I built a low retaining wall around some old garden beds in Victoria and I need a few yards of soil to raise the grade by about 1 foot. I know exactly how much I need but I've never had soil delivered before and don't know what to look for when placing my order. Some of the options from local suppliers include the addition of fish compost and manure. I have some compost and leaf mulch but not in adequate quantities to fill these mostly-shade, raised beds. I got a small amount of 'good soil' from our drainage contractor but it looks like shredded bark and is very dry. I have mostly hostas in these beds but am slowly moving toward native plants: huckleberry, salal... Thank you.
Go and have a look at what your supplier is offering in person. Don't rely on Blind Faith if you want good quality. Squish some in your hand and determine if it's what you want. You could scoop a handful in a sandwich bag and test it later. Suppliers can claim "garden soil" and "premium lawn mix" and all of that. It's not going to be a top soil. They mix stuff up...like sand, ground up wood, some compost and even subsoils. There are ways of making it look darker too....by putting it through the conveyer system again and making it fluffy or there are darkening agents that can be sprayed on the soil mix to make it look darker too.
Thanks David, I will go and look at it tomorrow. They said, it's the fish compost that makes it nice and dark. Today I got some seaweed at the beach and some sand. I'm going to recycle some old soil and, instead of having new soil delivered, I'll fill up several boxes in my hatchback. I'll save my primo compost for the top layer. Compared to what I had, the plants should love this.
