Bulk topsoil purchase gone bad

[Justable]

I bought a 850 litre bag of 'premium fruit and veg topsoil...ready to use' back in early March. I needed it mostly to fill a very large veg trough, as well as a number of other smaller projects including just planting up pots etc. When I started to use it I noticed it was really really dense and heavy so I realised pretty quickly it would probably collapse my trough unless I mixed it with something lighter. Instead I used it for a number of smaller uses eg. potting on seedlings, filling holes in my lawn, planting summer bulbs in pots etc. I ended up letting a neighbour use most of it for laying his lawn. So did I buy the wrong product or has something gone wrong somewhere?? The plants I potted on have hardly grown so I decided today just to crack on and plant them today, only to see that there is virtually no root growth into this soil. I decided therefore to empty out the bulbs I planted and they have not developed at all - no roots, no shoots. Not rotted either, just nothing. In pots it develops a rock hard 'crust' on top. Where I filled dips in the lawn it just seems to have gone horribly dusty. I appreciate that it might not be exactly the right stuff for potting on or for bulbs, but for no growth at all in 6 weeks?? I just don't understand. Any thoughts from soil experts?

[burnie]

If your trough is on legs, then topsoil on it's own would indeed be very heavy, it would also lack in enough feed for the whole growing season. If you look at something like a compost of a John Innes composition, it is a mix of grit for drainage, compost and soil. In my containers for outside I have used a mix of my own home made compost, soil improver from the council tip, then either farmyard manure or compost mixed together.
If you want to grow roots like carrots or parsnips, then no manure should be used, just compost, if you are planning on growing brassicas or crops like peas or beans, then manure can be added. I think you need to have a read about bed preparation but in the mean time get planting and see what works and what doesn't and learn from this.

[Jungle Jane]

Multi purpose compost is better for troughs,pots & containers,it’s less dense,topsoil can be mixed with compost or just use on the soil & beds. What bulbs have you planted,some are dormant for a while,bulbs have everything they need in their bulb to grow & root but they can rot if too wet (compost dries out faster than topsoil).

[rary]

Without seeing the soil it sounds as if its a bit like clay, mix a small amount with a little water then roll it into a ball, press it between thumb and forefinger and if it just flattens out its mostly clay which can be opened up with course sand or grit with I would suggest a little bit of lime, if when you press it, it crumbles it should be reasonably good soil, is there any visible growth in the soil if you got it in March I would think that there should be signs of weeds in it if it is topsoil has your neighbour had any problems with the grass? also was it labeled or sold as sterile soil, personally I would mix a bit of feeding into a pot of the soil something like a high nitrogen feed you can get high nitrogen feed in liquid or pellet form, or a seaweed extract feed or blood fish and bone, then plant a bulb into it, I would also mix some course sand or gravel with the soil to open it up a bit

[Mr Bones]

Sounds like the soil has been overworked for many years by heavy farm machinery and possibly bombarded with agro chemicals/fertillisers (think dustbowl). As already suggested it'll need lots of organic matter adding then go a step further and add more beneficial microbes by drenching with compost tea. It's cheap and easy to make on a small scale.