cheap way to fill my raised bed

attila_

Hello

i have just built a raised bed and need to fill it. I bought 6 bags of compost so far at 25 pounds but hasnt really made much difference. I am looking for around 5-600 litres of soil.

Does anyone have any good recommendations please?? Thank you very much!

SailorSam

Check with your local Council, when they take your recycle bins they may have improved soil which has been through the system.
Are any of your neighbours getting any building work done, if they've dug foundations the waste may be of use to you.. I got some last year then planted green manure over the winter to try and improve it, now i'm topping up with compost.
Try asking on Freecycle if anyone has any soil they want to get rid of.

Kered

Are there moles in your area?

They leave piles of soil on the surface after clearing out their tunnels, it is weed free when fresh and can be found almost anywhere.

My father used to carry a couple of empty sacks in the back of his car and fill them any time he could stop safely, the soil was used to bulk out his garden which was very sandy, a friend also does this to help thin out the clay soil in his garden.

Mrs_Veg_Plot

I will be getting another raised bed shortly and will be trying the lasagna method of filling it. You put a layer of wet cardboard or paper in the bottom and they layer it up with whatever you have. I will be using shredded paper, two large wheelie bin bags of leaves, the contents of my compost bin, kitchen waste, the waste from a neighbours rabbit hutch, several bags of compost I used for growing spuds in last year. and will top it off with fresh compost. By autum the soil level in the bed will have dropped down so I will top it up in a similar manner.

If you search lasagna gardening there is loads of info on it on the net.

Good luck

attila_

Thank you all v much for the replies. I think i will try freecycle. My local council unfortunately does not pick up green waste....

pinkcandyflossprincess

I ordered a huge bag of topsoil for £20 from http://www.earlswoodnurseries.co.uk/index.asp?page=products&category=25&sub=159

It was £20 delivery but I ordered pebbles as well so needed them delivered as dont drive or have any one who can collect. The soil was actually very good and not full of rocks like it said it may contain. i used it to level off my garden to lay a shed and the soil amount was enough for that!
the bag is one of those huge builder bags so think it must be about a ton? it wasnt clear online but you can phone up and enquire
x

SailorSam

I don't know if it would be ok or not, but if you have any stables near where you live, see what they do with their old straw and horse muck.

1jim

try builders merchant, turf suppliers? we can get topsoil for about £20-30 a tonne here (delivered), you could then improve structure with homemade compost or green manures (depending upon whats going in the raised bed)

MrsRogers

I have just taken delivery of 2 Tonne of Vegegrow compost & topsoil mix https://www.dandystopsoil.co.uk Very nice stuff

Delivery was free for me as I live near the HQ

ginvzt

600 litres? B&Q sell 120l bags of multipurpose compost for £6.98, so you can get 5 bags, and that will make it (total cost = £34.90 + fuel to go there). We just bought some of it, plus soil improver and sand to fill our beds as we build them. Probably will need to go bag for more, but I am not trying to fill them to the top this year, as I hope that adding more compost and manure in the autumn will help to improve the soil here - I have a very heavy clay....

s4lvatore

Wickes are doing 4 x 75l for £13. £26 and thats your 600 litres.

I have also seen 30 litre growbags in the 99p shop.

Or Lidl http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/SID-B07599E2-31041631/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_10259.htm?offerdate=&ERR=noservice