Urban tree fine substrate
| Packaging unit | Price | Quantity info |
|---|---|---|
| Big Bag (1 ton – available by order only) | € 168,00 | |
| 1 m³ (loose) | € 180,00 | |
| 1 ton (loose – from 5 tons onwards) | € 144,00 |
Fill the tree pit with a 30 cm layer of coarse gravel (100-150 mm grain size without fine particles) and compact it well with a road roller. Then apply the fine substrate in layers of 5 cm and flush it into the cavities of the coarse skeleton with a 3/4-inch water hose. Repeat this process until all cavities of the coarse skeleton are filled with fine substrate. Then apply the next layer of coarse gravel, compact it again, and flush in more fine substrate. A tree pit created in this way should have a volume of 20-30 m³ and is completely buildable (i.e., with roads, sidewalks, etc.). All surface water in the surrounding area (including roof water) can be discharged into these pits. It is important to provide an overflow into the sewer. Each cubic meter of tree pit requires 250 liters (i.e., 25%) of fine substrate.
This product contains stably bound, climate-effective carbon. This carbon has already been certified and compensated for in the form of CO2 certificates. Therefore, it is not possible to sell such certificates for this product.
Planting trees is becoming increasingly important in cities, both to cool them down and to better control water levels. Especially when there is no separate sewer system, this innovative type of tree planting pays for itself within a few years through savings in sewerage costs. In addition, the trees grow vigorously and healthily and are much more resistant to increasingly severe weather events. There are practically no more failures after planting and the maintenance effort is significantly reduced. The first street in Austria to be constructed using this system in 2017 is Eggenberger Allee in Graz.
The challenge in substrate development was stability—after all, the tree should stand in this substrate for at least 100 years. Therefore, only stable and activated biochar and correspondingly stable quartz sand can be used as components.
This substrate (formerly known as fine substrate skeletal soil) was developed on behalf of the city of Graz and in collaboration with DI Erwin Murer in order to provide a durable substrate that is easily penetrated by roots between the coarse stones of the soil skeleton. It consists of our Stadtbaum concentrate and quartz sand in a ratio of 1:4.
Bulk density: 1.25 tons/m3
Product video
Many success stories
In this video, we show you some examples of tree planting carried out using this new method 3-4 years ago.
Customer reviews
Pieces of wood are a natural component of our compost and do not constitute a quality defect. All our products are screened using a trommel screen during processing. A specific mesh size is used to remove coarser particles. However, individual pieces of wood may remain in the product if their diameter is smaller than the respective mesh size. This is due to technical constraints and is also a reflection of our conscious commitment to gentle, nature-friendly processing.
We firmly believe that plastics have no place in nature and therefore have no place in our soils either. That is why we invest a great deal of time, money and energy into keeping our products free from contaminants. We deeply regret it when, despite our best efforts, very occasional plastic particles find their way into our products.
In this regard, we would like to give you a brief insight into some of our quality assurance measures:
Selection of raw materials: We use only regional tree and shrub cuttings, as well as controlled sludge (e.g. from jam production and milk processing), to produce our compost. We have made a conscious decision not to use the contents of organic waste bins, as these contain vast quantities of packaging materials, plastic bags and other contaminants.
Inspection on delivery: Unfortunately, it is a widespread social problem that waste is often carelessly discarded in the natural environment. Consequently, tree and shrub cuttings are sometimes contaminated with plastic. The raw materials delivered are always checked by our staff for contaminants. Obvious contaminants such as plastic flower pots or similar items are sorted out by hand before processing. In cases of severe contamination, acceptance is consistently refused.
Technical processing: Despite careful raw material selection and inspection, we cannot entirely prevent isolated pieces of plastic from entering the raw material mix for our compost. To separate these particles before processing into the final product, the finished compost is sieved using a defined mesh size.
External quality controls: Our composts is inspected several times a year by external, independent testing bodies. A key component of these inspections is the sampling and laboratory analysis of the compost. The test results are published on our website to ensure the greatest possible transparency. The analysis also examines the compost for contaminants (see ‘Table 3: Test results for dietary fibre’). Compliance with the Austrian Compost Ordinance is certified in Chapter ‘4. Compost Assessment’ through classification into Quality Class A+ (our organic compost Bio Kompost) or Quality Class A (conventional compost). Plastics in particular are extremely difficult to separate due to their material properties (e.g. low weight, low resistance to mechanical stress, non-magnetic…). Even more intensive technical processing of our compost to separate the last, very isolated plastic particles (according to compost test results < 0.2%) is by no means proportionate to the associated environmental impacts (e.g. CO2 emissions from the additional energy consumption). As a company committed to environmental sustainability, we could not condone this. Furthermore, to our knowledge, there is currently no process that allows for the complete separation of plastics. We therefore ask that any plastic parts found be removed by hand. We would also be delighted to invite you to visit our premises in person to see for yourself. Once a year (on 1 May), as part of our open day, we even offer free guided tours with our CEO Gerald Dunst, during which all our work processes are demonstrated and explained. As a company dedicated to the sensible recycling and recovery of biogenic waste on a daily basis, we take our responsibility towards nature very seriously!
A white fungal network in your soil is nothing to worry about; in fact, quite the opposite: all our soils thrive on an extremely diverse microbial ecosystem. Decomposing fungi are an important part of this system. They use the nitrogen from the horn shavings to produce their own fungal protein. The bound nitrogen is later mineralised, making it directly available to plants.
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