Buying soil (Pros and Cons: what you need to know!)

So you’re wanting to install a lawn or get your new garden up and running real fast? Why not buy in soil from your local dealer or, if you’re on a budget, some infill advertised in the local paper?
 
PLEASE read the following first!
 
Let’s start with Infill. Infill is just soil scraped off someone’s land (usually if they’ve built a house or dam etc.).
 
Pros:

• Cheap or free

Cons:

• Could be contaminated (heavy metals, asbestos etc.)
• The soil structure will likely be massively damaged from digging it out so you end up with compacted, dead soil
• Likely filled with weed seeds that you will then be introducing to your garden

 
So buying soil from a landscaping dealer is better then?
 
Pros:

• Will usually be tested for heavy metals and be free of weed seeds (check this though!)
• Usually has manures and minerals mixed in (if it’s premium grade)
• Has a large percentage of sand so it is free draining (good for turf)

 
Cons:

• Expensive compared to infill or repairing your current soil
• Is essentially dead soil (see my article on Is your soil dead?) devoid of all the biota essential for supporting plant life except maybe some bacteria in the manure
• Has no structure/stability to retain water and minerals and make them available to plants
• Gives your plants an initial boost of growth (from the manure/minerals) but then your plants will look worse and worse year after year as these wash out of the soil and there are very limited soil biota and humus to retain and recycle and continue to look after your plants.
• Your plants essentially will grow shallow roots into the bought soil (as the native soil is likely not appealing) making them highly susceptible to pests, diseases, drought and waterlogging (if the native soil is heavy clay).

 
So in conclusion, I always recommend reviving your current soil ecosystem FIRST. This does take a bit more time and energy but the results are seen as your soil just gets better and better over time. Even if you decide to bring in bought soil after you’ve somewhat repaired your native soil (e.g. for better drainage for turf), you will be rewarded as your turf will then be happy to grow their roots deep into the native soil below and you’ll get a healthier lawn.
 
There are exceptions of course, for example, when we wanted to grow root and leaf veggies and found out our soil was highly contaminated by arsenic, we initially covered the soil with builders plastic and filled raised veggie beds with horse manure and straw. We later topped them up with bought premium soil. But we continue to be mindful of and feed the soil biota so that this soil stays alive!