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. How thick of
a layer of new soil should I use? Also, the area is shaped like a kidney
bean cut in half. Its about 5 maybe 6 feel long and at best 2.5 feet
deep. I want to put seeds of asylum and forget-me-not there and see
what happens.

The back had new Miracle Gro soil put in it last year and its maybe 2' x
3'. I also plan to use 2-3 pots that are about 12" in diameter at the
lip and about a foot tall. I assume I don't need to put all dirt in this
and can use some med. sized pebbles for drainage....

I'm terrible at math, so how many of the bags do i need to get good
coverage?

Darby

"Darby Wiggins" wrote in message
...
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. How thick of
a layer of new soil should I use? Also, the area is shaped like a kidney
bean cut in half. Its about 5 maybe 6 feel long and at best 2.5 feet
deep. I want to put seeds of asylum and forget-me-not there and see
what happens.

5 x 6 x 2.5 would be 75 cubic feet. That's 75 bags, if you only want to go
down a foot that would be 30 bags, 6 inches, 15 bags.

If you're going for the full 2.5 feet deep, I'd forget about that bags and
have someone deliver 3 yards of soil (1 yard is 27 cubic feet). Also, rent
a backhoe to dig it out .

The back had new Miracle Gro soil put in it last year and its maybe 2' x
3'. I also plan to use 2-3 pots that are about 12" in diameter at the
lip and about a foot tall. I assume I don't need to put all dirt in this
and can use some med. sized pebbles for drainage....

6 bags per foot of depth of dirt here.

--
Bob Provencher
ICQ 881862
AIM bproven

Bob,

I think Darby means that it's 5 or 6 feet long by 2.5 feet wide with an
unspecified depth.

So (6 x 2.5) = 15 square feet. I'm just going to assume that it's 6 inches
deep so that's only 7.5 cubic feet. I'd guess that 7 bags would be enough.
You won't need a full bag for each pot but if you just figured one bag each
and used the extra in the front you should be well covered.

If I understand correctly you're saying that you don't need to do anything
with the 2' x 3' area?

Buy 10 bags.

Burl


"Bob Provencher" wrote in message
...
"Darby Wiggins" wrote in message
...
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. How thick of
a layer of new soil should I use? Also, the area is shaped like a kidney
bean cut in half. Its about 5 maybe 6 feel long and at best 2.5 feet
deep. I want to put seeds of asylum and forget-me-not there and see
what happens.

5 x 6 x 2.5 would be 75 cubic feet. That's 75 bags, if you only want to
go
down a foot that would be 30 bags, 6 inches, 15 bags.

If you're going for the full 2.5 feet deep, I'd forget about that bags and
have someone deliver 3 yards of soil (1 yard is 27 cubic feet). Also,
rent
a backhoe to dig it out .

The back had new Miracle Gro soil put in it last year and its maybe 2' x
3'. I also plan to use 2-3 pots that are about 12" in diameter at the
lip and about a foot tall. I assume I don't need to put all dirt in this
and can use some med. sized pebbles for drainage....

6 bags per foot of depth of dirt here.

--
Bob Provencher
ICQ 881862
AIM bproven

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. How thick of
a layer of new soil should I use? Also, the area is shaped like a kidney
bean cut in half. Its about 5 maybe 6 feel long and at best 2.5 feet
deep. I want to put seeds of asylum and forget-me-not there and see
what happens.

The back had new Miracle Gro soil put in it last year and its maybe 2' x
3'. I also plan to use 2-3 pots that are about 12" in diameter at the
lip and about a foot tall. I assume I don't need to put all dirt in this
and can use some med. sized pebbles for drainage....

I'm terrible at math, so how many of the bags do i need to get good
coverage?

Darby

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.

pam - gardengal

"Burl" wrote in message
news:3O5ja.79235$Zo.18198@sccrnsc03...
I think Darby means that it's 5 or 6 feet long by 2.5 feet wide with an
unspecified depth.

Opps, Doh! Nevermind.

--
Bob Provencher
ICQ 881862
AIM bproven

Of course! Good point.

I got wrapped up in the math and didn't think about the solution.

"Pam" wrote in message
...


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. How thick of
a layer of new soil should I use? Also, the area is shaped like a kidney
bean cut in half. Its about 5 maybe 6 feel long and at best 2.5 feet
deep. I want to put seeds of asylum and forget-me-not there and see
what happens.

The back had new Miracle Gro soil put in it last year and its maybe 2' x
3'. I also plan to use 2-3 pots that are about 12" in diameter at the
lip and about a foot tall. I assume I don't need to put all dirt in this
and can use some med. sized pebbles for drainage....

I'm terrible at math, so how many of the bags do i need to get good
coverage?

Darby

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.

pam - gardengal

Burl (and all others)
thanks! At first I thought that 75 bags was a bit much, but you got the point.

Darby

Burl wrote:

Bob,

I think Darby means that it's 5 or 6 feet long by 2.5 feet wide with an
unspecified depth.

So (6 x 2.5) = 15 square feet. I'm just going to assume that it's 6 inches
deep so that's only 7.5 cubic feet. I'd guess that 7 bags would be enough.
You won't need a full bag for each pot but if you just figured one bag each
and used the extra in the front you should be well covered.

If I understand correctly you're saying that you don't need to do anything
with the 2' x 3' area?

Buy 10 bags.

Burl

"Bob Provencher" wrote in message
...
"Darby Wiggins" wrote in message
...
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. How thick of
a layer of new soil should I use? Also, the area is shaped like a kidney
bean cut in half. Its about 5 maybe 6 feel long and at best 2.5 feet
deep. I want to put seeds of asylum and forget-me-not there and see
what happens.

5 x 6 x 2.5 would be 75 cubic feet. That's 75 bags, if you only want to
go
down a foot that would be 30 bags, 6 inches, 15 bags.

If you're going for the full 2.5 feet deep, I'd forget about that bags and
have someone deliver 3 yards of soil (1 yard is 27 cubic feet). Also,
rent
a backhoe to dig it out .

The back had new Miracle Gro soil put in it last year and its maybe 2' x
3'. I also plan to use 2-3 pots that are about 12" in diameter at the
lip and about a foot tall. I assume I don't need to put all dirt in this
and can use some med. sized pebbles for drainage....

6 bags per foot of depth of dirt here.

--
Bob Provencher
ICQ 881862
AIM bproven

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.

Sure, glad to help. Although don't miss Pam post - you probably only need
to amend the soil not replace it which will be cheaper and easier.

"Darby Wiggins" wrote in message
...
Burl (and all others)
thanks! At first I thought that 75 bags was a bit much, but you got the
point.

Darby

Burl wrote:

Bob,

I think Darby means that it's 5 or 6 feet long by 2.5 feet wide with an
unspecified depth.

So (6 x 2.5) = 15 square feet. I'm just going to assume that it's 6
inches
deep so that's only 7.5 cubic feet. I'd guess that 7 bags would be
enough.
You won't need a full bag for each pot but if you just figured one bag
each
and used the extra in the front you should be well covered.

If I understand correctly you're saying that you don't need to do
anything
with the 2' x 3' area?

Buy 10 bags.

Burl

"Bob Provencher" wrote in message
...
"Darby Wiggins" wrote in message
...
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. How thick
of
a layer of new soil should I use? Also, the area is shaped like a
kidney
bean cut in half. Its about 5 maybe 6 feel long and at best 2.5
feet
deep. I want to put seeds of asylum and forget-me-not there and see
what happens.

5 x 6 x 2.5 would be 75 cubic feet. That's 75 bags, if you only want
to
go
down a foot that would be 30 bags, 6 inches, 15 bags.

If you're going for the full 2.5 feet deep, I'd forget about that bags
and
have someone deliver 3 yards of soil (1 yard is 27 cubic feet). Also,
rent
a backhoe to dig it out .

The back had new Miracle Gro soil put in it last year and its maybe
2' x
3'. I also plan to use 2-3 pots that are about 12" in diameter at
the
lip and about a foot tall. I assume I don't need to put all dirt in
this
and can use some med. sized pebbles for drainage....

6 bags per foot of depth of dirt here.

--
Bob Provencher
ICQ 881862
AIM bproven