Filling your raised beds is an opportunity to get high quality soil and to fine tune the mix of fertilizers and amendments.
Best soil mix for raised garden beds.
See test and improve your soil for more information.
These manufacturers know what they re doing as they stress the importance of good soil.
If you use bagged then a mix of several different types is best.
The other option is to treat the raised bed as an extension of your garden in which case the soil will be mostly real soil sand clay and silt.
Mel bartholomew s mix for the the best soil for raised bed vegetable gardening is simple.
The following soil mix was developed by planet natural to fill a 4 x 8 raised bed one foot deep 32 cu ft.
Add any amendment to the basic soil mix that suits your purposes.
Soil mender raised bed mix.
You can purchase it in bags from a garden center or in larger bulk.
A single bag is enough for 1 5 cubic feet of space.
One quarter of your soil mixture should be garden soil.
The best soil for a raised bed vegetable garden.
With it s combination of natural compost topsoil coco fiber and a variety of organic material this soil mix is excellent for general gardening use but most especially for raised beds.
Part one the growing medium.
1 part compost make your own or if you live in arizona the compost from arizona worm farm is great.
To learn more about this topic see our soil and soil amendments guide.
A good base or growing medium.
It has the right texture composure and mineral base for the job.
The perfect way to make sure that your compost is ready is to spread it in the fall.
Add in a little mix to the compost like peat pumice or vermiculite.
Lime raises the ph of soil.
Vermiculite for good drainage.
50 of your growing medium should be compost buy at a local nursery or here online.
1 part peat moss or coco coir.
Peat moss for moisture.
High quality amendments to feed your plants.
The best soil combination for raised garden beds should have two parts.
This product is designed specifically for raised garden beds.
This helps in the drainage of the bed quite useful for root vegetables.
Any leftovers in the manure can hamper the fertility of the soil.
The final contender for being the best raised garden soil is the soil mender product.
The first potting soil i can recommend is the all natural soil mix of the soil mender raised bed mix.
Your raised garden box soil should contain the following.
5 bags black gold peat moss 2 2 cf x 5 11 cf.
It will not dry out as much and it won t need as much fertilizer.
You can purchase soil test kits and add some lime to your growing medium if necessary to ensure your plants are growing in optimal conditions.
Alternatively you might make a base soil by blending equal parts coarse horticultural vermiculite peat moss and good quality organic compost.