Native Soil Mix
For a garden of WA natives that has to look after itself.
Native Soil Mix is 70% loam and 30% organic FOGO compost, blended for Australian native plants — enough nutrition to get them established, enough drainage that they are not left sitting wet. It is produced to Australian Standard AS 4419 and is a WALGA preferred product. Sold loose by the cubic metre, in bulka bags, or by the trailer load.
Or call the yard on (08) 9434 2290
Real stock, not a swatch. Blended products vary a little batch to batch, so treat these as a guide rather than an exact colour match.
Native Soil Mix details
Native Soil Mix at a glance
- Product type
- Organic soil blend
- Composition
- 70% loam, 30% organic FOGO compost
- Standard
- Australian Standard AS 4419
- Recognition
- WALGA preferred product
- Primary use
- Australian native gardens
- Available as
- Loose, bulka bag, trailer load
What Native Soil Mix suits
What can you use Native Soil Mix for?
Australian native gardens
This is the job the ratio was chosen for. A native bed filled with it gets moisture retention and drainage at the same time, which is the balance natives are usually failed by.
Water-efficient landscapes
The client lists it under sustainable and water-efficient planting, and that follows from the blend rather than being a slogan: loam that holds moisture, planted with species that were not asking for much water in the first place.
Establishing new native plantings
The first season is the one that decides whether a native garden lives. Planting into a mix that drains and still holds water gives new root systems the conditions to get away before the first real summer.
Residential and commercial landscaping
It is specified across whole sites, not just backyards, which is why it is on the WALGA preferred list. Councils and contractors order it by the truck for verges, parks and native landscaping.
How much Native Soil Mix
How much Native Soil Mix do you need?
Length by width by depth, all in metres, gives you cubic metres. For a bed 4m by 1.2m filled to 75mm, that is 4 × 1.2 × 0.075 = 0.36 m³.
It is an estimate. Uneven ground and how firmly the mix settles both change what you actually use, so round up rather than down. We have not published a recommended depth for this product — describe the bed at the counter and someone who works with it every day will tell you.
Whatever you work out here lands in the enquiry form below, already written down.
That is about one trailer load. Order a touch over rather than under — a second trip costs more than the extra scoop.
Native Soil Mix in Perth
Is Native Soil Mix suitable for Perth conditions?
WA natives evolved on the ground most of Perth's southern suburbs sit on: deep, free-draining sand that is low in organic matter. That heritage is why they are usually killed by kindness rather than neglect — a rich, wet bed is further from what they are built for than a lean one.
The 70/30 ratio is written for that. The loam gives the bed enough body to carry moisture through a hot week, and holding organic matter to the minority share keeps the bed draining freely rather than staying sodden after winter rain.
It is also why the client files it under water-efficient landscaping. A native bed established in this mix should need less watering once it is away, and under a sprinkler roster the water a soil holds between turns is the water the plant actually gets.
If your existing soil sheds water rather than soaking it up, mention it when you order. That is water-repellent sand, and it wants conditioning as well as topping up — a different product, and a conversation worth having before the truck is loaded.
Why Native Soil Mix
Why choose Native Soil Mix?
Seventy per cent loam, and that is deliberate
The published ratio is the honest way to judge a native mix. Structure dominates and organic matter is the minority share, which is the correct shape for plants that evolved on lean soils.
It holds moisture and still drains
The client calls this water wise performance, and it is doing two jobs at once: retaining enough moisture to cut back watering, while draining freely enough that roots are not sitting wet after rain.
FOGO compost, so the nutrition is available
The compost has already broken down, so what nutrition is in the blend is ready for the plant rather than locked up while the material decomposes and pulls nitrogen out of the bed.
Made to AS 4419, and WALGA preferred
AS 4419 is the Australian Standard for landscaping and garden soils, so one load matches the next. WALGA preferred status is why councils and landscaping contractors across WA specify it by name.
Getting Native Soil Mix home
How to get Native Soil Mix
Collect from the yard
Open seven days at 222 Barrington St, Bibra Lake. The loader puts it straight into your trailer or ute, and someone will tell you whether what you have brought will carry the load.
Borrow one of our trailers free for two hours to get your load home. No charge, no bond.
Have it delivered
Across Perth's southern suburbs, seven days. For a quote we need the address, how much you need, and anything awkward about access — tight driveways, low branches and side access all change which truck we send. Confirm the current cost when you order.
Formats
- Loose, by the cubic metre
- Bulka bag, roughly a cubic metre each
- Trailer load, including our free two hour trailer
Using Native Soil Mix
How to use Native Soil Mix
Work out how much you need
Length by width by depth, in metres, gives cubic metres. The calculator further down handles it. Round up — a second trip costs more than the extra scoop.
Clear and open up the ground
Take the weeds out and break the surface of whatever is already there, so the mix knits into it. A native bed that sits as a discrete layer on top of compacted ground drains at the join and roots stop at it.
Spread it evenly across the bed
Keep the depth consistent right across, so the bed settles evenly and one end does not end up holding more water than the other.
Work it gently into the topsoil
Incorporate it lightly into the layer underneath rather than digging it right through. Gently is the client's own word for this, and it is the difference between blending two soils and destroying the structure of both.
Plant, then water thoroughly
Water well after planting. That first proper soaking settles the mix around the roots and is what gets the root system established, which is the whole game with natives in their first season.
When to choose something else
When it is the wrong product
- It is not a vegetable mix. Vegetables want considerably more richness than a 70/30 blend carries, and a bed of it planted with tomatoes will underperform — Veggie Mix is blended for that job.
- It is not for lawns. Turf wants something sandier that levels and drains, which is Special Lawn Mix.
- It is a mix, not a conditioner. If the bed is already full and the soil is simply tired or water-repellent, Soil Conditioner worked into it is the answer, and buying volume you cannot use is not.
- Natives is a wide word. This is blended for general Australian native planting; if you are putting in something with particular requirements, say what it is when you order rather than assuming one blend covers every species.
- We do not publish a phosphorus figure for this blend. Some WA natives — banksias and grevilleas among them — are sensitive to phosphorus, so if that is what is going in the bed, raise it at the counter before you order rather than after you have spread it.
- It will not make a wet site drain. The blend drains well itself, but a bed that holds water because of what is underneath it needs that dealt with first, and no soil poured on top will fix it.
Customer reviews
What people say
Native Soil Mix questions
Native Soil Mix FAQs
Goes with Native Soil Mix
Other products you may need
If you are not planting natives
The 70/30 ratio is restraint on purpose. For anything hungrier, one of these is the blend.
Mulch a native bed once it is planted
Mulch on top is what keeps the moisture in the soil you have just paid for.
If the ground is already there
For a bed that does not need filling, only improving — especially on sand that sheds water.
Guides for native soil mix
Planning your project
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Native Soil Mix quote
Need Native Soil Mix for your project?
Send us the quantity you need, your suburb, and whether you would like to collect it or have it delivered. If you are not sure how much, put your measurements into the calculator above and we will check it for you.
Or ring the yard on (08) 9434 2290
222 Barrington St, Bibra Lake WA 6163 · Open 7 days
Use the calculator above and the amount lands in the message for you.