Should I Buy Top Soil or Potting Soil for My Flower & Vegetable Garden?
- The majority of flowers and vegetables thrive in fertile, well-drained soil with a loamy texture. Soils should possess an abundance of organic matter. Organic matter improves drainage and helps to deliver nutrients to the flower and vegetable roots. Gardeners who do not have a good mix naturally or enough of it in their yards need to create it by amending the soil. Alternatively, nurseries, garden centers and many large retail outlets sell soil mixes designed specifically for flowers and vegetables.
- For geologists, top soil is the top layer of soil that holds nutrients, traps moisture and supports plant life. Its specific composition or texture will vary according to region. For sellers of top soil, the meaning of top soil is more unsettled. Top soil may have been collected from sites contaminated with herbicides that prevent your seeds from germinating or filled with weed seeds, according to University of New Hampshire Extension.
- Potting soil is a blend of soil, lighteners and fertilizers engineered to aid plants growing in containers. Some manufacturers create a soilless mix with items such as peat, sphagnum moss and perlite. Container plants have special needs because all of their water and nutrients must be within that container. The soil mixture must drain just right; holding water long enough for the roots to have time to absorb what they need and then draining away quickly enough to avoid drowning the roots. Potting soil aids gardeners by including materials that will make the container lighter and easier to maneuver.
- Neither top soil nor potting soil is the ideal product to buy for your flower and vegetable garden, however, between the two, potting soil offers better options. Generic top soil is less expensive than potting soil and therefore gardeners save money at the outset. Gardeners can purchase additives to create a soil mixture that will benefit the specific needs of their flowers and vegetables. Mixing your own soil also gives you control over the ratio of ingredients as well as increasing the quality by reducing weeds, chemicals and rocks from the mix.
