Hey all!
I have a place in my front yard that I wish to plan some plants. I noticed that the recommended tip is to get good garden soil and have it 25cm deep. For me to do this at 60 dollars a cubic metre it would total $750 just for the soil. Is there a way around this? Can I just place good soil in the hole I did for the plant?? Just looking for cheaper options
thanks
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sportivo86
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
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- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
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Hi and welcome to the Forum! Glad you found us. It always helps to let us know where in the world you are. Hardly any garden questions that can be discussed without regard to location, climate, etc.
$750 / $60 / cu meter = 12.5 cu meters/ .25 meters depth = 50 sq meters garden space (or for Americans that are out of step with the rest of the world and don't think in metric, about 538 sq feet). To start with, that is a pretty big garden to put in all at once. One option might be to develop your space in sections.
It makes a difference what you will be planting. 25 cm (9.8") is more depth than some plants need and not enough for others.
It also makes a big difference what the native soil you are starting with is. If the native soil is terrible (hard, compacted, dense clay, rocky, etc), it is more important to amend well/ replace as much as possible, than if your existing soil is somewhat tolerable.
When you talked about $750 for the soil, are you talking about buying it in bags? It is much cheaper to buy it in bulk, buy the truckload. I don't know where you are or what prices are like, but here your 12.5 cu meters bought in bulk would be more like $200 than $750.
If your soil is hard clay, just digging a hole, putting good soil in it and planting is not a real workable solution. The plant roots tend to hit the "wall" of hard clay and turn around, stay confined. So it is more like you planted in a container the size of your hole than actually planted in the ground. Mixing in is better.
You do need to know what it is you are buying. Here, anyway, "topsoil" is an unregulated descriptor, which can mean more or less anything and might not be much better than the soil you already have.
My take on what to do in your situation is to divide your 500 sq meters into sections/ beds, with paths between them, since you will need to be able to get to your plants. Break up the soil in the beds a bit and put holes down in to it for drainage. Then use some kind of edging so that you can build up the soil level 15-25 cm. Fill it in with good enriched topsoil and some compost, well aged manure, peat moss, etc. In beds with paths, you will have reduced the area. But filling in the whole bed with good enriched soil avoids the holes problem. Building up keeps your soil looser.
Just some random thoughts!
$750 / $60 / cu meter = 12.5 cu meters/ .25 meters depth = 50 sq meters garden space (or for Americans that are out of step with the rest of the world and don't think in metric, about 538 sq feet). To start with, that is a pretty big garden to put in all at once. One option might be to develop your space in sections.
It makes a difference what you will be planting. 25 cm (9.8") is more depth than some plants need and not enough for others.
It also makes a big difference what the native soil you are starting with is. If the native soil is terrible (hard, compacted, dense clay, rocky, etc), it is more important to amend well/ replace as much as possible, than if your existing soil is somewhat tolerable.
When you talked about $750 for the soil, are you talking about buying it in bags? It is much cheaper to buy it in bulk, buy the truckload. I don't know where you are or what prices are like, but here your 12.5 cu meters bought in bulk would be more like $200 than $750.
If your soil is hard clay, just digging a hole, putting good soil in it and planting is not a real workable solution. The plant roots tend to hit the "wall" of hard clay and turn around, stay confined. So it is more like you planted in a container the size of your hole than actually planted in the ground. Mixing in is better.
You do need to know what it is you are buying. Here, anyway, "topsoil" is an unregulated descriptor, which can mean more or less anything and might not be much better than the soil you already have.
My take on what to do in your situation is to divide your 500 sq meters into sections/ beds, with paths between them, since you will need to be able to get to your plants. Break up the soil in the beds a bit and put holes down in to it for drainage. Then use some kind of edging so that you can build up the soil level 15-25 cm. Fill it in with good enriched topsoil and some compost, well aged manure, peat moss, etc. In beds with paths, you will have reduced the area. But filling in the whole bed with good enriched soil avoids the holes problem. Building up keeps your soil looser.
Just some random thoughts!
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b