topsoil for new raised beds.

[paula.berriman]

Hi we bought 1 tonne of topsoil for £35 from our local Gardeners barn. It had a few stones in it but these are easily removed. The only problem is that the shop has closed and the topsoil provider is a mystery. I personally wouldnt pay £69 for vegetable growing soil, just good old elbow grease and lots of organic matter wins the day.

[organic]

Paul
I suppose when you buy by the bulk bag you're paying for the driver's time, the diesel and probably a share of the tax, insurance, wear and maintenance on the vehicle too. The probably bungs the price up a bit.

It never occurred to me that you'd want a lot of clay for cricket, but now you mention it, it makes perfect sense. You'd never get a looser soil to go that hard.

[glasgowdan]

My turf supplier does a cube bag of good topsoil for £20 but you have to collect it. I have the trailer so no prob. I defo curb my spending when it comes to growing veg, the idea is to spend pennies to grow it all.

Why not just dig down and grow in what you have got instead of trying to raise it up and wasting that good topsoil underneath ground level?

[Suky]

Opened a can of worms there, didn't I
All because I am rubbish at metric conversions!

After all that I may now have an offer of a trailer load of topsoil from a work mate so all that for nothing, but it was interesting to see the range of costs up & down the country.

Saw my friend in the pub...been spreading topsoil today...£12 a cube.

You are not far from me (ish), where did your friend get it for that price? In case the previous offer falls through

[coreopsis]

It's not a can of worms.
Suky,the soil is checked and you have some good feedback from previous takers-might be worth it-depends how much do you need and if it's within your budget.1 cubic metre of soil is not a lot if you have some raised beds to fill.(If you take some more maybe you could negotiate the price?).Check Gumtree,there are some ads sometimes.Check some alternatives-sand and manure.Filling up with home made compost is a great idea but I'd have to wait a couple of years before filling up 2 beds 1.2*2m about 0.5m deep.
My OH asked me"do you want some topsoil"last year-of course I wanted-to patch up some dips in the garden here and there and with perspective of 2 beds waiting to be filled soon.Transport is not a problem(OH has a trailor).What I got was soil of unknown origin(loads of stones and bits of concrete in it)-hope it's not contaminated with any nasties-I filled up a ditch in the garden and scattered some grass seeds onto it.See if it grows-hoping it's going to be ok,but hey,gift horse...

[Suky]

I do plan to mix it with some well rotted horse manure, if my daughter ever gets it for me. I have a severe horse allergy and while I can cope with the rotted stuff, I can't go anywhere near the stables to collect it Oh, life is full of these little problems

[Paulottie]

You are not far from me (ish), where did your friend get it for that price? In case the previous offer falls through

I usually see him Thursdays...but we might be racking Cider before that...anyhow will ask for supplier details.

[Suky]

Thanks Paul, that's great.

[chris]

Go down and have a look and feel of it.

I had 2.5Tonnes delivered - they had an offer on of £80 for up to 3 tonnes of topsoil mixed with compost. I didn't look at it, and just ordered over the phone. Was gutted when it came, it was really bad (bits of plastic, gravel, grit, stone, number plates, glass, etc).

So, I learnt my lesson - not to skimp on stuff I need to be quality! Row lawn Direct do a tonne of their blended loam at £65+VAT (via their travis perkins channels) - tesco also do it for £100 - Rolawn Blended Loam Topsoil 1xTote bag 1m3 - Tesco.Direct

[Suky]

Row lawn Direct do a tonne of their blended loam at £65+VAT (via their travis perkins channels) - tesco also do it for £100 - Rolawn Blended Loam Topsoil 1xTote bag 1m3 - Tesco.Direct

These make my local GC look good value

[chris]

Oh, it's £90 now