Start Here: North Texas Soil 101

Dallas/Fort Worth native soil is notoriously challenging — heavy black clay with an alkaline pH around 8.4 (neutral is 7.0). Most plants struggle because they cannot absorb nutrients efficiently in high-pH soil, not because of fertilizer deficiency.

SBS's pH Balanced Compost is specifically engineered to correct this problem when tilled into your beds. It contains a rich cotton burr base that not only lowers pH but also breaks up clay, improves drainage and adds lasting organic nutrition.

Our Gumbo Buster® goes even further — a pre-blended compost and expanded shale mix formulated at Texas A&M's prescribed ratios to permanently break up heavy clay.

Scheduling a Delivery

• ✓ Deliveries Monday–Saturday, daylight hours
• ✓ Typically delivered within a two-hour window
• ✓ Call-ahead notification available on request
• ✓ Orders under 6 CY incur a $35 small-load fee
• ✓ Fuel surcharge applied to all delivered orders
• ✓ Materials inspected before dumping — no reclaims once dumped

Delivery Fleet Specifications

Pickup Details

• ✓
  Bring your own truck or trailer. Materials are loaded with a front-end loader directly into your vehicle.
• ✓
  Standard pickup trucks typically hold ½ to 1 cubic yard depending on bed size and material density.
• ✓
  Bagged material is available for immediate pickup at the facility for all bagged products.
• ✓
  Commercial contractors can bring dump trucks and trailers — call ahead for loading priority during peak hours.

Pickup Truck Capacity Reference

Capacities vary by material density. Compost and mulch are lighter; sand, rock and gravel are heavier. Never overload your vehicle.

Drop Off Your Trimmings

SBS accepts landscape trimmings — tree branches, shrub trimmings, leaves and clean organic yard waste — at our Dallas facility. This is a convenient service for landscape contractors generating organic waste on residential and commercial jobs.

Your trimmings will be processed through our composting operation and eventually become the high-quality compost products that go back into DFW landscapes.

Ask an SBS Horticulturist

SBS has in-house horticultural expertise available to help landscape contractors, architects, designers and homeowners with the most appropriate product selection for their specific situation.

Common consultation topics include: soil problem diagnosis, pH remediation strategies, product selection for specific plants or site conditions, commercial specification support and troubleshooting failed installations.

Common Questions We Help With

Find a Qualified Contractor

SBS recommends YardHookup.com as a free resource to connect with reputable landscape contractors in the DFW area. It's a great tool for getting ideas, pricing comparisons and finding professionals who will get the job done right the first time.

Vegetable Garden Best Practices

• 1.
  Start with the right soil. Vegetable plants require nutrient-rich, well-draining, neutral pH soil. Native DFW soil meets none of these requirements. Build or excavate your bed and backfill entirely with SBS's Premium Vegetable Bed Blend or Specialty Organic-Growers' Mix.
• 2.
  Raised beds outperform in-ground. A raised bed 12–18 inches deep filled entirely with SBS veggie mix eliminates drainage issues, allows root penetration and provides the optimal growing environment year after year.
• 3.
  Mulch the surface. Apply 2–3 inches of fine hardwood mulch between rows and around plants to retain moisture, moderate soil temperature and suppress weeds.
• 4.
  Top dress each season. Add 1–2 inches of pH Balanced Compost or Revitalizer™ to your veggie beds each new growing season to restore organic matter and nutrients consumed by the previous crop.
• 5.
  Expect settling. High-organic soil mixes settle 15–20% in the first year as organics decompose. Plan your bed height accordingly, and top up each spring.

Recommended Veggie Garden Products

• What is mulch, and how does it differ from compost? +
  Mulch is placed on top of the soil as a protective layer for plants, moisture retention and aesthetics. It ranges from fresh organic material to well-composted organic material. Compost has been thoroughly decomposed through aerobic microbial action and is a nutrient-rich material that feeds plants and improves soil structure. Key rule: compost can be used as mulch; mulch should never be placed in the root zone as a soil amendment.
• Why must compost be "fully composted"? +
  Partially composted organic material consumes soil nutrients for its own decomposition, robs plant roots of oxygen through methane gas emissions, and releases volatile organic acids that are toxic to plants. This is why so many landscapes fail — the compost used was not finished. SBS composts undergo complete aerobic decomposition cycles and heat sterilization. All SBS composts are "finished compost" — growth-promoting, odorless and safe for root-zone contact.
• Why is soil pH so critical in DFW? +
  Metroplex native soil tests at approximately pH 8.4 — highly alkaline. Nearly all plants prefer neutral pH (6.5–7.5) in order to efficiently absorb nutrients. Plants in alkaline soil show nutrient deficiency symptoms (chlorosis, stunted growth) even when fertilizer is applied, because the nutrients are locked up by the chemistry of high-pH soil. SBS pH Balanced Compost is engineered specifically to lower soil pH when tilled into native DFW soil.
• What is Picloram and should I be concerned? +
  Picloram is a persistent herbicide used in agriculture that survives the composting process and can contaminate compost products. Even 1 part-per-billion in water can permanently damage plants. SBS conducts periodic third-party lab tests for Picloram and Clopyralid. Results: zero (0) ppb — every test, every time. SBS composts do not contain these contaminants. Some competitor products have tested positive — always ask your supplier for lab results.
• Is pine bark a good soil amendment or mulch? +
  Absolutely not. Despite widespread promotion, pine bark is one of the worst materials you can use. It is nearly void of nutritional content, causes severe nitrogen tie-up in the soil, releases phenols and terpenes that damage soil biology, and does not significantly aid moisture retention. SBS strongly recommends against all forms of pine bark regardless of whether it is raw, aged or "composted." For mulch, use hardwood or cedar. For soil amendment, use pH Balanced Compost™.
• Are cotton burrs a good soil amendment? +
  Yes — cotton burrs are one of the best possible soil amendments. They are nearly twice as nutrient-dense as normal manures, break up clay soils, improve moisture retention in sandy soils, encourage beneficial mycorrhizal activity and do not cause nitrogen tie-up. Fully decomposed cotton burrs (as used in SBS pH Balanced Compost) are completely safe — no chemicals, weeds or insects. This is why SBS uses cotton burrs as the base of our signature compost products.
• How much material do I need? +
  Measure the length, width and depth of your project area and enter the values into the SBS Cubic Yard Calculator. Material is sold by the cubic yard. For beds, a minimum 8-inch depth is recommended for most plants; 12 inches for trees, azaleas and roses. For mulch, 3 inches is the commercial standard for moisture retention and weed suppression.
• Does SBS deliver? What areas are covered? +
  Yes — SBS delivers throughout the extended DFW Metroplex, serving 150+ cities from Wichita Falls to Corsicana, Shreveport to Granbury. Deliveries are made Monday–Saturday during daylight hours. Orders under 6 CY incur a small-load fee. See the Delivery page for full truck specs and coverage map.
• What makes SBS products better than other suppliers? +
  SBS has a 50+ year track record, conducts lab testing for contaminants (zero ppb, every test), uses only fully composted materials, does not use pine bark, sawdust or treated lumber, and has formulated products specifically for DFW's alkaline clay soil conditions. SBS products are used on some of the most prominent commercial and institutional installations in Texas — AT&T Stadium, Klyde Warren Park, George W. Bush Presidential Library and many more. When landscapers do work at their own homes, they buy from SBS. That is the ultimate endorsement.

The SBS Story

Soil Building Systems began in 1972 in Dallas, Texas. Rather than rushing to market, SBS invested considerably in R&D before opening for business — and many of the early findings were contrary to the common wisdom of the day. Over time, much of what SBS pioneered was eventually adopted as industry standard.

Over the decades, SBS witnessed countless composting companies come and go. SBS weathered every economic storm by staying true to its founding objective: produce only quality products. Conscientious landscape professionals came to realize that the performance of installed plants was entirely dependent on the quality of the surrounding soil — and their business reputation depended on that realization.

In 1993, SBS opened its current main processing center in Dallas at 2101 Walnut Hill, allowing better service to the entire Metroplex. Since then, the company has grown steadily through word of mouth, impeccable reputation and integrity — never through advertising.

Under the leadership of Baron Ablon, who joined in 2001, SBS has transformed into the premier commercial and institutional supplier in DFW — providing materials for landmark projects including AT&T Stadium, Klyde Warren Park, George W. Bush Presidential Library, Cowboys World Headquarters, Perot Museum of Nature and Science, and Vitruvian Park.

Facility Information

Open a Commercial Account

SBS commercial accounts provide landscape contractors, developers and institutional buyers with NET terms, consolidated billing, volume pricing and dedicated account management. Apply by completing our credit application or call our commercial team.

To request documents or start the application process, contact our commercial accounts team at 972-831-8181 or submit via the contact form.

Account Benefits

• ★ NET 30 / NET 60 payment terms for qualified accounts
• ★ Consolidated monthly invoicing across multiple job sites
• ★ Volume discount pricing tiers
• ★ Dedicated account representative
• ★ Priority scheduling during peak seasons
• ★ Direct horticulture support for your projects

Solutions

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