Landscaping question - how much soil?
Discussion
Folks,
I've got hold of some land at the back of my garden & we're going to make another lawn approx 100m2. The site has been cleared, scraped, weedkillered, fenced & lawn area shuttered ready for the weed fabric & about 4" of proper topsoil prior to seeding. Question is, how much topsoil will I need. I'm thinking about 3 - 4 tons or is this way off either way?
Ta
I've got hold of some land at the back of my garden & we're going to make another lawn approx 100m2. The site has been cleared, scraped, weedkillered, fenced & lawn area shuttered ready for the weed fabric & about 4" of proper topsoil prior to seeding. Question is, how much topsoil will I need. I'm thinking about 3 - 4 tons or is this way off either way?
Ta
I am guessing that 3 -4 tons will not even be a sprinkling over 100m 2.
Lets guess a ton bulks out to a m3 which is way way optimistic, assuming you need 100mm depth then you have 30 - 40m2 covered .
For a visual on this amount , 3 - 4 ton doesnt anywhere near fill a small tipper.
The guys who do this day in day out for a living will probably tell me I am way out
Lets guess a ton bulks out to a m3 which is way way optimistic, assuming you need 100mm depth then you have 30 - 40m2 covered .
For a visual on this amount , 3 - 4 ton doesnt anywhere near fill a small tipper.
The guys who do this day in day out for a living will probably tell me I am way out
Edited by Busamav on Friday 4th September 08:40
shirt said:
whats the going rate for 20ton of topsoil?
There are varying qualities. They may look similar, but some is very nasty - just separated from large loads of building rubble etc, some is taken from fields heavy in weeds (so, although it looks 'clean', you'll get weeds before anything else) and then some is dug from from rich, clean fields.Buy on price at your peril. Always ask if they offer various grades and where the stuff comes from.
the soil i have is pretty crap and i had a knotweed infestation so am aiming to use 1200 gauge poly sheet instead of weed barrier. i understand this will give drainage issues so was going to go for 6in of topsoil. what would you recommend i do in terms of layering it?
if impenetrable barrier is a no-no i'd only use that over the knotweed area and have a breathable layer where i inted to put the lawn. would prob. seed the grass.
if impenetrable barrier is a no-no i'd only use that over the knotweed area and have a breathable layer where i inted to put the lawn. would prob. seed the grass.
Ring around some of your local Builders Merchants (independants preferably) or re-cycling centres.
Our top soil at the moment is ex-field, but there are various grades of blended available, but re-cycling centres tend to only offer bulk loads. Merchants would tend to be able to offer the soil in bags, I know we do, but you're a bit far away!
Our top soil at the moment is ex-field, but there are various grades of blended available, but re-cycling centres tend to only offer bulk loads. Merchants would tend to be able to offer the soil in bags, I know we do, but you're a bit far away!
shirt said:
the soil i have is pretty crap and i had a knotweed infestation so am aiming to use 1200 gauge poly sheet instead of weed barrier. i understand this will give drainage issues so was going to go for 6in of topsoil. what would you recommend i do in terms of layering it?
if impenetrable barrier is a no-no i'd only use that over the knotweed area and have a breathable layer where i inted to put the lawn. would prob. seed the grass.
I had Japanses Knotweed at one end of my garden bordering with my neighbour. This was a riverside area of the garden. The Environment agency came round and treated it and it's now mostly gone after one treatment. Maybe you can get them around to do it for you, since it's something they put a very high priority to get rid of (at their own cost).if impenetrable barrier is a no-no i'd only use that over the knotweed area and have a breathable layer where i inted to put the lawn. would prob. seed the grass.
one treatment? have you any idea what they used? must have been napalm!
my neighbour's garden used to be as bad as mine but he put DPC poly sheet down a couple of years back and hasn't had a problem since. he's got chipped bark down though whereas i want a lawn.
i take it the EA came as they didn't want it spread by the watercourse? there is a council owned car park over my back fence that is affected so maybe i could argue thats where it's coming from. there's not much to trat though as i've cleared all the foliage and dug out as much of the root system as i could.
my neighbour's garden used to be as bad as mine but he put DPC poly sheet down a couple of years back and hasn't had a problem since. he's got chipped bark down though whereas i want a lawn.
i take it the EA came as they didn't want it spread by the watercourse? there is a council owned car park over my back fence that is affected so maybe i could argue thats where it's coming from. there's not much to trat though as i've cleared all the foliage and dug out as much of the root system as i could.
shirt said:
one treatment? have you any idea what they used? must have been napalm!
my neighbour's garden used to be as bad as mine but he put DPC poly sheet down a couple of years back and hasn't had a problem since. he's got chipped bark down though whereas i want a lawn.
i take it the EA came as they didn't want it spread by the watercourse? there is a council owned car park over my back fence that is affected so maybe i could argue thats where it's coming from. there's not much to trat though as i've cleared all the foliage and dug out as much of the root system as i could.
Yes, the EA came of their own accord. Apparently they were in my garden without me knowing about it as I wasn't in at the time they wanted to take a look at the situation. Not sure what they used but clearly they are the experts at dealing with this stuff. They told me it was illegal to replant any of this stuff anywhere. However, they were benused at the extent of the spread in my garden. It hadn't really spread at all over the period of 16 years that I've had the place, yet next door had got quite bad.my neighbour's garden used to be as bad as mine but he put DPC poly sheet down a couple of years back and hasn't had a problem since. he's got chipped bark down though whereas i want a lawn.
i take it the EA came as they didn't want it spread by the watercourse? there is a council owned car park over my back fence that is affected so maybe i could argue thats where it's coming from. there's not much to trat though as i've cleared all the foliage and dug out as much of the root system as i could.
shirt said:
i'll do that, cheers maggit.
my back is going to be proper fooked with this, has taken me all week to recover from clearing the weeds!
Might it be worthwhile seeing if you can get a local hire place with a small loader? Kubota or similar. It'll save your back and you'll be able to have some fun while you're doing it. You will need about 5ft wide access, though.my back is going to be proper fooked with this, has taken me all week to recover from clearing the weeds!
access is the issue. i havea 3ft passageway leading to the back garden and there is a 12ft fence at the back. its 'well built' to say the least and the land behind it is 3ft higher than my garden.
i have largely levelled it my hand, its a nightmare. i hired a rotorvator thing but the ground was so hard i had to run it at full throttle and hold it back to let it dig in. walked like john wayne that week!
i have largely levelled it my hand, its a nightmare. i hired a rotorvator thing but the ground was so hard i had to run it at full throttle and hold it back to let it dig in. walked like john wayne that week!
shirt said:
access is the issue. i havea 3ft passageway leading to the back garden and there is a 12ft fence at the back. its 'well built' to say the least and the land behind it is 3ft higher than my garden.
i have largely levelled it my hand, its a nightmare. i hired a rotorvator thing but the ground was so hard i had to run it at full throttle and hold it back to let it dig in. walked like john wayne that week!
You can hire a small narrow dumper which will fit down your passageway, this with a mini digger to load will save a lot of backache.i have largely levelled it my hand, its a nightmare. i hired a rotorvator thing but the ground was so hard i had to run it at full throttle and hold it back to let it dig in. walked like john wayne that week!
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