Shipping huge quantities of soil would be really pricey. Normally when making raised beds one plans ahead a bit and fills them with organic material that will compost and make excellent garden soil in a short time. If you need it NOW, I would recommend you buy bags of of various things and mix them into your raised bed with any free organic materials you can come up with: compost, coffee grounds from Starbucks, wood shavings, old leaves, whatever.

If you have no compost of your own, you can buy that in bags. You could mix that in with container soil and get something passable. I have lots of bags of other people's leaves from last fall stockpiled in my yard, containers of horse manure from last year, compost, etc., just for that purpose, but it might be hard for you to acquire such things quickly.

In a raised bed one can mix all sorts of organic material, and then immediately dig holes and fill them with soil mix or compost and put the plants in there. As the plant grows, the other stuff has composted a bit and become suitable for the roots of the growing plants. So if you can scrounge anything, try to do that to save some money. Only thing is you shouldn't add most kinds of manure unless it is well aged. Actually you can buy aged manure in bags, too, but if buying it you might as well go for the more general compost.

Marcia

No matter what anyone has told you, you cannot buy "garden soil" you make it by adding lots of organic matter to the soil you have. The stuff sold in stores, or on the web, as "garden soil" is simply some mineral stuff (sand, clay, silt) to which organic matter might have been added.

Did you build the raised beds over soil or sod? If so, you might want to just plant and not use them as raised beds this year? And what is their size? You can figure how much soil you need by finding their depth, length and width. Buying soil in bags is expensive and by mail would be way too much. But stores like Walmart, Home Depot and Lowes have bags of soil ammendments you could use. I don't think it will hurt your plants. Many nurserys sell soil by the yard. A lot of soil goes a little way. I am careful to give away as little as possible when I share plants. I never have enough and I can't make compost fast enough.

The raised beds are placed over lava rock. I can't plant in lava rock. And obviously I wasn't clear. I need garden soil to FILL THE RAISED BEDS. If I take it from elsewhere in my yard, I will have huge unsightly holes, and I will STILL need soil to fill those.

And I've tried Home Depot, Lowes, Target, Walmart, K Mart, and Walgreens. If I saw bags of garden soil or amendments there I would have bought them. And yes, I know how to multiply height, width, and depth. And yes, I did plan ahead. I'm really not an idiot.

Since I can't get garden soil locally, I need to get it online.

Never mind.

You can purchase MiracleGro garden SOIL. I've seen it in ALL of the big box stores. I believe that they make a general purpose garden soil as well as some sort of 'organic' product. (Whatever THAT means, coming from the Scott's company!) There are other manufacturers who market their own brand of garden soils, too.

The MG garden soil comes in 20# bags, I believe. I'd use some inexpensive soil conditioner in with it (which will be mostly composted bark) and even SOME potting mix. You should be able to get all three at Lowe's or Home Depot.

You'll find the garden soil in stacks next to the other MiracleGro products, just read the labels which are clearly marked.

lilac's,

we never buy garden soil to fill our raised beds and for you i can't see why what we do won't work?

like 'kimmsr' says, we go along with because it works.

not sure where you live but i would presume there is a local garbage tip site? nearly all of our city dumps sell humus material that is composted compostable waste they collect, you could buy a load of that and use.

can you access mushroom compost? maybe someone sells if not too far away or source a mushroom farm and get a load from there, this is our preffered starter medium, see our pic's and story on our site.

just that as has been said i'd hate to think of the cost of shipping growing medium from thousands of kilometers away, unless of course if you can contact a tip truck driver taking a load of stuff to another county or place and he can pick you up a load for his retrun trip, still not going to be cheap.

start collecting everyones grass clipping and leaves and put this stuff in the beds it will all break down, even light prunings, how about horse manure from stables or there's cows, goats sheep whatever?

might be cheaper to just buy a mega load of cheap potting mix form a local nursery?

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

You've said that you've tried the box stores. Any planter mix they have would work. But, depending upon the size of your beds, that can get truly pricey.

Most likely you do have a source nearby for larger amounts of planting mix or something similar. Look in the Yellow Pages under headings such as soil, fill, or mulch.

In my region, that sort of place sells "top soil" (whatever that is; be certain to look at it before you buy), planter mix, 3-way mix, and 4-way mix. The terminology may be diferent in your area.

Where do you live?
I think that would be the first ? What zone are you in?
There are several ways to amend your soil and they aren't all that difficult!
I have a compost bin that is almost "done", a compost tumbler (I bought for $5 at the dump), and I
'm getting a new one soon!
It isn't very difficult to compost and "fix" the soil.
HTH Nancy

I had called Lowes and they told me that they didn't have any garden soil. Well, duh. They do have Miracle Gro garden soil because I brought a bag home with me today.

But that won't go into my raised beds. It wouldn't make a dent, anyway. It'll be mixed with some of my yard dirt and leaves from last year to make a better soil basis for the plants waiting to go into the ground.

This is way more frustating than I figured it would be. Once I get my raised beds taken care of, my need for bought soil will diminish.

If you need a lot of soil, you may want to try to find someplace that will deliver it. It won't be cheap, but if you need a large quantity, it would be cheaper to buy in bulk and have it delivered than to buy the bags at the big box stores. But try to take a look at what they call garden soil or topsoil before buying it. I think they can call just about anything topsoil or garden soil.

I would think that the delivery charges would be exorbitant if you bought online.

Putting soil over Lava Rock may be a big mistake because that soil would filter down between the Lava Rock and you would end up with plants trying to grow between the rocks.

There must be locally owned nurseries and landscape supply houses near you that sell soils in bulk quantities and even would deliver. Many places around here do just that and the price for what they call "topsoil" is $16.00 per yard plus a $25.00 to $50.00 delivery charge. That "topsoil" around here is just sand with some organic matter mixed in, what it would be around you depends on what your native soil is.

lilac's,

have you managed to check out the mushroom compost angle or the recycled composted material from the local tip?

would picture that over the base you have now (rocks) there will be a period of continued adding of large amounts of material on top within the raised beds, but long term this will even out, even now we need to top up our beds every 2 years as the worms and things take the organic matter down into the soil. and shrubs and things won't mind sending roots into rock crevices for food, just you need to have a reasonable depth on top for annuals and vege's. simple just keep adding each year or 6 months.

once you get over this hurdle then start planning for the next and that is start collecting any organic rottable material you can put into compost piles, you put a sign out front for garden prunings. leaves and grass clipping bet you will get inundated? put an ad' in the local paper or store window or community bulletin board that you will collect the stuff reckon you will get heaps.

len

Lilacs, you said "And yes, I did plan ahead." I would have to politely say you didn't. Your plants were ready to go out, and you had NOTHING in your raised beds. Planning ahead to make a raised bed, one generally fills it up ahead of time, mostly with free or cheap organic material that they can find locally. The stuff composts and viola', you have excellent garden soil.

In zone 5 I found bags of leaves in the city a couple springs ago, so you might have some hope of those. Last fall I snagged a couple truck loads of other people's bagged leaves from a nearby subdivision, put some into a new raised bed and stored a dozen bags. Along with covering my beds with horse manure, I saved two large containers with it so that when I want some this year it is well aged. I get free old produce and pile that in my new raised bed, which I will be planting tomatoes and things into in a month. I have been making compost in multiple bins for a long time, and have one ready to go now also. We cut a lot of firewood, so we also sprinkle wood shavings and ashes in the mix. THAT is planning ahead.

Some people get Starbucks or other used coffee grounds, another guy mentioned mushroom compost, whatever you can get in your area, you should have been filling your bed with that and leaves, grass clippings, whatever, even shredded newspaper. Live and learn, I guess that is how gardening works. I assume you have planted somehow by now, but if not, consider container gardening with your plants until you get a lasagna bed put together. Really, free organic material should be available to you unless maybe you live in the desert. Even there you have produce depts. with old stuff that gets thrown out. Or ask on Freecycle.

Marcia

I would just like to say that not everyone has access to compost and all that. Not every town has the landfills that make it available to the public. I can't get ahold of compost here because the landfill is only open until 3 in the afternoon only on weekdays and even if I could find someone with a truck (not gonna happen, I know no one with a truck), they wouldn't be able to do it before 3 because everyone works. We don't have mushroom farmers or what have you here and I've called my extension service to find a place to get it and the only option they give me is the 8-3 place. I have my raised bed to fill, and planning ahead sometimes just isn't an option. You start your seeds, thinking you will have been able to get the beds together and filled by the time they're ready to go out, but hey...Stuff happens. I had gotten the wood to make my beds, it rained. And rained. And froze. It got warm, so I got through most of the construction. It rained some more. Now, today it's cold and still pretty darn wet out in the yard and where my bed is, so I can't finish it today, either. We just bought this house last summer and I am not willing to garden in the straight ground this year, it was just too hard last year, the ground cakes up and cracks. Not too far below our surface is the dreaded red clay. So, I can't make crap out of what I've got. The only nursery I could find that delivers soil has topsoil and something they call composted mulch, which I guess I'm mixing to fill my beds. it's going to cost 86 bucks not including delivery to fill one 16'x4'x9" bed and I still have another one of those to build and fill and a 4'x8'x9" bed.

I'm going to go with the nursery and their stuff that I have no real idea what is in it, because that's all I've got. But seriously, everyone does not have access to the materials needed in bulk for their beds. Compost is a rarity in some towns, only topsoil is available and you exhaust yourself trying to find it. When you're short on time, you can't just snap your fingers and make the compost. You need the fill and you need it now. Not next year. Another thing, there are a lot of people who can't put a pile or whatever at their house for next year. For example, I'm not paying 400 bucks or whatever it is, even if it's 200 for a tumbler or bin, and my husband won't let me make a pile or have anything that isn't going to look decent and not stink. It's just not gonna happen. Have a heart when you talk to people who can't get these materials. It's not their fault and they shouldn't be scrutinized for not being able to do so.

/end rant

Sorry, I've just had soooo many people, when I ask about filling my beds, tell me to "just go get some compost" when it's just not here for me to get. It's frustrating. It's just not as easy for some folks to get this stuff than it is for others.

I have a seriously hard time believing that there were no bags of soil of some sort at Home Depot. In their outside garden area they have pallets of them. Inside they have bags. For bulk amounts- buying in bags is really expensive.

Anyway- if you need soil- don't get it in bags if you need a lot- call a garden center/nursery. Pick up the yellowpages and look under nurseries. They will deliver. If not- look under "landscaping" or something.

Getting it online is a bit silly. The shipping charges would be far more than the cost of the material itself. You do have a source nearby- believe it or not.

Lilacs- Although your sources may not have had it in stock, my guess is if you talk to a manager, explain what you need, see if they'll special order it for you. (Use the phone for all these options, since gas and your time is valuable.) Nurseries & your box stores will be first to check again. Delivery costs may be high, but likely cheaper than shipping if you don't have access to a truck.

Also, another option in the phonebook is to try the construction/builders in your area, including modular home sellers. They would DEFINITELY know where to get that sort of thing, and could direct you to their source.

Next- Lawn Maintenance companies.

Next step after that would be to contact Real Estate Developers or just plain agents. Again, these types of places have sources for all kinds of things, especially LAWN making materials.

Next: Civil Engineers. They do this kind of work, and will also have ideas for you.

Your Department of Transportation or Highway Department also occasionally has to repair roadsides, islands, etc, and should have ideas.

I hope this has been useful. Good luck!

Find out where the landscaping contractors in your area do their shopping. Some times there are big commercial places that cater to contractors (more than individual homeowners) that sell soil, sand, compost and other such things. There is a private company like that near me that I drove by for years and did not know about until someone told me.

But, in the spirit of actually answering your question, I here are the web addresses for three companies I found from just randomly searching online:

http://www.permatill.com/gardensoil.htm

http://www.gardeners.com/Soil-and-Accessories/default/StandardCatalog.SoilAccessories_Dept.cat;pgid=LB4Hwoox00000000000000000000kXOfczJM;sid=1jke9LqqJGIi5PyY6I4U9rqguayluhCYU_k=

http://www.blackjacksoil.com/products.php?cat=10

Instead of asking for garden soil ask for planter mix.

Beyond that, would you tell us the city and state where you live? Someone either in your city or nearby has what you need.

Oh, just had a thought. Have you looked in the classified ads or a Penny Saver (or something similar) for ads stating "free topsoil" or "free fill?"

I am having the same problem out here in the desert. I till and till and all I seem to do is grow rocks. I've wasted money on about 10 bags of soil and compost and it seems as though when I water, it gets sucked under the clay and all that is left are more rocks! I called my local nurseries and was directed to landscape supply stores for bulk soil. I haven't found any yet, but I will look into it soon.

Cut to the chase people. The terms "topsoil", "garden soil", Planting mix" are all, meaningless because what you have in mind will not be what the person selling the stuff has in mind. You need to specify exactly what you want and if what you want is loam that does have a specific designation and it is not "topsoil" or any of the other terms.
Loam is defined as a soil with 45 percent sand, 25 percent silt, 25 percent clay, and 5 percent organic matter, and if you are going to waste your money buying soil this is what you want.

Oh for heaven's sake!! It really doesn't matter what the heck it's called - any purchased "soil" will have the ability to grow plants. You may very well not get ideal results without further amending or fertilizing but it will adequately do the job. And why one needs to be so judgmental to the degree to consider purchasing soil a "waste of money" is entirely presumptuous and unnecessary. Importing soil from various sources is as common as dirt (no pun intended) in the landscaping industry and is extremely prevelent in urban areas where conditions are not always amenable to composting, as other posters have pointed out.

I'd agree with others that purchasing bagged soils, even locally, will be unnecessarily expensive and from online sources, prohibitively so. It may take some effort and research to locate, but there are bound to be bulk sources available in the area. You've gotten some good directions to follow - local nurseries or landscaping companies will be your best bets if you can't find a landscape supply house close by.

right on Gardengal!

growingup,

try raised garden beds hey?

look at our pic's and story see what and how we do it.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

I know I'm just a beginning gardener, and because of that I guess I'm pretty stupid, at least that seems to be the consensus.

Never mind. I'll figure out a way to muddle through, even if I am an idiot. If I knew how I'd just delete this whole thread. It's left a sour taste in the back of my throat.

Well I, for one, don't think you're stupid. And I don't think that's been a consensus of the responses you've received.

Just ignore any responses you think came from klutzes. Unfortunately, every board has a few.

It takes time to become familiar with the terminology and resources of anything new.

So, take your time. Grow a few new things every season. You'll be successful with some, but will fail with others. But that's normal! And you can learn lots from both.

Enjoy your garden.

Lilacs, you are a beginning gardener, so pretty much destined to make some mistakes. That DOES NOT mean you are stupid, and nobody said that. I have made gardening mistakes, too, happens to everybody.

I don't think we are being judgemental. You are saying things that aren't true, so of course you will get some less than desireable response. You stated that you went to lots of stores that we all know sell things one can put into garden beds, and said they had nothing like that, plus you said you planned ahead, when clearly you didn't. Now you are saying it costs at least $200-400 for a compost bin, which also isn't true. Better to be more careful stating 'facts' on a public forum that the rest of us know not to be so. That will get a much kinder response!

I have had about 10 different compost bins in my life, have 5 currently, none cost anything except a few screws. I highly recommend pallet bins for you, they look sort of nice, like fencing. As for compost bins and space, anyplace with room for a raised bed has room for a compost bin. I had a compost bin at my first house, which was connected on both sides to other houses with just a tiny front and back yard. If your hubby won't let you compost, that is another story, but it also suggests he probably has some false notions about composting.

I am not saying you can get compost free. I can't get compost free, either. But I can get the INGREDIENTS for compost free, and pretty much anyone can. I am also making a new raised bed, and it is full. You definitely have places in your area that sell produce. They have old produce on a recurring basis that they dispose of. Maybe you could get it. Almost any area has animals of some type. Pet bunnies in the suburbs, or a chicken farm in the country, or cattle grazing in the high plains, or dairy cows in the Midwest, or a horse farm. Even in the big city people ride horses. Almost everywhere, except parts of the desert, there are lawns and trees. Thus there are leaves and grass clippings to snag. Towns have woodchip piles available to anyone, utilities will drop them off at your house in large piles. And alas, there are few parts of the planet without a Starbucks and free coffee grounds. Everybody can get paper and shred or cut it up. And so on. There are absolutely sources out there which would enable you to fill MOST of your raised bed with free stuff.

Search for LASAGNA in this forum, you can mix organic material together and plant right away if you buy a little soil, compost, planting mix, what have you, to put directly around the roots of your transplants. Be open-minded, be creative. Freecycle or craigslist is almost everywhere, you can ask for animal manure, grass clippings, etc. They aren't signs up at produce sellers saying FREE OLD PRODUCE, you have to ASK. And so on. Don't give up, it will all get better and you will see what nice fellow gardeners we all are.

Marcia

Lilacs, I hope you did not think the first part of my response was directed at you. It was not. It was directed at those who seem to think their way is the only correct way to garden and their methods and opinions the only valid ones. Gardening is not rocket science and even the most novice of beginners can enjoy success at it that will only continue and improve as experience increases and years go by.

You've gotten a number of helpful tips to assist you in locating soils for your raised bed. Follow them up, plant 'em and enjoy!

Lilacs, don't feel stupid! I'm sure no one meant to make you feel that way. When people communicate online, the things they say to one another often come out wrong.

Measure your beds. Figure out how much they hold. (Height x width x length) = X, the amount of fill you need.

Find a garden center. Ask them for X/4 of each of the following:

1. bales of straw
2. premoistened peat
3. composted cow manure
4. mulch

In your raised beds, layer them in that order. Into each bed, peel off layers of the straw bale to line the bottom. Then put in the premoistened peat and spread over the straw. Spread the composted cow manure over the peat. Spread the mulch over the manure. Then plant into this mix.

After this growing season, pile another layer of straw and another layer of peat on top of your beds after you've removed your plants. Next spring, you'll have a WONDERFUL medium to plant in. If you do this every year, you will have terrific beds.

Val

Val, what kind of mulch do you mean? Many things can be used as mulch, some would not be desirable for the medium one plants everything into, for instance hunks of pine bark. Shredded leaves are a mulch I use, but I don't imagine one can buy that.

As for putting a layer of peat ON TOP of your beds, I would tell Lilacs and everyone else reading this to not do that under any circumstance! I don't know how it is pre-moistened when you buy it, but I have heard from gardening friends and read numerous times on gardenweb how peat dries out and forms a layer through which water does not penetrate. That is the last thing you would want on top of your garden bed. Peat, if used at all, must be mixed in with other material.

After another growing season, hopefully we have told Lilacs enough times that she will be adding to the raised bed after her harvest with leaves, coffee grounds, grass clippings, manure, whatever. By the way, I got two bales of straw free during my late fall gathering of other people's leaves venture. People buy them for decoration and then throw them away after Halloween and Thanksgiving. I live in the country, but I scrounge in a nearby subdivision in a neighboring city.

Marcia

Marcia, the premoistened peat I use comes in 40-lb bags and doesn't dry out like the baled peat. I've made several lasagna beds with it as a major player including as a top layer, and not had any problems, but then I do make sure to keep my lasagne beds watered while they're working, so maybe another layer of mulch on top wouldn't hurt if you want to be sure! :D

The mulch I'm talking about is the bagged hardwood fines. Again, this is something I've used as a layer in lasagna beds many times. I wouldn't make an entire bed out of it, but for a layer among other organics, it works great.

Val

Go with a wire fence bin. Not chicken wire- the green wire fencing. Cut a piece big enough for a 3.5' diameter circle, leave the tag ends and use those to connect it in a circle. Done- the best, lightest, easiest bin you'll ever use.

Anyone use black gold?

You may be more likely to get a response if you start a new thread with that kind of question, rather than adding to an 8-yr old one.

I've heard of Black Gold but I thought it was potting mix.

Black Gold IS a potting mix (or mixes - they offer several) and as such, not a practical or economical addition to a garden. Best saved for container use.

Here is some organic fertilizer http://www.amazon.com/

Gardener's Supply has a good soil selection specifically formulated for raised and elevated beds. https://www.gardeners.com/search?q=potting+soils&simplesearch=submit