Garden soil is not equal to garden soil. Therefore, here are a few tips to keep in mind when buying garden soil.

Garden soil is not equal to garden soil
Garden soil is not equal to 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 so supplied with nitrogen.

Tip 1 - Humus

humus is generally considered to be the most nutritious garden soil. You should therefore fill your garden with a humus layer of 20 to 30 centimeters before you use plants in it. Humus is available in shops for construction or earthmoving, as so-called excavation, very cheap. However, you should then throw the humus through a stone sieve, so you ultimately really only distribute the pure soil in the garden. Alternatively, in the trade but also right humus garden soil is offered.

Forest soil, by the way, is regarded as an optimal humus supplier and is often offered after clearing work by the responsible forestry office.

Tip 2 - Traditional Garden Soil

Conventional garden soil (eg for garden beds) is offered in various compositions in the garden trade. Differences are primarily between:


  • Plant earth - suitable for general use. Many times, the clay content of the potting soil is higher.
  • Potting soil - a humus rich substrate mixed purely for flower borders.
  • Graveyard Earth - visually darker, as it has a higher black peat content.


Depending on which garden soil mixture you decide, you have to add lime, fertilizer, peat, etc. afterwards. However, you should always read through the relevant leaflets carefully. Incidentally, some plant-specific mixtures are also offered in the gardening market, such as rhododendron soil.

Tip 3 - cultivation soil

Pure, preferably germ-free cultivation soil is always used when fresh seed is applied in the garden, or when new plant cuttings are to be used there. The advantage of the cultivation soil is that it is usually mixed with components of water-storing volcanic rock. On top of that, it also makes the soil pleasantly relaxed, insofar as it is a quality product.

Tip 4 - compost

soil From decayed garden waste new soil can be recovered, which 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 of the word, composting also includes animal manure, which you can process among other things by cows, pigs and horses in the garden bed. You should never use fresh animal manure.

If you do not want to create your own compost, then you can buy compost soil in so-called "Grüngut" landfills. Here he is often also offered very cheaply.

Tip 5 - Sand

By adding sand, you can sustainably improve particularly heavy garden soils (eg clay soils). You should always add some charcoal to the sand. The charcoal avoids many fungal diseases. Alternatively, you can also use firewood ash.