Topsoil.... Q for garden types.
Discussion
At last we're getting to the final stages of getting our front garden finished
Which means we need some topsoil.
The builder can get the 3 tons we need for £143 (and will supply at cost because of issues we've had) but I'm pretty sure this is the cheapest he can find so is it likely to be rubbish?
Can you get good topsoil, or is it a case of getting anything and digging in some manure?
Which means we need some topsoil. The builder can get the 3 tons we need for £143 (and will supply at cost because of issues we've had) but I'm pretty sure this is the cheapest he can find so is it likely to be rubbish?
Can you get good topsoil, or is it a case of getting anything and digging in some manure?
Bill said:
At last we're getting to the final stages of getting our front garden finished Which means we need some topsoil.
The builder can get the 3 tons we need for £143 (and will supply at cost because of issues we've had) but I'm pretty sure this is the cheapest he can find so is it likely to be rubbish?
Can you get good topsoil, or is it a case of getting anything and digging in some manure?
Yes there are grades of topsoil - not that I could name them! Which means we need some topsoil. The builder can get the 3 tons we need for £143 (and will supply at cost because of issues we've had) but I'm pretty sure this is the cheapest he can find so is it likely to be rubbish?
Can you get good topsoil, or is it a case of getting anything and digging in some manure?
We re-did the garden recently and the Missus is still cheesed off she didn't buy better stuff. Ours is far too free draining, really. But still laods better than what the original house builders put down!
To improve what we bought I dug in several tonnes of horse manure. Every time we plant anything it gets fresh compost dug in.
Even with that I had to make a raised bed for veg - which has pure compost in it.
Timmy35 said:
We've just had our garden done, part of the process was removing about a ton of good quality topsoil, it's all bagged up and at the front of out house. We were about to put it on Gumtree.
You're very welcome to have it if you like? PM me if you're interested.
Do you deliver? You're very welcome to have it if you like? PM me if you're interested.
(More seriously are you near Bristol??)Cheers Don. Do you know where you got it from? There's a bewildering range when you start googling.
Bill said:
Timmy35 said:
We've just had our garden done, part of the process was removing about a ton of good quality topsoil, it's all bagged up and at the front of out house. We were about to put it on Gumtree.
You're very welcome to have it if you like? PM me if you're interested.
Do you deliver? You're very welcome to have it if you like? PM me if you're interested.
(More seriously are you near Bristol??)Cheers Don. Do you know where you got it from? There's a bewildering range when you start googling.
When we bought the house there were two great big raised beds filled with topsoil.
I have no idea where the previous owner got it from, but it looks very good stuff to me.
Er you're welcome to have a sample?
£143 for 3 tonne is expensive and 'should' be very good quality.
Essex/london way it is all recycled stuff. The eco grade is between £5 and £10 a tonne and is 'okay' for turfing if a perfect lawn isn't required.
I usually use the stuff they call premiumn and its about £20 a tonne, quite loamy and in my experience very good.
Best to ring a couple of quarries/recycling places as they recycle literally everything now, some is utter tat but some of the soils are imo good.
For real quality soil get rolawn stuff but its going to be iirc about £60 per tonne.
Essex/london way it is all recycled stuff. The eco grade is between £5 and £10 a tonne and is 'okay' for turfing if a perfect lawn isn't required.
I usually use the stuff they call premiumn and its about £20 a tonne, quite loamy and in my experience very good.
Best to ring a couple of quarries/recycling places as they recycle literally everything now, some is utter tat but some of the soils are imo good.
For real quality soil get rolawn stuff but its going to be iirc about £60 per tonne.
Simpo Two said:
If must be a great job if you can charge people to remove topsoil, then deliver it elsewhere and charge the recipient. One trip, double loot.
My father dealt with a job where similar happened. He had a whole load (thousands) of granite setts to get rid of. The contractor was paid by him to take them away. The contractor took them about 3 miles down the road where they paid to use them as temporary infill. The contractor was then paid to remove them from that site, and then paid to dump them as infill elsewhere.Its good when it works, not so good when it doesn't!
Bill said:
saleen836 said:
Some more unscrupulous sellers of top soil have been known to bulk up the weight using fine crushed stone, other just pop along to a local farm and buy the basic crap a farmer digs up (usualy full of weeds etc)
That'd be irritating...I had a lady ring up who'd bought some top soil from us, but after it had been down about 4-5 weeks, she said there were weeds growing in it. Apparently she thought the soil would be sterilized so no weeds would grow. Forgetting that if no weeds would grow in it, no grass would either.
Bill said:
m3jappa said:
Useful stuff
Cheers.Timmy, I'm just getting some quotes but tb(brutally) h if I can get it delivered for £20 a tonne I'm not sure I can be bothered.
We've ebayed a few fairly useless but large objects that would have meant a trip to the tip. One woman felt so bad about paying 99p for a gate that she insisted on giving us a fiverDon't buy or take delivery of topsoil when its raining, for about 32 years ago I paid for 20 tonnes of topsoil. When delivered (wet/raining) it looked great, now 32 years later I am still trying to break up the 20 tonnes of solid clay soil i had delivered.
I have tried Recycle, lots of topsoil advertised through their Bristol site.
I have tried Recycle, lots of topsoil advertised through their Bristol site.
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