Garden soil is not just garden soil. So here are a few tips to keep in mind when buying garden soil.
Here's a little tip in advance: Ideally, always dispose of coffee grounds in the garden bed. This promotes the growth of the plants because they are supplied with nitrogen.
Tip 1 - Humus
Humus is generally considered the most nutrient-rich garden soil. You should therefore fill your garden with a layer of humus of 20 to 30 centimeters before planting in it. Humus is available in shops for construction work or earthmoving, as so-called excavated soil, extremely cheap. However, you should then throw the humus through a stone sieve so that you ultimately only distribute the pure soil in the garden. Alternatively, real humus garden soil is also available in stores.
Forest soil is the best source of humus and is often offered by the responsible forestry office after clearing work.
Tip 2 - Conventional garden soil
Conventional garden soil (e.g. for filling garden beds) is available in various compositions in specialist garden shops. The main difference is between:
» Potting Soil - suitable for general use. The clay content is often higher in potting soil.
» Potting soil - mixed, humus-rich substrate purely for flower borders.
» Cemetery soil - optically darker because it has a higher black peat content.
Depending on which garden soil mixture you choose, you must then add lime, fertilizer, peat, etc. However, always read the instructions on the packaging carefully beforehand. Incidentally, some plant-specific mixtures are also offered in garden stores, such as rhododendron soil.
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Tip 3 - Potting soil
Pure potting soil that is as germ-free as possible is always used when fresh seed is planted in the garden,or new plant cuttings are to be used there. The advantage of the potting soil is that it is usually mixed with components from water-storing volcanic rock. On top of that, this makes the soil pleasantly loose, insofar as it is a quality product.
Tip 4 - Compost soil
Rotting garden waste can be used to make new soil that also has a very high fertilizer content. So you can produce compost in your own garden all year round. All you have to do is create a compost heap.
In the broadest sense, compost soil also includes animal manure, which you can process from cows, pigs and horses in the garden bed. However, you should never spread fresh animal manure.
If you don't want to create your own compost, you can also buy compost from so-called green waste dumps. Here it is often offered very cheaply.
Tip 5 - Sand
By adding sand you can improve particularly heavy garden soils (e.g. clay soils) in the long term. It is best to always add some charcoal to the sand. The charcoal prevents numerous fungal diseases. Alternatively, you can use firewood ash.