I'm currently preparing my flower garden for planting and was wondering what type of soil mix do you recommend. The past couple of years I've been using Earth's Finest Compost Peat Humus combined in one bag. The flowers I plant are : Lantana, Turk's Red Cap, Hibiscus, Bougaville, Marigold, Pansy, Penta,Snapdragon, Petunia, Dianthus, and Portulaca. My options are (from Lowe's) : Organic Compost, Peat Humus, Cow Manure, and Cow Manure/Compost combination. Is what I'm already using as good or better than these other options? If not, which one is better? Do you have another recommendation not listed here? Thanks a lot for your time and consideration !! Reggie Johnson
What you've been using is fine. Have the plants thrived using this mixture? Most plants need a well-draining soil and that is one of the top considerations.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/improving-garden-soil.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/garden-soil-information.htm
Hello, I have a blank canvas hill. I've just removed all weeds, etc. I'd like to prevent future weeds - (a). And, I'd like to prepare the soil for planting both fruit trees and decoratives. Can you please help me with some suggestions and the order in which I should do thigs. I would really appreciate any help you can afford. Thank you. All the Best, Arpine
Enriching your soil with compost and tilling it in is a good way to prep the soil for the transplant. Make sure to put down garden bed liner anywhere there will not be a plant or tree. This can help with weeds, but unfortunately, to have a weed free area will require both chemical means and diligence with manual labor. It is quite difficult to prevent all weeds in an area without both.
This article will help you in preparing the soil: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/improving-garden-soil.htm
Hello, I have a lot of clay soil dug from my home extension foundations, and wanted to know if this could be spread over the garden. I would then cover or mixed this clay with a top soil at a later date for growing a lawn? Has anyone ever done anything similar or have any advice? Just wondered if it was possible to reuse rather than skipping it all. Many thanks
I would not recommend that. It will create layer of soil that water will not be able to get passed. This could create very bad flooding in the area.
Clay soil needs to be well amended before using in an application such as this.
This article will help: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/how-to-improve-clay-soil.htm
Thanks BushDoctor
Should we mix topsoil with mulch to fill a raised bed? Here's why I ask...My husband and I went to our local nursery yesterday and asked them what soil to use (on a budget) for my raised beds we just built. The lady there said we should purchase 1 bag topsoil / to 3 bags mulch... mixed together. My husband was like, "great that's cheap!" I told him I don't think that's right... but he bought it anyway. I'm concerned with this mixture, and wonder why the local nursery suggest this to us? I googled and can't find this soil recipe recommendation anywhere of mixing so much mulch with topsoil to fill a raised bed. Or that the mulch inside the soil will cause disease. My worry is that the vegetables and flowers I'm planting won't have enough soil to grow/root onto. What are your thoughts?
I usually see recommendations of topsoil mixed with compost or aged manure. Then about 3 inches of mulch on top.
Our research recommends a mix to suit what you will be planting:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/best-soil-raised-garden-beds.htm
It is a rectangular Lawn, 8 meters long by 4 meters wide. They recommend to put on 3 to 4 centimeters deep of seedling lawn soil. Just I need to know please how many bags of 30L of gro sure seedling lawn soil should I need to buy. Thank you
You will take 8 meters and turn it into centimeters. That will be 800. Multiply that by 400 (4 meters) and multiply that by 4 centimeters and you get 1280000 cm cubed. This is 1280 Liters. divide that by 30 and that will give you just under 43 bags.
I was told to contact my 'local Extension office' to determine the quality of my garden soil. how do I go about doing that? Do I bring a sample of soil? How long does it take/ is there a cost?
This article answers your questions:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/testing-soil.htm
I have dug up a raised border and have 8 large bags full of soil can it be reused and if so how long can i store it in the bags for?
I would not store it in bags at all! The longer it sits in bag the more opportunity for infection there is.
In fact, a good way to re-use spent soil is to compost it! Just add it to your compost pile, or composter. This way, it has proper aeration and can be turned as it needs to be.
Re-using soil in this manner, becoming part of your compost, will leave you with a better product after composting.
Here are some articles that will help you to make your old soil usable again:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/basics/ultimate-beginners-guide-composting.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/organic/the-importance-of-soil-for-an-organic-garden.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/improving-garden-soil.htm