The following soil mix was developed by planet natural to fill a 4 x 8 raised bed one foot deep 32 cu ft.
Best soil mix for raised garden beds.
High quality amendments to feed your plants.
One quarter of your soil mixture should be garden soil.
If you use bagged then a mix of several different types is best.
1 part compost make your own or if you live in arizona the compost from arizona worm farm is great.
The best soil for a raised bed vegetable garden.
A good base or growing medium.
A single bag is enough for 1 5 cubic feet of space.
50 of your growing medium should be compost buy at a local nursery or here online.
Add in a little mix to the compost like peat pumice or vermiculite.
The perfect way to make sure that your compost is ready is to spread it in the fall.
1 part peat moss or coco coir.
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.
It has the right texture composure and mineral base for the job.
Vermiculite for good drainage.
The final contender for being the best raised garden soil is the soil mender product.
Part one the growing medium.
Add any amendment to the basic soil mix that suits your purposes.
This product is designed specifically for raised garden beds.
See test and improve your soil for more information.
Since you are mixing up your own raised garden bed soil you have all the freedom of a cook in the kitchen.
Mel bartholomew s mix for the the best soil for raised bed vegetable gardening is simple.
The lower maintenance may result in slightly lower yields but i am not convinced you will notice a big difference.
This helps in the drainage of the bed quite useful for root vegetables.
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.
Lime raises the ph of soil.
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.
3 bags teufel s organic compost 3 cf x 3 9 cf.
The best soil combination for raised garden beds should have two parts.
Your raised garden box soil should contain the following.
These manufacturers know what they re doing as they stress the importance of good soil.
Filling your raised beds is an opportunity to get high quality soil and to fine tune the mix of fertilizers and amendments.
You can purchase it in bags from a garden center or in larger bulk.
Any leftovers in the manure can hamper the fertility of the soil.
To learn more about this topic see our soil and soil amendments guide.
Peat moss for moisture.
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.