Buying Dirt for Raising a Flower Bed

Site and Season

• Build and fill the raised bed in spring, when the ground softens. Moist, warm earth provides easier digging for construction, while the mid-spring season supports the widest range of possible plantings. Put the raised flower bed in a site with full sunshine and good air circulation for best flower growth.

Soil Additions

• Start the garden with base soil. Use 2 to 3 inches of fill dirt at the bottom of the raised garden, where you need a foundation but little in the way of nutrition. Use more fill dirt for taller gardens. Find fill dirt through construction companies and online retailers. Lay 4 to 5 inches of topsoil on top of the fill dirt, or use bagged garden loam. These soils hold more nutrition for planting.

Organic Amendments

• Turn organic amendments into the topsoil or garden loam layer for more nutrition and moisture retention, and to build the soil level up further. Use bagged organic compost, peat moss and wood chips. Contact local mushroom farms and stables in regard to recycled mushroom compost, horse bedding and rotted manure, which provide free or less expensive organic options.

Maintenance

• Add fertilizer to any garden before planting to increase the starting nutrition. Granular 5-10-10 fertilizer encourages quicker root establishment and better growth. Mulch the soil after planting to retain warmth and moisture. Raised gardens may dry more quickly than in-ground gardens, so water the plants every four to five days. Re-amend the soil with new compost additions in spring and at every new planting, as you would with in-ground gardens.