What’s the Best Way to Get Dirt for My Garden?

Definitely consider amending your native soil! It's the best way to improve your gardening conditions. You can mix in compost and other nutrients. If you get your soil tested, it’ll help determine what it needs. Just remember, plant roots will eventually spread outside the holes you dig, so they'll benefit from that native soil too! Compost does wonders for fixing soil issues.

You have a few solid options here! If you need a large amount of dirt, buying in bulk from a local landscape supply company is way cheaper than buying bags. If you have a truck, you can save on delivery, too. Just make sure to get screened soil so it doesn't have all those rocks and clay in it!

Also, if you’re looking for free dirt, sometimes neighbors or local projects have excess topsoil they need moved. Just check in with landscape supply places and avoid buying the cheap, unscreened stuff full of junk. It’ll save you a lot of hassle in the long run!

I totally get where you're coming from! When I filled my raised beds, I ordered a truckload of dirt from a local supplier. It was a lot, so I ended up renting a mini-loader to move it all. Just to give you an idea, one cubic yard is about 27 cubic feet. For a 4x8 foot raised bed, you'll need about 1.2 cubic yards, so plan accordingly! If you’re doing just a small project, though, you can grab bags daily from the store until you're done. You'll likely need to add more dirt the following year since it compresses!