. Is softwood no good. Hemlock? And it’s twice what you pay here in Massachusetts.
Softwood bark is perfect. Fir or pine is good. It’s widely used in the South and Pacific Northwest. It just needs to be finely ground so you don’t end up with air pockets around your plant roots. If it’s too chunky, you could add some humus.
Hemlock is great too, but not at $30-40 per yard.
We have an easier time finding hardwood bark. It doesn’t come finely ground so we buy it at least 6 months in advance and let it decompose a little. We even scrape it out of plant beds and then use it in our potting mix. Then we put new hardwood bark in the beds.