| Choosing the Right Soil for your Garden |
an introspective series of articles about raised gardening
| Phone: 770-887-4815 admin@raised-garden-bed.com |
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The amount of soil you will be needing depends on the depth of your
garden. Our rule of thumb for the popular 4 ft x 8ft x 11 inch high
garden is that it requires one cubic yard of soil. That is approximately
equivalent to the capacity of a standard full size pickup truck. The
medium sized 6 ft x 4 ft x 11 inch kitchen garden takes about 3/4 of
a yard of soil while the 4 ft x 4 ft x 11 inch herb garden takes half a
yard.
Bagged soil producers are offering several size bags as of this
writing. Newly introduced is, the 3/4 cubic foot bag weighing
approximately 30 pounds in addition to the standard 40 pound, one
cubic foot bags. Larger bags, some weighing 50 pounds are also
available.
Be aware that the reason the bags of soil come in sealed plastic bags
is to maintain its moisture, thus contributing to its weight. So when
you buy what appears to be a 30 pound bag at the time of purchase,
the product will loose a considerable amount of its weight as it dries
in the atmosphere. You will note that shrinkage will occur.
It is not common knowledge that the bagged soil identified as humus
or top soil is produced by grinding up waste building material. This
material is then composted and aged where internal heating takes
place. This material doesn't appear to be true soil but an artificially
produced product which is identified as soil. The label on the bags
may identify the recycled building material as composted "forest"
products. After the material has been in your garden for a period of
time, you will notice that the surface appears to be small wood chips.
Since garden centers sell soil in 30 to 40 pound bags containing as
much as one cubic foot of material you can figure that the large 4 x 8
foot double decker garden will require about 27 to 34 bags of soil
depending on size.
Watering is a very important consideration, so be sure to locate your
garden near a source for water. For instance, a tomato plant can
absorb at least a quart of water each day. One plan is to sink a row of
black potted plant containers into the garden into which you will plant
your tomatoes so that you are able to water directly into the roots
of the tomato plants while avoiding saturating the rest of the garden.
The idea behind the 4 foot wide gardens is to keep it narrow enough
to avoid having to step in it. This prevents the soil from being
excessively compacted and allows the roots to receive a greater
amount of oxygen. All weeding is easily carried out from the
pathway along side the garden. Next Chapter
garden. Our rule of thumb for the popular 4 ft x 8ft x 11 inch high
garden is that it requires one cubic yard of soil. That is approximately
equivalent to the capacity of a standard full size pickup truck. The
medium sized 6 ft x 4 ft x 11 inch kitchen garden takes about 3/4 of
a yard of soil while the 4 ft x 4 ft x 11 inch herb garden takes half a
yard.
Bagged soil producers are offering several size bags as of this
writing. Newly introduced is, the 3/4 cubic foot bag weighing
approximately 30 pounds in addition to the standard 40 pound, one
cubic foot bags. Larger bags, some weighing 50 pounds are also
available.
Be aware that the reason the bags of soil come in sealed plastic bags
is to maintain its moisture, thus contributing to its weight. So when
you buy what appears to be a 30 pound bag at the time of purchase,
the product will loose a considerable amount of its weight as it dries
in the atmosphere. You will note that shrinkage will occur.
It is not common knowledge that the bagged soil identified as humus
or top soil is produced by grinding up waste building material. This
material is then composted and aged where internal heating takes
place. This material doesn't appear to be true soil but an artificially
produced product which is identified as soil. The label on the bags
may identify the recycled building material as composted "forest"
products. After the material has been in your garden for a period of
time, you will notice that the surface appears to be small wood chips.
Since garden centers sell soil in 30 to 40 pound bags containing as
much as one cubic foot of material you can figure that the large 4 x 8
foot double decker garden will require about 27 to 34 bags of soil
depending on size.
Watering is a very important consideration, so be sure to locate your
garden near a source for water. For instance, a tomato plant can
absorb at least a quart of water each day. One plan is to sink a row of
black potted plant containers into the garden into which you will plant
your tomatoes so that you are able to water directly into the roots
of the tomato plants while avoiding saturating the rest of the garden.
The idea behind the 4 foot wide gardens is to keep it narrow enough
to avoid having to step in it. This prevents the soil from being
excessively compacted and allows the roots to receive a greater
amount of oxygen. All weeding is easily carried out from the
pathway along side the garden. Next Chapter
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Soil comes in standard 40 pound bags
and each is equal to one cubic foot.
and each is equal to one cubic foot.