Three Important Tips for Purchasing Fresh Soil for Your Garden
If your gardening efforts are failing due to poor ground conditions, consider purchasing soil to amend your land. You can acquire soil supplies from gardening centres or nurseries. The cost of fresh soil can be a little high, but you will get significant discounts for high volume purchases. Therefore, you can minimise the total costs for your gardening project. However, when buying in bulk, you must be cautious. If you choose bad soil, you will experience a lot of inconveniences, and your garden might be ruined. Here are some important issues to address when buying your soil and soil supplies.
Test the Soil Quality
You should know the quality of the soil in your garden before purchasing supplies for amendment. Do not make assumptions about the ground conditions. If you proceed without understanding the soil factors, you could do more harm than good by adding fresh soil. Testing the soil quality on your land is not a complex process. You can collect samples and send them to a laboratory for analysis. If you are not familiar with agricultural labs in your area, look for recommendations from your local nursery or gardening centre.
Understand Soil Options
There are different types of soil available for purchase for your garden. The right one will depend on the results of the analysis. Therefore, review the lab report and check the recommendations made. The two common types of soil used in gardens are topsoil and compost. Topsoil is a good option if your garden has hostile conditions for plant growth. This ground soil is a balanced formulation with rich nutrients and minerals. You can pour it over your garden to create a suitable plant bed. However, if you are only concerned about the lack of nutrients, choose compost. This material is suitable when the physical characteristics of a garden are fine. Compost is made using decaying organic materials, so it will enrich the soil. Moreover, the materials will stabilise the drainage in clayey or sandy gardens.
Inquire about Screening
The use of soil with contaminants will compromise the quality and safety of your garden. Therefore, you should inquire about the screening processes used when acquiring soil supplies. Make sure that your chosen company checks the soil for weed remnants. The growth of foreign plants into your garden could lead to the depletion of nutrients. Moreover, some weeds are difficult to eliminate after the initial introduction. Also, make sure that the soil supplies are free of chemical contaminants like heavy metals.