MICHELLE H. wrote:

....
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!?


that's a lot more money than you'd spend
bringing in fill by the yard, often the company
can bring it in a container so that you don't
have "piles of stuff laying around" issues.

call around and see what you can find. calls
are cheap.

best thing is to use poorer grade fill for
a deep hole and then to top it with better
grade soil that can support grass. the
difference in price can be worth it. also
if you are going to have grass there make sure
the topsoil is deep enough including after it
settles to support the grass otherwise within
a few years you get thin grass and more weeds
and other troubles.

is this area eroded from water coming off
the house or some place else? where did the
soil go? seems rather strange to have a
trench, but perhaps it works as a water catch?
a good to leave or reshape so that when it
gets mowed the mower doesn't slice the grass
off the soil along the edges.


songbird