MULCHES Of what is your mulch made, is it virgin wood? All Jolly Gardener mulches originate from natural, virgin wood. Jolly Gardener mulches are not made from recycled construction materials. What is the difference between virgin wood and recycled construction materials? Natural, or virgin wood, mulch is produced from a variety of trees, each having their own unique advantages. Our raw wood comes from land clearings and trees grown on professionally managed timber sites which follow state regulations and best management practices on both logging and sustainability. Other virgin wood product used is recycled timber from local lumber mills. This should not be confused with recycled construction material. Recycled construction materials include construction demolition. None of this material is used to produce Jolly Gardener mulches. Is colored mulch safe for my vegetable garden and around my children and pets? All Jolly Gardener mulches, including colored mulches are made from virgin timber. The colorant we use in Jolly Gardener mulches is an all-natural, carbon based or iron oxide based colorant, which is safe to use in vegetable gardens and around children and pets. The following website will give you more information regarding colorants: www.mulchcolors.com. The company that manufactures colorant for Jolly Gardener mulches is Colorbiotics. Colorbiotics performs more extensive safety testing than any other colorant company in the U.S.A. The Mulch and Soil Council's subcommittee on Colorant Safety and Testing Protocol highly recommends that all colorant manufacturers use the same, extensive set of tests that Colorbiotics does routinely. Do you sell any uncolored mulches? While most of our mulches are colored to guarantee the rich colors home owners desire, we do offer non-colored mulch. Both our pine mulch and cedar mulch are all natural and do not contain any colorant. My dog ate the mulch I put down, should I take him/her to the vet? Our mulches are made from virgin wood and the colorant we use in our colored mulches is an all-natural, carbon or iron oxide based colorant. While dogs are used to getting a little wood in their stomachs from regularly chewing up sticks, their systems are not made to process large amounts of it. If you believe your dog has eaten an abnormal amount of wood or mulch, call your local vet. Do you use pesticides or herbicides on your mulches? Oldcastle Lawn & Garden does manufacture a number of products that are treated with pesticides and/or herbicides. These include Bella Vista Weed Block mulch which includes a herbicide, Term-A-Rid 613 Termite Killing Mulch which includes a pesticide, and Preen Mulch Plus which includes a herbicide. All of these products are labeled as including a pesticide or herbicide and list the active ingredient on the bag as required by the EPA. Any Oldcastle Lawn & Garden product using a herbicide or pesticide will have correct bag labeling so this is clear to you as the user. No Jolly Gardener products currently use either an herbicide or pesticide. SOILS Is your standard top soil OK to use in raised garden beds? A better product to use in raised garden beds is our garden soil. Garden soil contains composted manure, composted forest products and peat moss, adding nutrients and organic matter to the existing soil. Top soil is better used for lawn care�topdressing and patching bare spots or new installations. I have heavy, clay-like soil. What should I use in my soil to increase drainage? There are a number of products you can use. Composted cow manure, composted mushroom and garden compost all help to break up heavy, clay soils to improve aeration and drainage which is essential for a good growing environment. Soil conditioner made from aged pine barks is another alternative to help break up heavy soils. Gypsum is also a common method for improving soil drainage. Finally, sand helps improve drainage and aeration. I have sandy soil that water runs right through. What should I use to improve it? Composts�including cow manure, mushroom and garden composts�help hold soils together while also adding organic nutrients to the soil. Mix compost into your existing soil at approximately one part compost to three parts soil to help improve your growing environment. What are water minder crystals and what do they do? Water minder crystals, or water holding polymers, are a value-added ingredient to premium soils. These polymers actually soak up water and store it, slowly releasing it to nourish plant roots as the soil dries. Water minder crystals help prevent the bad effects from over and under watering container plants. Jolly Gardener Premium MoistureMate Potting Mix with fertilizer has water holding polymers in it to help you water smartly. What is the difference between Jolly Gardener and Jolly Gardener Premium soils? Jolly Gardener Premium soils include fertilizer which feeds plants up to 4 months. In addition, Jolly Gardener Premium soils may include other value-added ingredients such as water minder crystals and a higher percentage of Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss than non-premium soils. All Jolly Gardener Premium soils list their ingredients and have a guaranteed analysis on the back of the bag. While non-premium Jolly Gardener soils do not have these extra ingredients, they are still great products that provide organic matter to existing soils. OTHER What is in your play sand? Does it contain silica, quartz or asbestos? Our Jolly Gardener Golden Play Sand is natural, bank sand that has been washed to help remove some of the silica dust. It is not produced by crushing stone. Although it has been washed, our Golden Play Sand will still contain silica. As far as asbestos, the product has been tested and no traces of asbestos have been found. Do you sell wholesale or bulk material to the public? We offer bagged & bulk products sold wholesale only. We are not set up to sell on a retail level. Please contact us to find a retailer in your area that carries the Jolly Gardener line of products. What are you doing to continually improve your quality control measures? Oldcastle Lawn & Garden takes pride in our products and implements strict quality control processes. We have recently updated several of our manufacturing facilities with modern mix lines and new screens. Additionally, we have a quality control team and quality control on-site personnel at every facility to continuously review and test our products, ensuring our customers get the best product possible.