{"id":16838,"date":"2021-04-29T15:03:33","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T19:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?p=16838"},"modified":"2021-04-29T15:03:33","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T19:03:33","slug":"soils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2021\/04\/29\/soils\/","title":{"rendered":"How do I create a good soil mix?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Question:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>I live in coastal Lubec and have zero soil around my house, as the builder infilled with pure gravel (good for drainage, if nothing else, right?!). I plan to trench the gravel to develop soil beds for native plantings, and need guidance for what to use \/ how to mix the right soils. I do not want septic soil, nor do I wish to spend gobs of money on Coast of Maine mixes, as I&#8217;m looking at about 10 yards to start with. Can you tell me what to use to mix my own and the best places to get it? So far, I have bare root viburnum and bare root staghorn sumac shipping my way from similar sub-boreal regions in Michigan.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Answer:<\/h3>\n<p><em>Brian Erickson, Sustainable Agriculture Professional\/Professional I<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Here are a few resources I like to use when talking about soils and yardscaping. Bulletin #2283, <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/publications\/2283e\/\">Tips for Purchasing Soil for Gardens and Landscape Projects<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.unh.edu\/blog\/seed-sources-new-england-meadows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Native seed sources<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maine.gov\/dacf\/php\/pesticides\/yardscaping\/lawn\/seed.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Generic seed sources (lawn\/forage)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I have also attached a <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/04\/Commercial-Compost-supplier-list.docx\">directory for commercial compost suppliers (Word)<\/a>. Please don&#8217;t hesitate to reach out to your <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/county-offices\/all\/\">local Extension office<\/a>&nbsp;if you have any further questions.<\/p>\n<p><em>Information in this website is provided purely for educational purposes. No responsibility is assumed for any problems associated with the use of products or services mentioned in this website. No endorsement of products or companies is intended, nor is criticism of unnamed products or companies implied.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: I live in coastal Lubec and have zero soil around my house, as the builder infilled with pure gravel (good for drainage, if nothing else, right?!). I plan to trench the gravel to develop soil beds for native plantings, and need guidance for what to use \/ how to mix the right soils. I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,207],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask","category-soil"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How do I create a good soil mix? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2021\/04\/29\/soils\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How do I create a good soil mix? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: I live in coastal Lubec and have zero soil around my house, as the builder infilled with pure gravel (good for drainage, if nothing else, right?!). 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