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Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Tue Mar 14, 06 11:49 am Post subject: Topsoil
Has anyone bought any, if so how much did you pay? Thanks

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Tue Mar 14, 06 11:57 am Post subject:
I paid something like �19 m3 (delivered) for 8 m3 of 20mm screened topsoil two weeks ago.

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Tue Mar 14, 06 11:59 am Post subject:
What area did it cover and to what depth?

Northern_Lad

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 14210
Location: Somewhere

Posted: Tue Mar 14, 06 12:01 pm Post subject:

Jonnyboy wrote:

What area did it cover and to what depth?

Erm, 8m3, so you could do 8m2 to a depth of 1 m, 16m2 to 50cm, 32m2 to 25cm...

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Tue Mar 14, 06 12:04 pm Post subject:

Northern_Lad wrote:

Jonnyboy wrote:

What area did it cover and to what depth?

Erm, 8m3, so you could do 8m2 to a depth of 1 m, 16m2 to 50cm, 32m2 to 25cm...

Guess what emoticon I'm thinking of...

I'm sure in theory you could apply that, but in practice after it's been compacted, raked etc, it probably doesn't cover anywhere near that. Which is why I would like a asnwer from someone who has been there

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Tue Mar 14, 06 12:06 pm Post subject:
Anyone thought of going the rock dust and municipal compost route rather than plain top soil?

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Tue Mar 14, 06 12:16 pm Post subject:

Jonnyboy wrote:

What area did it cover and to what depth?

I used near enough all of it (and half as much manure) in the 4x8m keder house, probably around 1ft deep, but it's going to compact down quite a lot, I reckon I'll need about another 2-3m3

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Tue Mar 14, 06 6:27 pm Post subject:

I haven't, but it's often available free in the small ads in the paper , and on eBay, FOC.

My guess would be that free topsoil from someone who's landscaped the garden and just wants it collected will be fine. Larger amounts, from more commercial sites, probably wants good checking out first. Stories of syringes, glass and all manner of crap being found in top soil from old industrial areas, or housing development sites are too common.

Bernie66

Joined: 14 Jan 2005
Posts: 13967
Location: Eastoft

Posted: Wed Mar 15, 06 10:45 am Post subject:
You certainly do tend to get what you pay for with topsoil. The cheaper it is the less the quality is assured. It depends really what it is to be used for.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 06 10:06 am Post subject:
Currently eBay has four lots of topsoil available. Nottingham, Oldham, Luton and Cambridge. Nothing for NI, I'm afraid. Keep checking, tho!

Lozzie

Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 2595

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 06 4:17 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

Anyone thought of going the rock dust and municipal compost route rather than plain top soil?

Dunno about rockdust, can you elaborate? Municipal compost is ok if you aren't toooooo fussy. It often has a lot of foreign material in it, plus it comes from goodness-only-knows-where, and could presumably contain any number of traces of fertilisers, weedkillers and old slugpellets as used by your less than Downsizery neighbours.

Good source in Dorset, here:

https://www.eco-composting.co.uk/Soils.htm

Topsoils AND composts. Sorry Jonnyboy absolutely no use to you whatsoever.

We often see topsoil advertised on Freecycle, too.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 06 4:26 pm Post subject:
Rock dust is what the people here use to grow whoppa veg https://www.seercentre.org.uk/original/press-cutting6january1998.html

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28238
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 06 4:30 pm Post subject:

tahir wrote:

I paid something like �19 m3 (delivered) for 8 m3 of 20mm screened topsoil two weeks ago.

I think I paid about 50% more than that for screened a few years ago.

Lozzie

Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 2595

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 06 4:43 pm Post subject:

tahir wrote:

Rock dust is what the people here use to grow whoppa veg

https://www.seercentre.org.uk/original/press-cutting6january1998.html

Crikey that's astonishing ... but how is the rockdust made? Isn't it a rather power-hungry activity? And presumably not pleasant to accidentally inhale.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 06 4:45 pm Post subject:
It was quarry waste (?) to start with, don't know whether it's still all waste cos it seems to be getting bigger.

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