What is the best soil to buy for your garden?

Something that you don’t realize until you’ve been gardening for a while is that somehow us gardeners need soil constantly. Even after you’ve built your gardens, you still need to buy more soil! When you first start to garden you need soil to fill your raised beds or containers. Then, each year after that, you’ll need to get soil to top up your gardens to infuse new nutrients, and fill any sinkage.

Since soil is going to be something that you need to invest in every single year, let’s talk about the options you have. But, if you’re just looking for which type of soil is best for your garden, start here. Then, come back so you can find out which of the 3 soil options are the best to buy and save money.

There are 3 different routes you can take when purchasing soil, and then you also have the option to make your own compost but I won’t cover that in this article. At the end of this article I’m also going to take you through the cost of all 3 options when purchasing 1 yard worth of soil so that you can determine what works best for you.

Here are the 3 options for purchasing soil:

1. Bagged soil
2. Big Bagged Bulk Soil
3. Bulk Soil

Bagged Soil

Bagged soil is what you buy from your local garden centre or home improvement store. It comes in plastic bags and tends to hold 28.3L (1 cu. foot), and the larger bags are 56.6L (2 cu. feet). You can buy it from different brands, and it comes in different mixtures (such as potting soil or raised bed soil). There are many types and names but mainly it’s just marketing since the composition inside the bag is similar across all types. If you aren’t sure about the different options on the market, and what they are meant for, you can check out our article here that talks all about soil.

Price

The small bags range in price from $2-$9, while the larger bags range from $13-$15.

Pros

• Good for small gardens
• Easy to bring to your garden space
• Doesn’t require any tools to move the soil

Cons

• They create a lot of plastic garbage
• Often times the mixture is not controlled (and includes peat)
• They are expensive if you need a lot
• You need a car to bring it home

Where to buy

Places to get bagged soil include garden centres and home improvement stores.

Final Note

You want to be careful with bagged soil. I have heard certain brands have been contaminated and will kill your seedlings or plants due to pesticides or chemicals in the product. Also many bagged soils rely on marketing to make you think it’s the brand and type that you absolutely need, which isn’t true. Price doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better, but can just be tied to the brand name. In my opinion, you should always opt for organic soil, especially if you grow organically! Finally, be mindful of the cheap bags of soil (ie black earth) because they don’t provide the nutrients that your garden needs.

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Big Bagged Bulk Soil

These are the giant bags of soil you see on people’s driveways. They are 1 yard of soil and come in a giant plastic tote bag delivered right to your driveway. One yard of soil is the same as 27 small bags of soil from the store. If you have multiple gardens, getting a yard of soil can often be better for your budget.

Price

Can range from $175-250 per bag with delivery included

Pros

• Delivered to your home
• Doesn’t take up much space on the driveway
• The bag can be closed to avoid rain

Cons

• They are very expensive compared to other bulk soils as the delivery fee is built into each bag. Therefore, if you need more than one yard and buy multiple bags you’re paying for delivery fees on each bag, even if it’s just being delivered once.
• Often the type of soil is limited to what the company has to offer
• It’s hard to dig the soil out of the bags – the height of the bag means you are often digging above your shoulders
• Requires a shovel and wheelbarrow
• Opening and closing the bag can be really dirty
• You’re left with the bag after you’re done with it (there’s no pick up or recycling of them. See photo below of our leftover bags just hanging out in the yard)

Where to buy

The companies vary and are often local to specific areas. Three companies that we are aware of that have a wider delivery range include: Home Depot, Big Yellow Bag and Lady Bug Soil

Bulk Garden Soil

This is our absolute favourite way to buy garden soil. It’s super affordable, gives you more soil options, allows you to order mulch at the same time, and is plastic free! Oh, and sometimes a really cool truck drops it off. You also have the option of picking up the soil with a trailer and this is the most cost effective way to do it, however if you’re like me and don’t have a trailer, you can get it delivered.

Price

$35-45 per yard + delivery which ranges around $100-150.

It’s most economical if you can either pick it up yourself, you order multiple yards of soil, or if you want a split load of soil, mulch or stone (if you do this though, ask about splitting fees)

Pros

• Most affordable option when you need a lot of soil
• Gets delivered right to your home or you can pick it up yourself
• Some companies do split loads and you can get mulch or stone delivered at the same time
• It’s easy to access the soil to move
• It’s plastic free

Cons

• You need space for them to drop it (like a driveway)
• Takes up a lot of space (but also lights a fire under you to move it)
• Requires a shovel and wheelbarrow to move
• Gets wet in the rain if you don’t cover it

Where to buy

Places to get this vary by city. Landscape companies or gravel yards often sell it, including some greenhouses. We recommend searching “buy bulk soil in __city__” to help you find places nearest you. Since prices for soil, delivery and split loads vary, we suggest getting a few quotes first before picking one company.

Now that you know the three options that exist, let’s discuss the cost of soil by type!

Cost Comparisons

The first important piece of information is that 1 cubic yard is 27 cubic feet or 764.6 litres.

Using 2 cubic yards of soil as our cost comparison, this is the price you would expect to pay by soil type:

Bagged soil: 27 bags of soil (2 cu. feet each) at $15

(27 x $15) = $405+tax

Big Bagged Bulk Soil: 2 bags of soil at $190

$380+tax

Bulk Soil: 2 yards of soil at $40 each + delivery of $150

($40 x 2 + $150) = $230+tax

We hope that the cost comparison gives you a good idea on what is available for you and your gardening budget. As you can see, if you need a lot of soil and budget is your priority, your best choice is to buy bulk soil. However, if you need limited amounts, bagged soil is likely the way to go, so you aren’t drowning in soil! Perhaps, if you know other gardeners on your street it may be worth organizing a soil drop together!