Any tips on estimating tonnage of topsoil required for given volume?

TIA

In article ,
Broadback wrote:
Any tips on estimating tonnage of topsoil required for given volume?

Of the order of 1.5 tonnes/cubic metre (when fairly damp), but anywhere
between 0.75 and 2 is plausible (the lower figures corresponding to
dryish peaty soils).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Broadback wrote in message ...
Any tips on estimating tonnage of topsoil required for given volume?

Call it a tonne and a half per cubic metre. It varies, of course, but
that's pretty standard. Best to stick to metric throughout, to avoid
confusion.

(Not part of the question, and of course you know more about your
garden than I do, but actually people don't always need topsoil as
badly as they think. Sometimes a really forbidding site turns out to
need no more than a bit of heavy clearing and ordinary soil
improvement measures. If heavy clearing is necessary for rubble etc,
topsoil isn't always the cure. If you're not certain about this, we
like talking about that here!)

Mike.

On 25 Jul 2004 14:31:02 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

In article ,
Broadback wrote:
Any tips on estimating tonnage of topsoil required for given volume?

Of the order of 1.5 tonnes/cubic metre (when fairly damp), but anywhere
between 0.75 and 2 is plausible (the lower figures corresponding to
dryish peaty soils).

Yes, I tend to use 1,5tonnes/cubic metre as a base - you can always
'lose' a few barrowfuls somewhere if you've over estimated and poorly
filled beds look awful. It always settles quite a bit anyway.

=================================================

Rod

Weed my email address to reply.
http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html

Mike Lyle wrote:
SNIP
(Not part of the question, and of course you know more about your
garden than I do, but actually people don't always need topsoil as
badly as they think. Sometimes a really forbidding site turns out to
need no more than a bit of heavy clearing and ordinary soil
improvement measures. If heavy clearing is necessary for rubble etc,
topsoil isn't always the cure. If you're not certain about this, we
like talking about that here!)

Mike.
Thanks for all your replies. As regards your appendum Mike, I am afraid
that the land is very sloping, and any topsoil has been washed to the
bottom. All that I have is gravel, I believe it is called, though to me
it is various sizes of pebbles kept apart by small amounts of sand and
clay. The only way to "dig" it is with a pickax! A visitor told me
that the fact that gorse is infecting the area is a certain sign of no
or very poor topsoil.

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In article ,
Broadback writes:
|
| Thanks for all your replies. As regards your appendum Mike, I am afraid
| that the land is very sloping, and any topsoil has been washed to the
| bottom. All that I have is gravel, I believe it is called, though to me
| it is various sizes of pebbles kept apart by small amounts of sand and
| clay. The only way to "dig" it is with a pickax! A visitor told me
| that the fact that gorse is infecting the area is a certain sign of no
| or very poor topsoil.

Not a certain sign, but a good one.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
(Broadback) wrote:

the land is very sloping, and any topsoil has been washed to the
bottom.

So probably a good idea to plant/landscape to avoid your new soil going
the same way.

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com
A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/

(Steve Harris) wrote in message ...
In article ,
(Broadback) wrote:

the land is very sloping, and any topsoil has been washed to the
bottom.

So probably a good idea to plant/landscape to avoid your new soil going
the same way.

Sounds like a case for terracing, doesn't it? This can be bold and
obvious, or quite unobtrusive; very formal, or natural-looking;
formal near the house, informal further away. The pick and shovel or
mini-digger will be called for! Doesn't all need to be done in a
single season, though; but if it _is_ done in stages the design will
need to allow for the next year's delivery not wrecking what's been
built already. Could have a lovely water-feature, pumping the same
water back to the top; pipe would need to be laid before the
terracing.

I envy you: it'll be terrific fun. There's no feeling like making a
garden from scratch, especially with such scope for individuality.

Mike.

(Steve Harris) wrote in message ...
In article ,
(Broadback) wrote:

the land is very sloping, and any topsoil has been washed to the
bottom.

So probably a good idea to plant/landscape to avoid your new soil going
the same way.

Sounds like a case for terracing, doesn't it? This can be bold and
obvious, or quite unobtrusive; very formal, or natural-looking;
formal near the house, informal further away. The pick and shovel or
mini-digger will be called for! Doesn't all need to be done in a
single season, though; but if it _is_ done in stages the design will
need to allow for the next year's delivery not wrecking what's been
built already. Could have a lovely water-feature, pumping the same
water back to the top; pipe would need to be laid before the
terracing.

I envy you: it'll be terrific fun. There's no feeling like making a
garden from scratch, especially with such scope for individuality.

Mike.