It is WONDERFUL stuff to add to your soil. You can build up your raised beds with it, digging it into your existing soil. That is amending your soil...making it better.

Ya know, I pretty much have the same question. I have a raised bed that I'd like to enlarge using regular compost so I'd love to hear what folks think. I'm not an expert but from what I've read eventually the compost will break down and the plants will sink down below the level of the raised bed. So I'm wondering if I should do half soil and half compost.

Also no expert here, but I was just researching filling raised beds since it's on my agenda, too. What I read recommended equal parts compost (ideally from multiple sources), peat moss and coarse vermiculite (which you can also get at pool supply stores sold as "pool base"). However, there seemed to be plenty of people who used straight compost.

Mystic_dragon, do you live in Chester County? Mushroom soil would be plentiful there, I guess! I lived in Wilmington, DE for about 15 years, so I always remember the scent of that mushroom growing area just over the PA line. Then, I couldn't imagine getting accustomed to the smell, now the thought makes me want to grab a pick-up truck and shovel and take a road trip! What incredibly rich soil it must be. LOL.

You might could use is as the bulk of your filler, but if it were me, I wouldn't use it exclusively. Mushroom soil has been sterilized, so while you can get some nutrients from it, there are no living organisms in it.

I recently read (in a magazine?) that there is a distinct difference between mushroom soil and mushroom compost. If that is true then, you should be fine using it as a filler soil but I would also add compost to it for it's organic properties. Compost will break down some over the season and that's a good thing. All the nutrients from the breakdown will be feeding your soil and making healthy. You'll just need to top off the box with more compost in the fall after you've cut back or harvested whatever you plant in the box. For that reason you would not want to fill the box entirely this year or next season you'll be needing to remove some soil to make room for compost. That would be difficult with Lilies planted in it. Hope this helps.

MeMo

I used mushroom mix last year and liked it a lot- very fluffy and good for pots. I put other things in with it though, to boost up the nutrients since it is sterile and has already been used by the mushrooms. I put in some regular potting soil (had a lot in the shed), homemade compost, manure, and a bit of peat and alfalfa pellets.

There was a neat garden show on tv awhile ago that showed where the mushroom soil came from. It was very interesting!
CMK

Ok, well after talking to the owner of the place where I'm getting the soil from she told me that the mushroom soil they sell is meant to be an amendment as it's high in nitrogen. She told me the lawn and garden mixture they sell is half topsoil and half mushroom soil so I guess that's what I'll be using to fill the bed. I'm hoping that the horse farm around the corner from me will be willing to let me take some of their manure pile off their hands. They usually just dump it in their fields anyways so I hope they'd be happy to have someone use it! I'm also going to be using a bale or two of peat moss... can't wait to get it started actually.

Those of you that replied and said that mushroom soil is "poor" in living organisms are correct! The lady told me that the mushroom soil they sell has been sterilized just as y'all said and therefore wouldn't have any of the micro-organisms needed in a garden.

I will be mulching the garden after I plant the bulbs/plants probably to a depth of about 2-3 inches? Does that sound good? I don't know as I normally don't use mulch but my neighbor uses it to keep the weeds out of her beds... I spose I could ask her how deep she mulches.

I live in Berks county pretty close to Reading, PA actually lisa :-))

Thanks for all the replies!! I love that y'all share your knowledge so freely and if I have ANY question about gardening y'all can answer it for me.

ttfn
Cheryl.

It's a great amendment. I wouldn't use it as the soil itself because balance is always key in great soil. also because its mostly soilless, it wouldn't provide your plants a good foundation to spread it's roots. roots should be able to anchor itself well into the soil most especially perennial plants need this to establish themselves.

2-3 inches sounds awefully swallow to plant lillies. Unless you mean you will then build up the raised bed around it so they will then be deeper.

Rita - 2-3 inches is the depth of the mulch.. I was going to make the bed about 8 inches deep with soil then mulch on top of that. Sorry, I must not of said that clearly.

ttfn
Cheryl.

As others have said...a wonderful amendment to add to existing soil. I used to live in SE PA and would get mine at the Mulch Barn in Harleysville. Fond memories! I wish I had access to it now. :)

The mushroom compost we get here is, yes, sterilized, but only to kill the mushroom spores. It is very much alive and full of good stuff for your garden. I have, and will in the future, use it to built lasagna beds, and amend/top up my older beds. It is eventually worked into the ground below. imho.

Nancy.

I like to use it when I'm making a new bed as part of the mix. I've never used it exclusively.

kay

Well, I've decided that I'm getting the garden mix they sell as it's half topsoil and half mushroom soil. I will be getting some aged manure from the farm up the road as well so that'll add some nutrients as well!

I tell ya the immense amount of knowledge and help that y'all offer is a priceless resource! I am greatful to everyone here who has made suggestions or shared their own experiences! I get the benefit of learning from everyone else's mistakes/successes without having the expense of making them myself! :-)))

Thank you to all once again.

ttfn
Cheryl.

Cheryl, good decision. I'm glad you mixed it in. It's well balanced and in anycase, lilies are very easy to grow.

Cheryl, just wanted to chime in on the manure your planning to get from your neighbor. They may do things differently in different parts of the country but around here the farmers will dump the manure from the lots in big piles and then let it compost for a year or two. At some point though they use a manure spreader and spread it over their crop ground and corn fields. It's just as valuable to farmers crops as it is our gardens. Hopefully they'll still share some with you. Just make sure it composts for a year before you add it to your beds or it will burn your plants. Just smell it...if it smells like manure it's to fresh to use. Hope this helps.

MeMo

MeMo - the farmer I'm getting the manure from told me today that the pile that he's going to let me use is somewhere between 8-10 years old! The one I was going to ask didn't answer the door so I asked the neighbor that farms the land across the street from us... he's got a few horses that he keeps for personal use. Gues he doesn't use the manure on his fields. *shrugs* I dunno for sure though.

ianna - the soil I'm getting is already mixed. I will, however, be adding the manure and maybe some peat as well.

ttfn
Cheryl.

Cheryl,

What MeMo is trying to say is that manure is best use shortly after full decomposition because by then the weeds it contains are dead. The seeds of weeds are ingested by the horses which passes through their guts undestroyed and so you will notice in fresh manure that seeds will germinate.. which is not good for soil amendment. So when the manure rots away, it produces heat hot enough to kill off these emerging weeds. (sometimes hot enough to cause spontaneous fires) Now after full decomposition, new weed seeds can resettle on the rotted manure and grow again because there'd be no heat. So in the case of manure older than 2 years, exposed outdoors, be careful that they do not contain weeds. You can do this early in the season by observing if any new seedlings grow and to break it up over severals days to kill off any germinating weeds.

Ianna

Mushroom compost is too hot to plant directly in, you'll notice quickly when you break open the bag and start spreading it. ALWAYS wear gloves when working with compost. I usually mix mine with a good topsoil, and top it off with an organic mulch.

Mushroom soil will burn your plants if used exclusively. When we made raised vegetable beds, my garden center lady recommended to use topsoil the first year, then mix in mushroom soil the second year, then compost the third year and then alternate. Haven't tried it yet, but it seems like a good idea. Hope that helps!

I am a huge fan of mushroom soil. In Pennsylvania I knew a landscaper for estates in Bucks County and I ordered a small dump truck of mushroom soil. I bought sand from a store. My soil was clay originally. I mixed in mushroom soil and some sand into the clay and BOY did my hybrid oriental lilies TAKE OFF. I would nevr just use top soil for any plants unless it was already amended by someone else. You're just asking for your plants to die: wasting time, money, and energy. People who would walk for exercise up my street in Pennsylvania would stop and comment how beautiful my flowers were. I had lavender, echinacea, leopards bane, liatrus, hybrid oriental lilies, bee balm, pansies, lobelia, poppies, stela d'oro day lilies and a wisteria tree. Now it's on with my search for mushroom soil in western North Carolina

I don't know about other areas, but here in central Florida, I've noticed many of the businesses that are selling "mushroom compost" are selling pure and simple cow manure with some hay, sawdust or straw mixed in--sometimes they don't even bother with that.