New or unimproved garden beds: Mix or till our compost into the garden bed to establish a base of nutrients for years of good growth. Mulch as needed.

Existing perennial beds: Spread a 1-inch layer of Pay-Dirt compost over your soil as a nutrient-booster. Then follow with a 2-inch layer of either our double-ground hardwood mulch or our composted mulch on top.

Lawns: In spring and fall, put your grass seed down, then follow with a ½-inch layer of compost on top for superior lawn growth.

Do you deliver?

Yes, delivery is available. Panorama Pay-Dirt is happy to deliver compost, mulch, or composted mulch to any address in Charlottesville or the surrounding counties. If you prefer, you may pick up your order at our Earlysville farm. For the convenience of those in need of smaller amounts, we also offer bagged compost at local garden centers.

Why use compost?

The most visible result of composting is a lush, green lawn and garden, with larger blooms and greater crop yield. But the long-term benefits of using compost are just as important. Compost improves your soil in three ways.

Structurally. Compost reduces soil density (a problem with Virginia clay!), helping to improve moisture retention and limit the effects of drought, and reducing the possibility of erosion.

Nutritionally. Compost is not only a good source of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, but also adds important micronutrients in slow-release form. It also helps soil to optimize any additional fertilizers you apply.

Biologically. Compost adds beneficial microbes to the soil, suppressing plant disease and helping plant roots to extract nutrients from soil. And the earthworms love it!

Want more information? Visit the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service at www.ext.vt.edu. Another good website is www.Earth911.org.

Should I compost at home?

We are always glad to know people are composting at home. It’s a great way to recycle, and it minimizes what we put into our landfills. To make the most of your landscaping and vegetable beds, however, you are likely to need much more compost than a typical household can produce.

Making household compost is not easy: By the time you amass a large enough compost pile for microbes to thrive in—and decomposition to occur—the pile is too large to turn by hand. Devices such as the barrel-style compost turner advertised in some gardening catalogs produce too small an amount for microbial decomposition to occur. That’s where Panorama comes in.

Why is Panorama Pay-Dirt’s compost superior?

Our premium-quality compost is even better than homemade. We begin with the right combination of raw materials—leaves, poultry litters, and water. We turn our compost piles at precise intervals to ensure proper aeration. And we age our compost until the microbial decomposition is complete. The result is a uniformly textured product that bears no resemblance to its source material—which is the mark of superior compost. By the way: You should not be able to tell whether it began as grass, leaves, eggshells, or orange peels. If anything, people have said our compost resembles fudge brownie crumbs—but we promise, that’s not what we make it from!