where to buy good old fashioned SOIL ???

spiritus

My Mum asked me the other day where can she buy soil from so I told her B & Q or any garden centre. Then, when I took her I felt a bit sheepish as everything seemed to be compost which isn't really what she wanted. She finds compost by itself to be too dry and powdery.

What should we be looking for ?

Vibrant

B&Q do sell top soil:
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=10767895&fh_view_size=10&fh_location=%2f%2fcatal!!!1%2fen_GB&fh_search=loam&fh_eds=%c3%9f&fh_refview=search&ts=1269738536214&isSearch=true

But only in 35Lt bags, which isn't much. Type loam suppliers into Google for larger quantities (blended loam is what your mum needs).

Davesnave

spiritus wrote: »

. She finds compost by itself to be too dry and powdery

It is. Apart from soil, which will improve any multi-purpose compost, your Mum could also add grit and sharp sand. Exact proportions are hard to state because different plants (and people) have certain preferences.

A long lasting fertilizer, Osmacote or chicken poo, again according to taste(!) is pretty well essential too, for anything kept long term, though not for seed sowing. The alternative is liquid feeding, but many forget.

Ken68

Gravel sellers in my area also sell soil.
Breckland Light.

emilyka

Good Morning,

I find that the homebase 'soil based compost' is quite good as it appears to be a mixture of 70% soil, 30% compost. If you are after larger amounts I would suggest checking your local garden centre- mine can deliver a tonne of topsoil in a grab bag for about £60.

Em

bottlehalffull

Look for a local garden centre and ring them. There's a tiny place in Newton Heath Manchester (very urban area) and they always have a top soil sign up.

puddy

we had trouble finding soil, now our potatoes have started sprouting in the utility room!!

we ended up ordering from dandystopsoil, i felt it was expensive but we got all confused about how much we needed, some do litres some do tonnes some do cubic metres and we couldnt compare prices. watching us on the sofa with a calculator and pen and paper was probably like watching a couple of chimps trying to light a fire

we couldnt find a local garden centre that did soil, we paid 105quid for a cubic metre i think, but it comes in 'handy 25ltr bags'