GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

brooklyn1 · 09-04-2013, 09:23 PM posted to rec.gardens

On Tue, 9 Apr 2013 11:20:24 -0400, (MICHELLE H.)
wrote:

Anyone know of any companies that sell GOOD and cheap bagged
topsoil/fill?? Almost everyone near me has the "Scotts Premium Topsoil"
for around $2 bucks a bag, but the stuff is crap!! I bought some last
year, and when I opened the bag, it wasn't even dirt/soil, or was more
like all mulch and peat!!! TONS of sticks and mulch in there, even
though the bag says "contains no sticks", the stuff is junk!!

Home Depot sells some generic topsoil for about $1.50 a bag, but that
stuff sucks as well. The dirt is always wet, and smelly, and loaded with
debris like ieces of plastic, rocks, etc, etc. Same with the "Ace
Hardware" topsoil which is about $3 bucks a bag, the stuff is wet,
smelly, and loaded with debris.

The "Garden Centers" near me have good brands like organic "Fosters",
"Fafard", "Moo Moo Dirt" and "Lobster Compost", the problem is they are
like $5 - $8 bucks per bag!!

In my yard, the former owners, many years ago had a very long flower bed
on the side of the house. When we moved in, there were no flowers there.
It is all grass now. The problem is, there is a big long deep rut there
now where the flower bed was. The ditch/rut is about 30 feet LONG, 2-3
feet WIDE, and about 1-2 feet DEEP.

We want to fill this in, because when it rains the rut fills with water.
When you mow the lawn there, the mower scalps the grass on the sides of
the rut/ditch. I know the best way to fill this in, would be to just
call a landscaping company and have a truck full of topsoil/loam dumped.

The problem is, I have a small driveway with 3 cars parked in it, and a
small front yard with a busy public sidewalk with people and kids
walking by all day because of an elementary school down the street. I
don't think the city would be happy with a big pile of dirt dumped on
the public City sidewalk. So unfortunately, looks like the only way to
ever fix this myself ( without paying landscapers to use a wheelbarrow
to move the soil from their truck parked in the street to the ditch/rut,
is to buy bagged topsoil.

I don't want to use the crappy $2 dollar a bag "Scotts" which is like
85% mulch and peat moss, but also don't want to spend like $7 bucks a
bag for the organic stuff at the Garden Center. Should I just use the
cheap $1.50 stuff at Home Depot to fill the ditch/rut, and then just
spread a few bags of the good organic stuff on the top??

Because this thing being 30 feet long, 2-3 feet wide, and 1-2 feet deep,
I probably need like 50 bags of topsoil!?

You'll need a whole lot more than 50 bags to fill that thing... you'd
do best to have a truckload of bulk topsoil delivered... you'll need
4-5 cubic yards. Have the soil dumped in your driveway up near the
garage door and then park one car on your lawn until you move all the
soil with a wheelbarrow. Sometimes the delivery can be made with a
small dump truck so perhaps it can be dumped directly. Another
consideration is that you don't need good topsoil two feet deep, fill
the trench most of the way with ordinay bank run and then after it
settles lay on 6-8 inches of good topsoil, will cost less that way,
and actually be a better job. But there is no good cheap way, you get
what you pay for, and the cheap turns out expensive.