Garden Soil and Raised Bed Soil are both essential applications that gardeners can use to establish the ideal growing environment for their plants. Both organic soils provide beneficial ingredients for a healthy garden full of nutritious fruits and vegetables as well as beautiful, colorful flowers. We will explain where to use both Garden Soil and Raised Bed Soil to get the most out of each.
Benefits of Garden Soil
Garden Soil is specially cultivated to create an optimal environment for in-the-ground gardening. Enriched with well-decomposed compost and organic matter, bagged Garden Soil revitalizes native soil for the best plant growth. Consider Garden Soil as an investment in the success and longevity of your in-ground garden bed. By amending your native soil with Garden Soil, you will reap the rewards of more substantial yields, better plant health, and even more efficient moisture retention through better soil structure.
Provides Beneficial Nutrients
Garden Soil will enrich your native soil with essential nutrients that can help establish robust root systems and assist native soils with vital nutrient retention. Garden soil is fortified with worm castings, and kelp meal, providing organic nutrients that will feed and nurture your plants. However, don’t get complacent. Organic garden soils are not like conventional soil which release chemicals into the soil to feed the plant through the growing season. Organic gardens need nutrient replenishment through the growing season to produce those beautiful flowers and tasty edibles.
Reduces Compaction in Native Soil
Adding compost-rich garden soil improves the structure and quality of the native soil in your garden by reducing soil compaction. This improves air and moisture penetration into the soil and around plant root systems, as well as helping with proper drainage.
Improves Soil Composition
Even the most deficient soil can be revitalized with the addition of Garden Soil. It contains the right balance of soil that is well-draining and is neither too dense or too loose to help support moisture retention to reduce frequent watering. It also can improve the pH of your soil. The addition of Garden Soil is well worth your investment to add healthy components that enable plant roots to receive the oxygen efficiently and absorb nutrients needed to grow more vigorously.
The particile size of Garden Soil is too large for effective use as a stand-alone soil mix for raised bed gardens or containers. While it is nutrient-rich, moisture retention is reduced too much to support plant life adequetly in a raised bed.
Benefits of Raised Garden Bed Soil
Raised Bed Soil provides the ideal soil recipe for raised bed gardening and has significant benefits to gardeners. Raised Bed Soil is formulated to be used as a stand-alone soil mix in a raised bed that sits on the soil or is wholly enclosed in a container. Its use provides the perfect opportunity to establish the most favorable environment for your plants. It can be used for both raised beds and large container gardening.
Nutrient-Rich
Raised Bed Soil is the optimal choice for filling your raised garden beds, as it is bolstered with a hardy amount of organic nutrients such as poultry meal, kelp meal and worm castings that will help feed the soil your plants will grow in. Don’t get complacent though! All organic gardens, including raised bed gardens require additional organic fertilizer through the growing season. Edibles, many of which are grown in raised beds, are heavy feeders and need nutrient replenishment with an organic granular fertilizer every 5-6 weeks. And like potting mixes, supplementing with an organic liquid fertilizer like Fish & Kelp every 2-3 weeks will yield the best results.
Ideal pH
Organic Raised Bed Soil takes the guesswork out of determining the soil quality because it is already pH balanced to be between 5.8 and 7.5, which is optimal for a vegetable or flower garden.
Well-Draining Soil
Raised Bed Soil is like a balance between garden soil and potting mix. It has the exceptional drainage necessary for container and raised bed gardening. It assists gardeners in maintaining loose soil and provides adequate airflow for necessary oxygen and nutrient delivery to root systems.
Ready to Use
Since it is already formulated to be used right out of the bag, gardeners don’t have to contend with adding soil amendments to get a raised garden started. However, many gardeners use Raised Bed Soil as the base mix and add their own compost and other soil amendments to create their own “recipe!” That’s part of the fun with gardening!
To Add to Existing Soil
Ever wonder why the soil in your raised bed seems to “shrink” each season? Beneficial soil microbes consume the soil through the year which helps create plant-available nutrients your plants need to thrive. At the start of each season, spread a layer of Raised Bed Soil within 3-4 inches of the top of your raised bed. Then, mix it with the existing soil to a depth of four to six inches. Now is a good time to mix in that organic granular fertilizer!
Filling Containers and Raised Beds with Raised Bed Soil
Simply fill the raised bed with Raised Bed Soil to 3-4 inches below the top.
**Product not available in AZ, CA, HI, NV, UT. For a comparable product in these states click here.
To Use in Containers
- Cover the base of the pot or container with Raised Bed Soil and press down firmly.
- Following directions on the package, add an organic granular fertilizer.
- Loosen up the plant roots with your fingers and place the top of the root ball approximately two- inches from the rim of the container.
- Fill the remainder of the pot or container with Raised Bed Soil and press down firmly to secure the plant.
- Water in well, adding a liquid fertilizer every 2-3 weeks.
To Use in Raised Beds
- Add the Raised Bed Soil to the raised bed.
- Following directions on the package, add an organic granular fertilizer to each hole where you are going to place a plant.
- Loosen up the plant roots and place the plant into the soil mix so that the root ball is slightly above ground level.
- Water in well, adding a liquid fertilizer every 2-3 weeks.
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Enjoying the book! I live in southern Arizona, would especially like information on growing veggies here
Thank you!
Nancy
Hi Nancy, we’re glad you’re enjoying the Gardening Guide! We love these 2 books about Arizona gardening.
– Month-by-Month Gardening in the Deserts of Arizona, by Mary Irish
– Arizona Master Gardener Manual, published by the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.
We hope this helps!
HI, I just calculated how many bags of soil I need for my two raised garden beds and its 40 bags. I like your soil but that’s going to be a lot of money. Do you have coupons for bulk sale by any chance?
thanks!
-michael
Hi Michael, we don’t offer coupons in order to maintain the lowest cost and best value in the garden centers. Some garden centers offer discounts but we don’t know when or if that will happen but you can check with your local retailer. The top 6 – 12″ of soil is where the best soil is needed, you can layer your soil so you have the richest soil at the top. You can add in twigs, sticks, grass clippings, leaves, and inexpensive or native soil at the bottom and nutrient rich soil, compost, worm castings and mulch at the top. We have a blog post about it here https://www.kellogggarden.com/blog/raised-beds/layering-soil-for-an-inexpensive-raised-garden-bed/
We filled our one foot high raised bed with your raised bed potting mix. Then we planted a mixed collection of lettuce seeds. We also planted beet seeds, carrot seeds and turnip seeds. The only seeds that seemed to thrive were the lettuce seeds; the others either failed to grow or were quite slow and stunted-looking. A major disappointment: My wife harvested the lettuce and complained that it was all too bitter. We still have about an inch to go to get to the top of the bed. should we mix in a finer brand of potting mix? I watered every day but the raised bed potting soil seemed to get dry quickly.
Hi Gary, the raised bed potting mix has a larger particle size that is not optimal for seed starting. Seeds also need to be planted at the right depth, need to stay moist, and the temperature is important. To give seeds the best environment to get started most gardeners like to start seeds in a pot and then transplant the seedlings when they are nice and strong. If you want to start seeds in a raised bed using the raised bed soil it is best to layer some seed starter mix over your seeds. You can either dig a small hole fill it with the seed starter mix and add your seeds in or for just sprinkle the seed starter mix over the seeds. Your seedlings will be able to break through the seed starter mix and the roots will grow into the raised bed mix. This video will walk you through some seed starting techniques. https://youtu.be/5fhJZvcRY_U
As your seedlings grow you also want to make sure you are adding nutrients back into the soil with an organic fertilizer. When transplanting we add a granular slow-release fertilizer in the hole before the plant, then every two weeks or so a liquid fertilizer.
To retain moisture in the soil add mulch to the surface of the soil. https://www.kellogggarden.com/blog/gardening/how-and-when-to-mulch-a-garden/
I have five gardens on my property but one has terrible soil. I wanted to add raised garden soil to the planting holes as I plant perennials. Is it OK to do that? I wanted something I could plant in right away without having to add extra nutrients. I do have many bags of compost, composted manure, and Espoma Biotone on hand. Should I mix that in too? The plants are small in 3 inch containers (echinacea, bee balm, agastache, and daylilies). The soil is clay and for some reason this one garden hasn’t improved with amendments. It’s as if the soil is lifeless.
Thanks!
Hi Gia, Raised Bed & Potting Mix is a great potting soil that is ready to use right out of the bag. We like to recommend mixing in a granular organic fertilizer when planting to extend the feeding time and again every 4-6 weeks after that to make sure your plants always have enough nutrients. If you would like to help out your native soil, we recommend Amend Garden Soil, https://www.kellogggarden.com/products/kellogg/amend-garden-soil-for-flowers-and-vegetables/ for breaking up hard clay soils. It contains rice hulls and gypsum that help break up clay and create pockets in the soil to allow greater penetration of water and air. We hope this helps, happy gardening!
How do you stack raw materials in a raised bed? Saw, but can’t find the video that showed me a stacking order, starting with old logs and branches and some more layers. Please help
Hi Benton, here is the link to the video that explains how to layer different materials inside of a raised bed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t5TNZ8NqeM. This blog post also does an excellent job of explaining what can be used in each layer of your raised bed garden: https://www.kellogggarden.com/blog/raised-beds/layering-soil-for-an-inexpensive-raised-garden-bed/. If you have any questions, we’re happy to help!
Do I need to mix in bagged compost with your raised bed soil for my vegetable raised beds?
Hi Mary, it is always a great idea to amend your soil with organic materials such as compost. While it isn’t required, it will help cultivate nutrient and mineral-rich soil. What you do need is organic fertilizer, since you are growing in an enclosed environment and your fruits and vegetables will be taking nutrients and minerals from the soil to grow you will need to replenish those nutrients and minerals. It is recommended to intermix a slow-release organic granular fertilizer https://www.kellogggarden.com/products/kellogg/organic-fertilizers/tomato-vegetable-herb-fertilizer/ and a fast-acting organic liquid fertilizer throughout the growing season. https://www.kellogggarden.com/products/kellogg/organic-fertilizers/kellogg-garden-organics-fish-and-kelp-fertilizer/
WHAT DOES IT NEED TO HAVE IN IT?
Hi Sandra, in general, great soil is well-draining, nutrient-rich, and filled with lots of organic matter. Individual plants may have slightly different soil requirements that should be considered. To learn more about organic soil, please check out the resources linked below:
– Soil Blog: https://www.kellogggarden.com/blog/soil/
– What Is Organic Soil?: https://www.kellogggarden.com/blog/soil/what-is-organic-soil/
– How to Tell if Soil is Good with 8 Simple Tests: https://www.kellogggarden.com/blog/soil/how-to-tell-if-soil-is-good-with-8-simple-tests/
– Layering Soil in a Raised Garden Bed Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t5TNZ8NqeM
– Best Soil for Container Gardening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ7Ct0HbW3M
If you have any questions, we’re more than happy to help!
I am not planting in a “POT” or in a “raised garden bed?” (like the boxes on stilts I see in pictures) I had several rectangle, bottomless boxes (2ft wide by 4ft long) built and place through out the yard and filled them with the K-Amends for garden and flowers soil. It is about 10 inches deep. This is what the guy at the store said I could use to plant my flowers in but I am scared to put them in there. It seems so rich. Should I have mixed some regular ol dirt in with it or sand? Since it is already so rich, I don’t want to mix “potting soil” in it.
Should I mix anything or can I just plant the flowers in there. It says AMEND Garden soil for flowers and vegetables on the bag.
Hi, you’re right. The Amend Soil is actually designed to be mixed in with your pre-existing or native soil. Your best option may be to try bringing in soil from other parts of your yard. If this is not an option, we recommend mixing in our Raised Bed Soil to help bring some balance to your beds. Though you have open bottom beds, they are still enclosed; the Raised Bed Soil is cultivated for moisture retention and good drainage, which is important in an enclosed environment. You can also add in horticultural sand and/or perlite to improve drainage. Additionally, you will still mulch your flower beds. You may find this article useful: https://www.kellogggarden.com/blog/soil/how-to-tell-if-soil-is-good-with-8-simple-tests
any suggestions for a “type II” growing environment? its a 7% grade basically gravel pit run 1foot boulders with some bigger boulders too. al in all it is 70/30 rock, the existing soil isn’t bad, of course it needs amending but, just minimal. one big giant raised bed seems to be my best option, i would surely like some others.
Hi Michael, dealing with rocky soil can be tricky because edible plants need at least 6 to 12 inches of nutrient-rich soil. One alternative to growing in raised beds is planting on mounds or berms. By mounding up rows of soil and planting on berms, you’re allowing your plants to grow above the rocky soil. The berms should be at least 6 inches deep, but the deeper, the better for larger, deep rooting plants.
Growing in straw bales is another great option because, similar to growing in containers, you have more control over the growing environment. To learn how to get started, check out this article: https://www.kellogggarden.com/blog/gardening/planting-and-growing-in-straw-bales/.
However, raised beds are also a great option because you have complete control over the quality of the soil. If you’re interested in learning more about raised bed gardening, this link contains lots of helpful articles: https://www.kellogggarden.com/blog/raised-beds/.
Over time you may be able to sift out some of the rocks in your garden plot and replace them with soil and amendments. However, this could take years, and you may want to consider alternative or additional planting measures while this process takes place. We also recommend reaching out to your local county extension office. They are experts on your region and may have additional advice.