GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - Is Garden Magic Top Soil suitable as soil (by itself)?

06-04-2004, 08:55 PM

(Cicero_wnb) wrote in
m:

I can't argue from my own knowledge, but this seems to go counter to
the general recommendation of "raised beds" and "deep soil". Do you
really think that one foot of top soil is too much?

Warning: blind leading the blind here or at least visually impaired leading
the blind.

I would say it depends on what you are growing. Aside from nutrient intake
the roots have to hold the plants in place. Is your homogenous heap of
topsoil going provide enough stability for that? Someone else said she had
excellent results, and I can imagine that some plants would work really
well in pure topsoil.

All I can say for sure is I once rooted a rosemary in pure topsoil
(although it was in a gallon container) and it died, whereas the stuff in
potting mix 90%+ survived. Looking back, this so called topsoil (el cheapo
brand) probably didn't have much organic matter in it and crusted up like
brick. I suppose if you make sure you have organic matter or add compost
and have proper drainage, you should have excellent results.