Garden Shopping List Generator

Before the first trip to the garden center, it helps to have a list. This garden shopping list generator turns your garden plan into one. Choose whether you are building raised beds from lumber, buying kits or gardening in the ground, enter the number and size of your beds, the area of paths to mulch, how many tomatoes you are growing, the length of trellis you need and how you plan to water. It produces a materials list with quantities: soil or compost, lumber and screws, mulch for beds and paths, cages and trellis, irrigation parts and basic tools.

How to use the shopping list generator

1. Choose the garden type: raised beds built from lumber, raised bed kits, or in-ground beds.
2. Enter the number of beds and their size. For raised beds, enter the height; for in-ground beds, enter how much compost you plan to add.
3. Enter the path area you want to cover with wood chips or another path mulch.
4. Enter how many tomato plants need cages or stakes, and how many feet of trellis you need for climbers such as cucumbers, peas and pole beans.
5. Choose your watering method: drip irrigation, soaker hoses or hand watering.
6. Read the list, then add seeds and plants from your planting plan.

What goes into the list

Soil or compost

For raised beds, the list gives the volume of bed mix in cubic yards and the equivalent number of 2 cubic foot bags, including 15 percent extra for settling. For in-ground beds, it gives the compost needed to work into the soil. The raised bed soil calculator breaks the bed mix into topsoil, compost and an aerating ingredient if you plan to blend your own, and the soil bag calculator compares bags with bulk delivery.

Lumber and hardware

For beds built from lumber, the list assumes 2×6 boards, stacked as many courses as needed to reach your bed height. A 2×6 is about 5½ inches tall in reality, so two courses make a bed about 11 inches tall. The list gives the total linear feet, the approximate number of 8-foot boards, corner posts and a rough screw count. If you prefer 2×8, 2×10 or 2×12 boards, the raised bed cost calculator handles other sizes and prices them.

Cardboard

Plain cardboard laid on the ground inside raised beds smothers grass and weeds before you add soil, then breaks down. Remove tape and glossy labels first.

Mulch

The list includes straw or shredded leaves for the beds, estimated as straw bales, and wood chips for paths at 3 inches deep. The mulch calculator and mulch bag calculator refine path and bed mulch quantities.

Supports

Tomatoes need cages or tall stakes, and climbers need a trellis. The list counts cages or stakes per tomato plant, and trellis netting or panels with posts for the length you enter.

Irrigation

For drip irrigation, the list estimates tubing for one line per 2 feet of bed width plus a supply line, and the essential parts: a filter, pressure regulator, backflow preventer, end caps and a timer. For soaker hoses, it counts hoses and accessories. The drip irrigation calculator works out emitters and run times.

Small tools

A basic kit: a hand trowel, a garden fork, a hoe, gloves and plant labels. You may already own most of these.

A sample list

With the default inputs, two 4-by-8-foot raised beds 11 inches tall built from lumber, 60 square feet of paths, four tomatoes, 8 feet of trellis and drip irrigation, the list includes:

• About 2.5 cubic yards of raised bed mix, or 34 bags of 2 cubic feet.
• 96 linear feet of 2×6 lumber, about 12 boards of 8 feet.
• 8 corner posts and roughly 64 exterior screws.
• Cardboard for about 64 square feet.
• About 2 straw bales for bed mulch.
• About 15 cubic feet of wood chips for paths, or 8 bags of 2 cubic feet.
• 4 tomato cages or stakes.
• 8 feet of trellis netting with 3 posts.
• About 57 feet of drip tubing with a filter, pressure regulator, backflow preventer, end caps and a timer.
• A trowel, garden fork, hoe, gloves and labels.

Adding seeds and plants

The generator covers materials, but not the plants themselves, because those depend on your crop choices. To add them:

1. Choose crops with the plant finder.
2. Work out how many plants fit with the square foot gardening calculator or plant spacing calculator.
3. Turn plant counts into seed quantities with the seed quantity calculator.
4. Decide which crops to buy as transplants, such as tomatoes and peppers, and which to grow from seed.

Shopping tips

• Buy bulk materials first. Soil and compost deliveries can take days to arrange in spring, so order early.
• Compare price per unit. For soil and mulch, compare price per cubic foot or cubic yard, not per bag.
• Check board quality. Choose straight boards without large knots or splits, especially for long sides.
• Buy a little extra. An extra board, a few more screws and a spare bag of soil save a second trip.
• Bring measurements. Take your list and bed dimensions to the store.
• Ask about delivery for large bag orders; it is sometimes cheaper than expected.
• Watch for seasonal sales on bagged soil and mulch in spring.

Putting it all together

A smooth build usually follows this order:

1. Choose and level the site, and measure it.
2. Lay out beds and paths with string or a garden hose.
3. Build or assemble the bed frames and set them in place.
4. Lay cardboard inside the beds and on paths.
5. Fill beds with soil in layers, watering each layer.
6. Add wood chips to the paths.
7. Install irrigation lines along the beds.
8. Install trellises and supports before planting.
9. Plant, water in, and mulch the beds.

Installing trellises and irrigation before planting avoids disturbing roots later. To budget the full project, enter the list’s quantities into the garden cost estimator.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting settling. Without the extra 10 to 20 percent, beds end up short.
• Using nominal board sizes. A 2×6 is only about 5½ inches tall, so two stacked boards make an 11-inch bed, not 12.
• Skipping corner posts. Beds without posts bow outward under the weight of wet soil.
• Buying supports too late. Caging tomatoes after they sprawl damages stems and roots.
• Forgetting the pressure regulator and filter on drip systems, which leads to leaks and clogged emitters.

Shopping lists for other kinds of gardens

A container garden

For a patio or balcony, the list is different. You will need containers with drainage holes, sized to the crops (about 5 gallons or more for a tomato or pepper, smaller for herbs and lettuce), quality potting mix rather than garden soil, a slow-release or liquid fertilizer, saucers or pot feet, small stakes or cages for tomatoes, and a watering can or a simple drip kit for containers. Potting mix is often sold in quarts or liters; about 25.7 dry quarts make one cubic foot.

An in-ground garden

For beds dug directly in the ground, the main purchases are compost to improve the soil, mulch for beds and paths, supports, a way to water, and basic tools. If you are starting on lawn, add cardboard to smother grass, or rent a sod cutter for larger areas. A soil test before you buy amendments shows exactly what the soil needs.

Restocking each season

Once the garden is built, each year’s shopping list is much shorter:

• Compost to top up beds by an inch or two.
• Mulch to replace what has broken down.
• Seeds and transplants.
• Replacement drip parts, stakes, ties and row cover as needed.
• Fertilizer, if soil tests show a need.

The vegetable garden cost calculator estimates these yearly costs.

A pre-shopping checklist

Before heading out, run through this checklist to avoid a second trip:

• Have you measured every bed and path, and written the measurements down?
• Do you know the bag size and price per cubic foot of the soil and mulch you plan to buy?
• Have you arranged bulk delivery if you need more than about a cubic yard?
• Have you checked your vehicle’s load capacity for bagged soil?
• Do you have screws, corner posts and the right drill bits for building beds?
• Have you included supports for tomatoes and climbers?
• Do you have every part of the irrigation system, including the filter, pressure regulator and backflow preventer?
• Have you listed seeds and transplants by crop and quantity?

Saving money on supplies

• Buy soil and mulch in bulk for larger projects, and share deliveries with neighbors.
• Use free materials: cardboard from deliveries, fall leaves for mulch, arborist wood chips for paths.
• Reuse supports. Good tomato cages and trellis panels last many years if stored dry over winter.
• Grow from seed rather than buying every plant as a transplant.
• Shop end-of-season sales for tools, hoses and irrigation parts.

Storing supplies between seasons

Good storage makes supplies last much longer. Drain and coil hoses and drip lines, and keep them out of the sun and frost. Clean and dry tomato cages, stakes and trellis netting before putting them away. Keep leftover bagged soil sealed and flat, and store seed packets in an airtight container somewhere cool and dry. A labeled shelf or bin for garden supplies saves time and money every spring.

Frequently asked questions