from what i have read seaweed or kelp meal can not be substituted by anything. the whole purpose is to provide trace nutrients that could be lacking. some of these elements are not even needed by plants such as iodine yet are essential to animal health so it is indirect consumption first getting the nutrients into the plants then eating the plants. arsenic is another essential to animal life yet totally unneccesary to plants as well as we currently know. sea products tend to contain almost every mineral in trace amounts so fish meal or emulsion could possibly contain some or all of the things kelp or seaweed provides. Kelp meal is recomended at 1 cup per 100 square feet annualy in a book gardining for maximum nutrition so it is used in very minute qty. I can't help but wonder why bother with secondary igestion why not just consume minute qty of the meal directly in say stews soups gravies etc. Part of the logic no doubt is that the application to the soil also allows for any trace elements lacking in your local ecosystem and thus not present in localy produced organic debris. Importing components of the compost heap from distant sources may also have some advantagous effects such as using stable cleanings that have sawdust from nonlocal trees and feed comprised of products from several regions. so there is no substitute for seaweed or kelp meal to the best of my knowledge. I have yet to find a reasonable priced source. Anyone living near the coast could simply harvest rinse the salt and add the seaweed or kelp to the compost heap those of us inland must import to obtain it and prices seem to be way to high for what it is. Anyone knowing of low cost commodity co-op type suplies please post them.

Hi everyone, we’d like clear up some misunderstanding that have appeared in this thread. Walker Zanger’s collections are a combination of tiles designed in house, collections made in our own factory, exclusive collaborations with vendors and some collections that are vendor supplied. We specialize in quality, handmade tile and hand selected natural stone tiles and slabs. What makes Walker Zanger unique is the exclusive tiles designed by Walker Zanger, which is why you can only find them at a Walker Zanger showroom or Authorized Walker Zanger Dealer. To answer specific questions, Gramercy Park is designed by Walker Zanger and handmade in our own factory so not available anywhere else. Contessa is designed in house and made exclusively for Walker Zanger. Studio Moderne by Michael Berman (Fretwork) is designed by Michael Berman for Walker Zanger and handmade in our own factory, thus not available anywhere else. Villa d'Oro (Granada in Grigio) is designed in house and made exclusively for Walker Zanger. Weave is a collaboration with Oceanside Glass and the color blends, the Offset and Stix tile patterns and sizes are all exclusive to Walker Zanger. We hope that helps answer some of the questions you have. We really appreciate your interest in our tiles, and understand the inclination to save on the purchase, but you can only get Walker Zanger design and quality at Walker Zanger. To find your nearest showroom or authorized dealer, click here: http://tinyurl.com/WZShowrooms and if you'd like to know more about our natural stone selection process we'd be happy to share that with you too.

it's a water jet mosaic. they are expensive because of the labor. you can try Tilebar water jets, they have some nice ones, but not identical. and Walker Zanger is not the middleman. they are the manufacturer. the middleman is the tile place that sells it. But w/WZ, you just can't go to their warehouse and purchase it!

'In a raised bed, what are the reasons that you might prefer using bark over garden waste compost?' Bark would be cheaper surely, if wanting vast supplies of it. OTOH, I understand that some people have access to free supplies of garden waste (unlike where I live). So in that case, I would wonder why anyone would use bark. My ideal raised garden bed would contain soil (the real thing, not potting mix) and composted garden waste and composted food waste. Bark is not my cup of tea at all. 'In a container situation, I understand that carefully sized bark helps to control the hydrology of water in the container, by lowering the perched water table.' I don't understand that question completely. Carefully sized anything controlls the movement of water through 'soil' mixes in container plants. Bark is plentiful, readily available and cheap, so it's used. It's not very nice though, in my opinion. 'In a raised bed that concern goes away, so it might be more about the relative ability of each type of ingredient to hold nutrients.' No. Bark is pretty hopeless at such a thing - not as hopeless as some, I am sure, like sand. But a good, TRUELY coarse sand is IMO a good ingredient for potting mixes. If you know of a good source, please let me know. 'Let's consider this question in the context of a plant that does well in bark soils, such as Azalea, Rhododendron, or Camellia.' I think if you were to ask an azalea, camellia or rhododendron, "Do you like a bark soil?" the answer would be, "Whatever gave you that idea?? It's what we get put in these days. Why are humans so obsessed with it?" Plants probably don't understand economics.