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Soil, Compost & Mulch

Type of Soil for 4' x 12' raised garden bed (NY/NJ), Miracle Gro?

7 years ago

Morning all, first time setting up raised garden bed in the back yard. I'm looking to put soil in it and the Miracle-Gro is about $9 a bag. Are there other alternatives, mixes, what do you all recommend to do/use?

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Comments (4)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years ago
A typical 4'x12' raised bed will take at least 36 cubic feet of soil.........that's a lot of bags!! And Miracle Gro soil is not considered the best soil mix (in any of its myriad formulations) by most experienced gardeners.

The "ideal" soil for a raised bed (bottomless) is generally regarded as regular garden soil amended to some degree with organic matter, typically compost. It will offer proper drainage together with a mineral component that is often lacking in a bagged soil as well as sufficient organic matter to bioactivate the soil and provide nutrients. If you do not have sufficient quantities of "extra" garden soil just hanging around - and most folks don't - then look to a bulk soil provider for something like topsoil you can amend with compost or a topsoil/compost blend or what bulk providers call a "garden mix".

Buying in bulk will always be far less expensive than buying a bagged product.....to the tune of 3-4 times.
kimmq
7 years ago
Miracle Gro is not soil, they are soilless mixes meant to be used in containers much smaller than your 4 foot by 12 foot planting bed.

How deep is that raised bed? A 4 foot by 12 foot bt 10 inch deep raised bed would contain about 40 cubic feet of soil, about 80 2 cubic foot bags.

Most people would like to have loam for their garden soil, a mix of about 45 percent sand, 25 percent silt, 25 percent clay, and 5 percent organic matter. I would look for something close to that.

Once again the term "topsoil" (or even "garden mix") simply means the top 4 to 12 inches of soil from someplace. It may be something worthwhile or it may not be and most I have seen is simply junk.

Perhaps this article might be of some help.

http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/the_shocking_truth_about_topsoil
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I've had mixed success with MGMC potting mix. After moving to AZ to be near my aging parents I decided to start a container garden in my backyard. I thought herbs would be the easiest way to start and in March I bought a variety of herbs and potted them in self-watering pots. They grew at an astounding rate (especially the Basil). After a couple of weeks I decided to expand by getting larger pots and buying a variety of Peppers and Eggplant. In addition to the Basil (and Mint) loving the MGMC soil, it seems like the Eggplant loves it as well. I was a little worried that the Eggplant did not seem to grow very much in April, but when the night temperatures consistently started getting over 60 degrees in May, it started taking off and flowering/fruiting. Because of the MGMC I only have to water them every other day at most, even when the temperatures hit 112 degrees. And they are producing quite nicely. The problem seems to be with the Peppers. I found that Peppers don't like "wet feet" and the combination of the water retention in MGMC and watering from the bottom with the self-watering pots was not good for the plants. When they started wilting AFTER watering I realized I was drowning them and the roots were rotting. I lost a couple of Pepper plants (the Bell Peppers) although the smaller hot pepper plants seem to be slowly recovering. And all this energy they are using to recover obviously makes pepper production a no-go. Next year I will forego the MGMC for pepper plants (I kinda have to keep the self-watering pots due to the expense but I no longer water from the bottom with Peppers), but will continue to use it for herbs and eggplant.
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Comments (2)
I wouldn't worry about the steer manure. Fresh manure may contain e-coli but the stuff you buy in bags has been composted or dehydrated and won't be of any risk. I've used it before myself with no problems. Even if by some chance it wasn't composted properly and there was still e-coli present it can only survive in the soil for about 90 days. So by the time you harvest veggies in the fall there will be no risk. IT may have even been sitting in those bags for longer than 90 days. If you have some early veggies you'll be eating sooner just wash them well. No need to throw out all the soil. The reason the potting soil says not for containers is that the garden soil mix will not drain as well. It's not such a big deal in the ground as all the existing soil, microbes,worms, roots, etc. allows for drainage but can become an issue in containers where the soil compacts and prevents proper drainage. Do your raised beds have a non-porous bottom (like wood or being constructed on top of cement)? If so you might have some drainage problems with that mix. If you bed were built on top of existing soil or lawn you'll be fine. You could return the unopened bags and buy something intended for containers if you're really concerned. Adding vermiculite would also help (if you buy a container or potting type soil most often it'll already have vermiculite mixed in). You might also want to find some variety of manure if you can. Maybe return the other 2 bags of steer manure and try to find some other types. If that's all you have available then go ahead and use it.
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SCgirl, I used untreated 2x12 lumber and heavy duty deck screws, and the bed dimensions are 4x8 feet. For each bed I took three eight foot pieces, and cut one in half to make the ends. Avoid the pressure treated lumber ( the CCA stands for copper, chromium, and arsenic). Cedar is best, just make sure you're sitting down when they tell you the price...you can still get a few seasons out of plain untreated lumber and save some money. The floor you see is landscape fabric, which will let moisture through but keep down the grass. I'll cover the pathways with cedar mulch. Inside the beds, I'll cut out the landscape fabric so I'll have a good soil interface for earthworms and beneficial microbes. Before the soil goes in I'll add a layer of cardboard just to make sure no grass/weeds have a chance to peek through. Here is a link that might be useful: Raised bed material analysis
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toxcrusadr
7 years ago
>>about 40 cubic feet of soil, about 80 2 cubic foot bags.

That's (80) 1/2-cu. ft. bags, or (20) 2-cu. ft. bags. Either way a lot of bags so bulk is the way to go if possible.

Agree with both the above posts, don't use container mix, get a soil mix that has some mineral soil content. Even MG "garden soil" looks like nothing but organic matter to me.
Paul Menten
7 years ago
I'm guessing you live in Bergen County or Rockland County. I've lived and gardened in that area and the soil was fine. Rockland County might have stony soil, but the soil itself is good. I'd just use the native soil, amended with good quality compost.

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