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mm[_1_] · 04-06-2009, 03:28 PM posted to alt.home.lawn.garden

On Thu, 4 Jun 2009 05:43:28 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Jun 3, 8:03*pm, mm wrote:
Thanks, Frank, for the asnwer about old fertilizer. *I'm going to sell
or give it away.

Now I have another problem. *My yard is missing grass where the deck
used to be, and the ground is not high enogh everywhere. *So I bought
a 40 pound bag of topsoil.

I opened it and it's black, but the rest of my dirt is dark brown or
light brown. *I put a little down and it looks bad. *Do they sell
brown topsoil too?

I thought it would be dry like a big powder, but I guess it got wet
inside somehow, and now when I use a 4 inch putty knife, it cuts like
fruit cake. *

Sounds like it has a fairly high clay content.

Is it ever going to get powdery?

Not if it has high clay. With high clay, if it's damp and you
squeeze it in your hand, it remains in a clump when you release it.
Sandy loam falls apart.

*So it isn't totally
clumped, so it has no clumps that don't break up when I hit them, and
I can just pour it out, and mix it with other dusty dirt?

I only paid 1.23 for 40 pounds. That seems cheap, even for dirt. (The
last time I bought some was 20 years ago.) *Is there more expensive,
better topsoil? * (not counting miracle-grow that's 7.50 a bag and say
it has nutrients that will last for 4 months.)

Thanks.

We have no way of knowing where you are or what's available
locally. What you can buy in San Francisco is likely different than

I should have said I'm in Baltimore and bought this at Home Depot
(which is only a mile from my house.)

The stuff was stored outside and I guess there was rainwater in the
top bag. When I lifted it, my thumb stretched the vinyl bag and
almost put a hole in it.

what you can buy in Georgia. But topsoil doesn't have to be
expensive to be good and there is no need to pay for a name brand to
fill in a hole in your lawn. Try another bag from a diff
company. If the hole is large enough, you can use the one you have
to start filling, then top off with the better one. Or mix them
together. Or mix the clay one with some humus, like compost. In all
likelihood, even if you used it as is, you'll be fine. A couple
inches of it on top isn't going to make much diff.

It's going to rain for the next few days. I didn't cover it the first
day (and the bag was widee open so it could dry) but it is now and I
'll see if I can work with it after it dries out.

Thanks.