Hi, I'm building three 5' X 4' X 1' raised garden beds in my backyard for growing vegetables - the existing soil seems pretty good, the previous owners have planted a wide variety of plants in our backyard that all seem to grow really well. However, I assume I still need to add soil to get the soil level up to a reasonable height in the garden bed (maybe 6" depth - so 30 cubic feet?) Can anyone recommend a supplier for bulk soil (preferably organic mixtures for vegetable gardening) that can deliver the soil to my home? I've searched through previous threads, but I wasn't able to find any common recommendations. Searching online, the three that come up are eco-soil, arts nursery, garden pod, and my garden bag. The prices are pretty comparable. Anyone have any experience with these suppliers, or have any other recommendations? I also have a second question - I wanted to build a higher raised bed (10' X 2' X 2.5') for salad greens that we would harvest more frequently. But, instead of buying soil to fill it up as high as 2.5', I was thinking of filling in the bottom with sand (the previous owners left a sandbox full of sand that we are dismantling) and then 8" of soil. Is that a good idea? And, do I need to put something between the sand and the soil? Thanks in advance!
For the 2.5' tall bed - I wanted it raised that high for a couple reasons: 1) aesthetically, a higher narrower garden box would look better where it sits in the garden. 2) easier to harvest the frequently harvested greens at waist-height.
Try Mygardenbag.com http://www.mygardenbag.com/ I've used them in the past and found them pretty reliable - they cost a little more but will deliver. Not only bringing it to your house but putting it where you want it......"X" marks the spot. It is delivered in a large recyclable bag that can be placed where you want it. The bag not only keeps all the soil in one neat place but it can be closed up to keep it dry if it rains. You just empty the bag at your leisure and you get to keep the bag, or return it to one of the specified locations.
If you have good soil, why bring in more soil for raised beds? Just dig out the soil in the footpaths between the raised beds and use it in the raised beds. I do that all of the time, and it works perfectly well. If you buy extra soil, you rarely know what you are going to get; it may be much poorer than the soil that you have already.
pmurphy - Thanks! Yes, I found mygardenbag through google searches, glad to hear of someone who's had a positive experience! vitog - The pathways between the garden beds are narrow (space limitation), so not a lot of soil that I can take from there...
... make sure that the product you choose is guaranteed weed-free. Read the thread about Fireweed (recent) to give you an idea of the nightmare you can be spending your money on. There is another thread in the past few months about contaminated soil for sure I like Sea Soil from northern Vancouver Island - it is avail in bags and bulk. There is also the Salish Soil brand from Sechelt BC which may be avail on the lower mainland (greater Vancouver) --- they promise that their soil is weed-free. http://salishenvironmentalgroup.com/ EDIT - here is the thread about horsetails in purchased garden soil - http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=64623 the other thread about weeds in purchased soil - has keyword "fireweed" in the subject line
Georgia Strait - Darn, read your post a bit late, I already ordered from Harvest Power, but did not check if the soil is guaranteed weed-free... Hope it works out ok! I got the recommendation for Harvest Power from my friends at Fresh Roots (we volunteered for a couple of their school farm builds), and they used soil from Harvest Power which is working out really well... Also, their prices were much more reasonable than other suppliers that I reached out to. Anyway, will post back with results! Thanks again to everyone for the advice!
yes, good point Ron B I would still want a guarantee from the landscaper / delivery / supplier (whomever), esp if one is buying big money - ie enough "yards" for a raised bed system - or a whole new landscape as we are known to do up here in Vcvr BC in our ever-expanding suburbia and reno'd old neighbourhoods.