Play in the Soil: DIY Mixes and Tips for the Budget Gardener

While the temps are too cold to plant outdoors, prepare your garden for success—and beat the winter blues—by creating personalized super soils.

Instead of purchasing pre-mixed soils, savvy gardeners can purchase the ingredients and make their own blends. New Africa/Shutterstock

Set down the seed packet! A truly great garden season starts with the best soil possible, but there’s no need to spend $10 a bag or more for seed starting, potting, and other specialized garden mixes. You can save money by creating your own worm farms and composters, or simply mixing store-bought soil components yourself.

And let’s not forget some budget-friendly, tried-and-true tips and tricks to fill the bottom half of raised beds/containers. You probably already have the components on hand, so these money-saving DIY mixes will go even further.

Seed Starter Soil

The ideal seed starting mix is fine-textured and loose, moisture-holding yet well-draining, and free from weed seeds and disease-causing pathogens.

A basic blend would be three parts coconut coir or sphagnum peat moss (not to be confused with the fibrous sphagnum moss found at the bottom of floral baskets), one part perlite, and one part vermiculite.

The coconut coir (or sphagnum peat moss) offers superior water retention and aeration for strong root growth, while perlite increases the aeration and drainage and keeps the mix from compacting. Vermiculite provides additional water retention as well as essential minerals for seedlings.

These ingredients are available at garden centers or online. Typically, gardeners purchase them in the amounts needed so leftover mix doesn’t need to be stored.

Start by soaking the coconut coir or sphagnum peat moss in warm water until it is moist and fully expanded. Wring it out so it’s not sopping wet, if needed. Mix the components in a bucket or other large container until they achieve uniform consistency. Moisten the mix, if needed, until it is damp but not soggy.

Then the fun begins: Start filling the pots.

The ideal seed starting mix is fine-textured and loose, moisture-holding yet well-draining, and free from weed seeds and disease-causing pathogens. RimDream/Shutterstock

Container Choices

A tried-and-true starter recipe for potting soil—and one that uses two components already at hand from the seed starting recipe—is one part sphagnum peat moss, one part perlite, and two parts compost.

This can be enriched for vegetables and herbs that will need plenty of nutrients and microorganisms: two parts peat moss, three parts compost, one part vermiculite, one part perlite, and organic fertilizer for edible plants (added as directed on the label). To this mix, add one tablespoon of lime (per five-gallon bucket of soil) to balance the pH.

Container-grown fruiting trees and shrubs have their own requirements: three parts sphagnum peat moss/coconut coir, two parts composted pine bark, three parts perlite, and two parts horticultural sand (to enhance drainage of the otherwise heavy compost and composted pine bark). Fertilize with organic fertilizer, as directed on the label, because fruiting trees have their own special timing requirements.

Adding 1/4-part worm castings to any of the above recipes will supercharge the mix.

To make mixing easier, consider acquiring a garden auger that attaches to a cordless drill.

Raised Beds and More

Cold weather is the perfect time to prepare for spring by assembling raised garden beds. Whether you choose wood, metal, or a pre-cut kit, building them in advance ensures you’re ready when planting season arrives.

The best beds for vegetables range from 14 inches (for 12 inches of root growth) to 32 inches in height, which helps prevent backaches.

However, they can quickly cost more to fill than build. The first step to keep the budget from going berserk is to skip the fancy “raised beds” mixes and “all-purpose garden” soil bags. Instead, opt for a 70 percent soil (inexpensive bagged “topsoil” will do, or call around for delivery prices) to 30 percent (homemade or bagged) compost.

Don’t use existing garden soil if there’s any concern about pests or disease. Watch for signs such as struggling plants or unusual spots on leaves.

If there’s a lot of homemade compost at hand, it can be added for a 60/40 ratio or even 55/45, but don’t go under 30 percent compost. You need to provide sufficient nutrient-rich organic matter, particularly in a vegetable garden. In the following years, you can amend the existing good soil with additional fresh compost.

Likewise, in-ground gardeners can amend existing gardens by turning 30 percent compost into the top 12 inches of soil. No-till gardeners can cover the garden bed with three to four inches of fresh compost for similar benefits. Mix some organic fertilizer into the top eight to 12 inches.

To cut back on soil purchases even more, fill the bottom third of 27- to 32-inch tall raised beds with woody materials (even large logs and branches). Fill the middle third (or the bottom layer of 17- to 20-inch raised beds) with organic material such as dead leaves, dead plants, wood chips, small tree prunings, or even weeds, as they’ll be smothered. Opt for aged materials, which will sink less. As this layer decomposes slowly over time, you can replace it with compost.

Use the savings to buy a new garden hat (don’t forget sun protection even in winter!) or some cool garden tools.

Worm farms are easy to maintain and produce nutrient-rich castings that will improve your soil. wawritto/Shutterstock

Black Gold

Compost and worm castings are two key garden amendments that can strain a tight budget, yet most of their organic components are already on hand.

The Lazy Way

Once per season, dig a trench next to a raised bed or in-ground garden row and fill it with leaves and weeds, fruit and vegetable scraps, and even coffee grounds. Cut the items into small pieces to make them decompose faster. Cover with soil, and plant next to it.

Vermicompost

Worm farms range from simple DIY setups made from plastic storage totes to sleek, space-saving units designed for small homes and apartments. Castings are expensive, so these will quickly pay for themselves. Place castings at the bottom of planting holes for more successful transplants.

Take the Tumble

A compost tumbler can accelerate the decomposition process to as little as four to six weeks. More sophisticated systems boast two chambers so one side can cure while the second side is accumulating, for a more continuous output. The compost is ready to use when it looks like well-amended soil. No more turning heavy compost piles by hand.