My Lowe's shopping list looks like this:
Blood meal, bone meal, Epson salts, lime, peat moss, Black Kow {manure compost}, MG citrus time release plant food, perlite and vermiculite. I have used a potting soil from there, {Something Jungle}, but I use mostly Metro Mix that I get from a friend who runs a nursery. I also add lots of mushroom mulch, which can be bought at Lowe's, but it's a lot cheaper to buy a truck load from a farm store. I pay $20 for a scoop, almost a cubic yard.
Most folks don't know it, but there is a guy at the Contractor's desk who can give you a break on price. I call him the Jobber, but his title is something like Project Coordinator. He is the guy who will figure all the lumber, screws, nuts and bolts needed for your new deck and give you a price that will beat HD's. {I'm sure HD has a guy who does the same thing} If my guy isn't there, I come back another day. I never pay full price at Lowe's.