3togo imake it the same way i use plexiglass on top of the tub. Great meeting you at coyote days

Long story short, 4 parts dirt 1 part sand works best for me overall. The dirt I use is sandy loam and the sand is coarse. 1 pound of wax per gallon to make bullet proof waxed dirt that packs. IMO solar produces the best quality but the mixer is way faster for volume. 100 gallons done 100 more to go..

For those that have blending in problems if it's available around you black sand blends real nice with darker soil conditions. Also some places have river sand for filling sand bags, its a darker brown then normal but needs sifted thru a finer screen before waxing has some small stones in it. Unfortunately no matter what unless you go filling buckets up with the dirt from areas that you are going to trap none of it matches perfectly to the natural dirt at the set.

I toss a few hand fulls of grass clippings in mine that gives it a more realistic aged look. I suppose a guy could also add them in the waxing process Straw chaff looks the best but grass clippings are way easier to obtain. Grass leaf mulch would be the best for natural