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Cheapest place to buy topsoil

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  • Wilson73Wilson73 Posts: 136
    JennyJ said:
    K67 said:
    I have used cpa horticulture in the past but it depends on how much you need.
    B and M sell it when they have it In stock and my local offered delivery as well, as do many  local garden centres 




    Thanks,I shall have a proper look when the builders have gone.B&M gets mentioned by so many people,we nearly had one coming to town but it didn't happen in the end.I'm annoyed that I missed out on cheap bark from Lidl last week too,that was half the price of the other shops

    Maybe worth mentioning to the builders? Depending what other projects they have on the go, they might have topsoil to get rid of (no guarantee that it'd be any good though).

    To be honest I have been trying to avoid them,they had been staring in the window at me as one of them recognised me,and I've had to shut all of the windows to avoid cigarette smoke.
  • If at all possible try and buy from a reputable source. My Mum has had a "landscaper" in and he put 4 tonnes of supposed topsoil into raised beds. She started to plant and it was full of glass, plastic, etc. Some pieces of plastic are 9" long. Long story short it was being sold as topsoil but is actually recovered soil i.e. recovered from skips and grab lorries and sold on by the waste carrier. My Mum was none the wiser when the guy said he would supply the topsoil other than tell him she didn't want cheap and woudl pay extra for quality soil. The contaminants seen could be the tip of the iceberg - what about chemicals and other nasties, not to mention the small fragments of knotweed, bindweed, ground elder and marestail that may have come with it but aren't obvious at present but will cause years of grief. 
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    My OH has used Wickes before for topsoil and been pleased with it. As mentioned above they do delivery, free if you order a certain amount . Info here in case you haven't checked yet
    https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Multi-Purpose-Top-Soil---25L/p/200247

    There's also this firm, but the amount may be too large !
    https://www.thecompostshop.co.uk/products/turf/Topsoil-Bulk-Bag-p675177
  • Wilson73Wilson73 Posts: 136
    If at all possible try and buy from a reputable source. My Mum has had a "landscaper" in and he put 4 tonnes of supposed topsoil into raised beds. She started to plant and it was full of glass, plastic, etc. Some pieces of plastic are 9" long. Long story short it was being sold as topsoil but is actually recovered soil i.e. recovered from skips and grab lorries and sold on by the waste carrier. My Mum was none the wiser when the guy said he would supply the topsoil other than tell him she didn't want cheap and woudl pay extra for quality soil. The contaminants seen could be the tip of the iceberg - what about chemicals and other nasties, not to mention the small fragments of knotweed, bindweed, ground elder and marestail that may have come with it but aren't obvious at present but will cause years of grief. 

    That's not good is it,I had a conversation with my friend today about the block pavers working next door as he knows the guys and I wasn't aware that all of the materials when they rip up an old drive is sold to different people,I thought it was just going to landfill but no it's sorted and sold on
  • Wilson73Wilson73 Posts: 136
    edited July 2020
    AnniD said:
    My OH has used Wickes before for topsoil and been pleased with it. As mentioned above they do delivery, free if you order a certain amount . Info here in case you haven't checked yet
    https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Multi-Purpose-Top-Soil---25L/p/200247

    There's also this firm, but the amount may be too large !
    https://www.thecompostshop.co.uk/products/turf/Topsoil-Bulk-Bag-p675177

    Thanks when the builders next door have gone I'm going to have a proper look and place an 80 litre compost bag next to the space to help me estimate what I need,in a way I'm pleased as it's given me more space to do something with that extra space and it might be a better spot for the Hydrangea,that I have decided tonight will grow too big on the bed by my drive
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    We dug out quite a bit of a terraced lawn so that mum could have a new larger conservatory.  The old retaining wall went in a skip. The topsoil and sand went in next. When the skip man came, he thought he had a skip of topsoil.  Mum has a plague of marestail, we were pulling out roots 3 ft down. My brother has tanked the new conservatory. 3 inch crushed limestone, thick membrane, polystyrene for insulation, 3 inch of concrete on top. That should stop it. 
    I hope the skip man didn't sell it on as topsoil.
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    I get mine delivered by the milkman,but I do only need a small bag at a time.
    20l for £4 (unless on offer).
    Suits me to get it like this as I also have no transport.

    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • Wilson73Wilson73 Posts: 136
    edited July 2020



    I get mine delivered by the milkman,but I do only need a small bag at a time.
    20l for £4 (unless on offer).
    Suits me to get it like this as I also have no transport.


    wow he's the milkman that has everything,that's handy
  • AnniD said:
    My OH has used Wickes before for topsoil and been pleased with it. As mentioned above they do delivery, free if you order a certain amount . Info here in case you haven't checked yet
    https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Multi-Purpose-Top-Soil---25L/p/200247


    I used Wickes topsoil for filling my raised beds last year. I noticed there was a lot of tiny terracotta bits in some of the bags but I assume that was just for drainage. Anyway, everything's thriving so no issues here!
  • Be wary of buying topsoil in bulk from garden centres too. Last autumn I was filling in an old pond and bought what I considered to be a reasonably priced ton of topsoil. Turned out to be heavy clay, which I have had to mix with loads of compost etc to enable new grass to grow well.
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