Peat Moss for Aeration, Water Retention     No matter how beautiful your home, if it is built on a weak foundation, chances are it will have problems. The same goes for your garden. No matter how beautiful and hardy the plants look when purchased, they will only thrive in the garden with the right soil. Problem is, nobody has the perfect soil. Usually there is either too much sand or too much clay. But mixing in a little peat moss can do the trick!     Peat moss enables sandy soil to hold nutrients and water, and it helps to aerate clay soil, enabling it to hold more air. How can you tell what you have? A simple way: Dig down a few inches. Take a handful of soil and compact it into a tight ball. If it falls apart easily, your soil may be too sandy or dried out. If it remains in a tight ball, chances are it has too much clay. A good rule of thumb is too work about three or four inches of peat moss into the top of your soil each year. You can't go wrong!     Sphagnum peat moss retains up to 20 times its weight in water. Its natural cellular structure balances aeration and water retention in your garden.     Mix peat moss in soil for new plantings and seeding new lawns. Use it to top-dress existing garden areas. Note that sphagnum peat moss generally has a pH slightly on the acid side. Peat moss coverage chart -- common gardening situations Gardening situation Treatment 3.8 cu. ft. 2.2 cu. ft. 1 cu. ft. New lawns, flowers, vegetable gardens Work 2" into top 6" of soil 50 sq. ft. 25 sq. ft. 12 sq. ft. Existing flower and vegetable gardens Work 1" into soil 100 sq. ft. 50 sq. ft. 25 sq. ft. Top-dressing lawns Spread 1/2" and rake in 200 sq. ft. 100 sq. ft. 50 sq. ft. Planting trees and shrubs Mix with soil, mulch surface Plant in a ratio of 1 part peat to 2 parts soil. Take note of preferred pH range. - Hardware Hotline  July, 1999 Click on item number to order these products: 70584 sphagnum peat moss 005041, 1 cu. ft.