On Fri, 04 Apr 2003 03:08:47 GMT, Pam wrote:

Darby Wiggins wrote:

I'm trying to price how many bags of topsoil I need. I used the Miracle
Gro last year and really liked it, so I'll use it again.

Each bag is 1 cubic foot.

The front area has never had any good soil, so I anticipate needing to
dig out a lot of bad soil and replacing it with good soil.

Unless it is contaminated by toxic waste, there is no such thing as "bad
soil" - soil that is not very fertile is something else altogether. You
certainly don't need to dig any out. What you DO need to do is add organic
matter. Invest in some good quality compost or well composted manure.
Potting soil (like the Miracle Gro stuff) is an extremely expensive way to
go as a soil additive for regular garden soil and not enough organic matter
to sneeze at. You can buy bagged compost or purchase it in bulk by the cubic
yard (far less expensive). You DO want to use potting soil for any
containers - garden soil is too heavy and doesn't drain fast enough. Avoid
putting pebbles in for drainage - the change in structure and size (soil to
pebbles) actually impedes proper drainage rather than improves it.

You have a pretty small area - 5-6 bags of compost should be sufficient.
Most tend to be 1.5-2 cubic feet.

Exactly. I was surprised to find that clay soil is usually fairly
nutritious. Compost, compost, compost, to improve texture. What, after
all, is "topsoil" but the top 3-6" of dirt from a place where leaves
and whatnot have been piling up and composting for some time?

[Interesting to think that the construction of new housing
developments often includes bulldozing all the trees and "leveling"
the dirt, and then bringing in colossally expensive loads of topsoil
and nursery saplings.]

Tell us more about pebbles. I use pieces of broken pots, of which I
have an abundance, but pebbles have been brought into play from time
to time.