Best soil in Raleigh? Whohave you used..

I'm in need of more compost blend to amend my clay--not ecstatic about the soil I got last year. I'm just wondering which companies you have used, and how their soil blends, compost etc are (both price and quality)? I'm in Raleigh......

It has been about 5 years since I had this done but I used Hamilton Landscape 919-850-2090 ... at the time it seemed they had the best prices on small amounts of mulch, compost/topsoil etc. delivered. I think the compost comes from the yard/landscape waste processing facility on New Hope Rd. just north of the 264 bypass. It's pretty decent quality. They also have something called "leaf mulch" which is last year's leaves that have been slightly composted. It's kind of stinky and can have pieces of shredded plastic bags mixed in - you probably don't want that. The "compost" is probably the "leaf mulch" after another year of composting, with most of the chunks sifted out. If you have a big truck that you don't mind getting dirty you could go to the yard waste center and get compost or leaf mulch yourself. It's relatively inexpensive but a big mess to load and unload - since I don't have a truck I just had the pros do it.

Pretty much any place that offers "top soil" is really just going to give you something that's mostly clay with the big chunks broken up. At least that's what I've seen from others who had it delivered from several sources. Your best bet is to go with the compost. If you need to fill in a low spot or build a raised area probably go with 50/50 "top soil" / compost.

Thanks so much Tom--Anybody else had a good, bad or other experience?

I took a sol sample over to NC State years ago to have them test and see what my soil needed and started there.
Have you still got King Kong? Did it make it thru the winter?LOL

Lavina

Yep 'King Kong' is now twins, working on tripletts. He's about to be banished to the flower bed if this warm weather holds, so we'll see how he does....!

Yes, I have used NC State, but this is going to be a new bed, (presently straight clay that even weeds don't relish), so really nothing to test at the moment. I'm looking for compost, top soil etc to use building the bed. Got some last year, but didn't get the best due to "budget constraints" (!) and would like to get a better product this year (i.e. one that does not need additional amending...my back hurts). Hope you're doing well and over the winter blahs. Ain't this spring weather great?

I have gotten cow manure at Home depot and mixed it in real good with leaves.

Lavina

hi yotedog,
I'm new to the site and just saw your post tonight. I have terrible clay soil, but have had great success with the compost and cow manure mix from Lowe's. We dig down about a foot and a half to two feet and mix in quite a few bags, breaking up the clay as we go. This stuff is cheap and works well. The guys at Messinbrink's at the farmer's market told me that they use the same stuff on all their gardens, too.

Thanks--is that the humus/manure mix? Oh my gosh--I wish I was dedicated enough to dig down 1 1/2 - 2 feet! My goal is a foot, and I'm happy if I reach that point! I know, I know, the better the soil, the better the plants....sigh.....

Actually, I use the compost and cow manure. It doesn't smell bad, and seems to really work to break up that clay. It really helps if you chop everything up as you dig it in so you can mix the ammendments with the clay an bust up those clods.