Compost mixture?

[salad]

Hi: I have an area that used to be a childrens playground area in my back yard. I am going to convert it to a garden. There is a brick retaining wall surrounding the new garden area.

I expect I'll need between 8 and 10 cubic yards of dirt/compost for the garden. At our local landfill they sell some really excellent compost, reminds me of the land I see when I go thru Iowa. But compost really isn't dirt/top soil.

Could I use all compost for my garden? If not, what would be a good ratio for compost to dirt?

[Srgnt Billko]

Sure. Most things grow pretty well in compost. We always have volunteers growing in our compost every year.

[Bob]

Landfill compost is a VERY bad idea if you're talking about a vegetable garden, but ok for a flower garden. You have no idea what herbicides & pesticides have been sprayed on the vegetation before it was hauled off to the landfill. Certainly not worth a health risk to save a few bucks. There is no standard ratio for compost-to-soil, it all depends on the soil itself. Compost adds organic material to the soil to keep it from compacting. If you have a heavy soil like clay, you need a lot of compost. If you have mostly loam soil you need very little compost. Bob S.

[Just Joshin]

IMHO,

Use it in your yard. An eating garden, you should have total control over what was used in the compost and you can't do it with landfill compost. It's a quality control issue. ;)

later,

tom @

[salad]

Thanks all for your input. I never thought of the pesticide issue regarding compost from the dump. I was planning on having it mostly be a flower garden but also wanted a few vegetables...there's enough space for them. I'll reconsider my options now.