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Minnesota Gardening

buy quality soil?

18 years ago

Does anyone know of a good source of quality soil for garden beds in the metro area? We are raising the level of soil in our beds about 4 inches and instead of buying a million bags I thought I would have some delivered.

Also, when raising it that much do I have to remove and replant an established clematis or can I just cover it with the 4 inches? I know they like their roots deep.

Thanks!!

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Comments (4)

leftwood
18 years ago
Don't know about the soil, but I can't think of any plant that would be happy covering 4 inches. Hmmmm . . . take that back: some of the prairies forbs (not grasses) with roots that go down 5-15ft would tolerate it, like prairie dock.
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spidertaxi
18 years ago
I purchased about 25 yards of dirt over the last 3 years from Hermans Landscape Supply ( 952) 492-2783 16586 Johnson Memorial Dr, Jordan, MN 55352-9501). They deliver all over, I believe even to St. Paul. They have a garden mix of soil, coarse sand and manure that is pulverized and quite easy to shovel and carry by the wheel barrel. The last dump I got was $15.00 a yard, and delivery was $45 during the weekday. The problem with this soil I feel is that it was quite 'dead', being that it was pulverized. But I guess that's the hit you take when you have to have large amounts brought in. I don't believe its any different anywhere else if you are buying in large quanties unless they can tell you it dug right from the field and brought to your house. But its a lot better then buying it by the bag, that's for sure.
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To me, at least, it does not seem that it would be spamming to link to another G.W. forum in the same system in search of some kind of an answer, like I provided the link below. Don has already outlined what could be a viable business plan, so just some additional thoughts off the top of my head are: Since you have stated that some ancient animal bones have been found by minor digging, would it be a good idea to try to attract the attention of some palentologist. I would consult an attorney first regarding concerns of them turning it into a historical site and tying it up which would be contrary to your goals. The plus side, if any, would be that it would probably attract a lot of free publicity and attention, perhaps buyers or lessors, miners etc. If someone did contract to mine the resources and were willing to set up a bagging operation with migrant workers or mechanically, and assuming the quality meets the test, a contract with Wallmart could absorb many, many bags of "Black Gold" per year. There are some hazzards in dealing with Wallyworld however and once again caution should be exercised with that. Others may have better and more innovative ideas, it is an interesting situation. Please keep us informed on how things go. Good Luck Bill P. Here is a link that might be useful: Thread mentioned above
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Comments (13)
I'm not sure I'd agree with cowgirl.....you'd be surprised what some folks will fork out cash for and "improved" commercially prepared compost is one item, at least in my area. And yes the provider does recover costs and quite adequately as well. The cost is around $10 per 3cf bale which pencils out to about $90 per cubic yard......about 3 times the cost of 'unadorned' commercial compost. I'd assume the added expense can be justified against the ease of availability, especially for modest quantity requirements, and the fact that in my mostly urban setting, home composting is not as common as it is in more suburban or rural settings. btw, in addition to compost the product contains worm castings, bat guano, kelp meal, oyster shells, dolomite lime and mycorrhizae.
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Comments (8)
Why remove the clay and have it trucked away? What is under the clay? If you remove it yourself, how will you truck away 57 cubic metres of clay? If your soil is all clay, then although you should not build on top of it, you also do not need to remove it, you can simply work a lot of organic matter and coarse sand into it. Are you sure it is clay? All top soil will have weed seeds, they get into it while it is in storage, they get into it when it is spread on your yard and they get into it if you leave it unmulched after spreading on your yard. I don't understand your comment about a tiller and lasagna gardening, with lasagna gardening you don't remove soil or use a tiller. See the link below for how to do it. If your intention is to replace all the soil in your yard, I think you should simply have someone spread the triple mix or compost on top of the whole yard and then till it in to a depth of at least 12". This will need a crew of guys with shovels or a tractor with tiller attached. Maybe instead of hiring someone to do this single job for several thousand dollars, you should call a landscape designer who can look at and test your soil and suggest a course of action. A designer will cost less than $500 and may save you the thousands. Here is a link that might be useful: Lasagna Gardening
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Comments (6)
All good advice. Karen mentioned the soil test. That is the place to start. The test runs about $10.00 and is invaluable as a starting point. Have your soil tested by late fall, so there is time to correct your soil before spring of next year, for the most part. You can get a soil test done anytime. In the results, you will receive the content analysis of your soil: soil nutrient levels, recommendations to remedy pH, calcium, and magnesium levels and at what rate, the CEC number (which measures your soil's ability to hold nutrients), and other measurements and recommendations. The test asks what type of garden you are targeting, ie veggie, woodland, flowers, etc..., so the recommendatons are targeted to that particular type of garden. If you have different garden area, like a veggie area and flower beds, you should do individual soil tests for those areas. The Penn State Ag Analytical Lab site is: www.aasl.psu.edu You can request the soil test kits through your county extension office. Trish
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ornithophilous
18 years ago
We just had some pulverized "black dirt" delivered through a local nursery. We are disappointed with it. We were assuming that anything advertised as topsoil or black dirt would have some organic matter in it, but it seems like it is just sand mixed in with clay. It doesn't seem like there is anything organic in it at all. I should have asked for more details about the mix before I purchased. Does anybody know generally what one can expect to be in material advertised by vendors as "topsoil" or "black dirt?" Are there any regulations that govern what can be sold as such?
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crocosmia_mn
18 years ago
We have bought several yards of what I believe they call "1-1-1" at Leitner's for about $40 a yard -- we went there and they dumped it into our trailer but they also deliver. It does seem rather pulverized and sandy, but all the things I grow do well in it. There were no weeds. I was not happy with Leitner's compost, though -- it just seemed like poorly chopped-up sticks and I'm guessing is what's left over when they sieve the compost to make the garden mix.
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