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 up. Then, each year after that, you will need to get soil to top up your gardens to infuse new nutrients, and fill any sinkage.
Money flows out, and soil flows in. That is the gardeners math!
There are 3 different routes you can take when purchasing soil, which we will cover here today. The 4th alternative is to make your own compost, however that is a topic for another article!
Let’s discuss the 3 ways to purchase soil for your garden!
The three ways are:
- Bagged soil
- Big Bagged Bulk Soil
- Bulk Soil
Bagged Soil
Bagged soil is what you buy from your local garden centre or home improvement store. This soil comes in plastic bags and tend to hold 28.3L (1 cu. foot), and the larger bags are 56.6L (2 cu. feet). This soil comes in a variety of different mixtures depending on what you are using it for (however, we believe that this is mostly marketing). 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 ones 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 often include 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
We believe that a lot of bagged soil relies on marketing. Prices vary for an assortment of reasons, including the name brand of the soil. However, cheap bags of soil (ie black earth) do not provide the nutrients that your garden needs, so be careful.
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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 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.
Pros
- Delivered to your home
- Doesn’t take up much space on the driveway
- Can be closed to avoid getting wet in the rain
Cons
- They are very expensive compared to other bulk soils as the delivery fee is built into each bag. Therefore, if you buy multiple bags you are 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 are left with the bag after you’re done with in (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. However, as an example, three companies that we are aware of include: Home Depot, Big Yellow Bag and Lady Bug Soil
Bulk Garden Soil
This is our absolute favourite way to buy garden soil. It is 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!
Price
$35-45 per yard + delivery which ranges around $100-150
Pros
- Most affordable option when you need a lot of soil
- Gets delivered right to your home
- Some companies do split loads and you can get mulch or stone delivered at the same time
- It’s easy to dig
- 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!
Happy growing!
