In message , Ed
writes
On 29/03/09 17:50, Ted wrote:
When the book calls for Horticultural grit or sharp sand. Will
building grit and sharp sand do instead ..I know it seen
ms to be frowned on but ordinary sharp sand is used on football
pitches...Wondered if the horticultural label was just to relieve us
of more money ?

Builder's sand and sharp sand are different products.

Builder's sand (often referred to as soft sand) has very fine particles
and is used by builders in combination with cement to make up a mortar
mix which might be used, say, for laying bricks. You might also come
across it in children's sand-pits.

Sharp sand, on the other hand, has larger (though still small)
particles and offers good drainage as water can easily percolate
through. For this reason it is often used in a horticultural sense to
'open' up claggy clayey soils or added to a potting-up medium to assist
drainage. Builder's soft sand will not do that.

Horticultural grit.. now what is that? Suspect that it might in
reality be just ordinary sharp sand (or similar) but which will cost
you 3x the price!!


The horticultural grit that I've seen looks like it has been more
carefully graded, it has usually seemed to be more larger particles, not
so much of the smaller ones, than builders grit or sharp sand, which
seems to have a wider range of particle size (Though what you get from a
BM varies around the country
--
Chris French