Are you kidding me? Gravel should NOT be in delivered garden soil

Q: I went to a landscape supply yard this morning to get a yard of soil. They said the soil comes with gravel from their supplier, and it is intended for vegetable gardens. The gravel helps with drainage and prevents clumping, they say. What do you think? I already have the soil in the garden bed so I will have to live with it.

A: Are you kidding? Gravel is good for the soil?? Ha!

My bet is that someone at the yard mistakenly mixed some gravel with their topsoil pile and they needed to get rid of it. Then you walked in….

Now that I’m retired, I can frankly say what needs to be said: Someone took advantage of you.

The gravel will do nothing for drainage. The particle size is too big compared to the size of organic matter and mineral particles in the soil.

Furthermore, I’m not happy to see all the non-decomposed pieces of wood in the soil mix. For the next year, natural fungal decomposition will occur in the soil and will rob nitrogen from any nearby plants in that soil.

Everything will eventually rot and the N w ill be available once again but you lose time as a result of having all that raw wood mixed in.

My advice: go somewhere else with your business. Or if this is the only place nearby, be present when the truck is loaded before delivery and take a good look at the product.