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If you have room for a small dump truck to get in and room to pile it, I'd buy bulk locally before I get bags. ........[/url]
I have a pickup truck and a dump trailer. I buy soil, compost, and sand in 5 yard loads for my garden and raised beds. The problem with that stuff for my seed starting and heeling in the new bare root plants is that the piles are out at the garden, covered in snow. I don't want to dig through the snow and break chunks loose with a pickax before I can start seeds, let along trying to push a wheelbarrow through the snow and ice.
I like to use perlite and Miracle Grow potting mix to start seeds, which happens months before my compost pile thaws out.
But yes, I agree completely that there is a big savings in buying bulk from the landscape supply or gravel yard, plus my home mixed gardening soil is much better quality than any I can buy already mixed. But horses for courses. Bagged mix and perlite works well for me for the job I use it for and I don't feel any motivation to change what has always worked well
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Except maybe I will have to if Costco stops sell the big bags of Miracle Grow potting mix.
Just saw this at Walmart today. Move over Costco, you have competition.
It's not MG though but still. 2 cu feet = 60 Quarts. So bigger and cheaper than Costco. Stinks though. I havent opened it. The NPK is lower than the MG too. So not the greatest quality
Per the above....sorry, but I believe you get what you pay for. Without even seeing the contents, the price tells me it's bark/junk. I don't see how anyone can create a decent soil amendment for $2-3 per bag wholesale. IMO, it should be against the law to call it garden "soil".
Per the above....sorry, but I believe you get what you pay for. Without even seeing the contents, the price tells me it's bark/junk. I don't see how anyone can create a decent soil amendment for $2-3 per bag wholesale. IMO, it should be against the law to call it garden "soil".
I agree "you get what you pay for". If anything it's a cheap way to fill an area but I wouldn't bet it does as well as the MG soil. I would do a test
I bought 2 just curious what it looks like. Here is the back of the bag...
Looks like its made with "one or more of peat, processed forest material, compost, sphagnum peat moss, fertilizer and a wetting agent"
I have a pickup truck and a dump trailer. I buy soil, compost, and sand in 5 yard loads for my garden and raised beds. The problem with that stuff for my seed starting and heeling in the new bare root plants is that the piles are out at the garden, covered in snow. I don't want to dig through the snow and break chunks loose with a pickax before I can start seeds, let along trying to push a wheelbarrow through the snow and ice.
I like to use perlite and Miracle Grow potting mix to start seeds, which happens months before my compost pile thaws out.
But yes, I agree completely that there is a big savings in buying bulk from the landscape supply or gravel yard, plus my home mixed gardening soil is much better quality than any I can buy already mixed. But horses for courses. Bagged mix and perlite works well for me for the job I use it for and I don't feel any motivation to change what has always worked well
.
Except maybe I will have to if Costco stops sell the big bags of Miracle Grow potting mix.
Tarp it. That's what we did- black tarp in the winter.
And a lot of metro area governments compost collected green waste and either give it away or sell it cheap to residents.
I've thought about that as well but the problem with that is that you don't know what kind of chemicals were used on lawn waste. It may be fine to spread on a lawn as a dressing, but I'm not sure I'd want to grow vegetables in it.
Riding stables, particularly in urban/ suburban locations , have literally tons of soiled bedding (manure & urine soaked shavings) that they have to pay to have hauled away. They will let you cart away as much as you want for free...The older stuff at the bottom of the pile, or the newer stuff on top left to turn mellow over the course of a few monhs, makes perfect seed starter, raised bed filler or general soil amendment. Rich in minerals, good N content and the fifbrous texture is perfect for growing things.
Just ........It's not MG though but still. 2 cu feet = 60 Quarts. So bigger and cheaper than Costco. Stinks though. I havent opened it. The NPK is lower than the MG too. So not the greatest quality......
That's a very attractive price. I'll have to go and see if I can get a bag to take home and open it to see what it is.
I did buy a bag of cheap potting soil from a different store and it was absolute garbage. Even at "cheap" it was a complete waste of money and virtually unusable.
I did go to Costco and buy a bag of the Garden Soil to check out. It appears to be good stuff. The list of ingredients is good. I think it is mostly well composted ground up wood products, ground really fine. It is fluffy textured and seems to hold moisture well without getting soggy.
I went back and bought 10 bags of it. Actually, I went back twice because they were sold out when I went to buy some and I had to check with the front desk to see when the next delivery was. So I got there the same day as it was delivered and I could see that nearly half of it was already gone.
I won't know for several months how good it really is. I just up-potted this week and it is too early to tell how happy the plants are with it. They never enjoy being transplanted so they look unhappy, but it probably has nothing to do with the quality of the new soil.
Riding stables, particularly in urban/ suburban locations , have literally tons of soiled bedding (manure & urine soaked shavings) that they have to pay to have hauled away. They will let you cart away as much as you want for free...The older stuff at the bottom of the pile, or the newer stuff on top left to turn mellow over the course of a few months, makes perfect seed starter, raised bed filler or general soil amendment. Rich in minerals, good N content and the fifbrous texture is perfect for growing things.
I agree with the above. I don't care what other people want to use from the stores, nothing beats a gardener's own over-wintered leaf mulch and a nice big pile of well rotted horse manure together with shavings.
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Move over Costco, you have competition. 
