cheapest source of bagged topsoil/compost/manure?

hotcookie101

I am making my raised beds, there will be 2x2.2x1.1m and 1x1.1m2 beds, about 15-20cm high (so not really raised, more like edged )
They will be set into sections of the lawn, that I am clearing of turf and weeds (forgotten what a joyous task that was )
I will need some topsoil to fill them. I know I can get a tonne bulk bag for about 60-80 BUT-my house is over a metre above street level, then my garden is up 5 steep steps (at the back of the house) and the beds are at the end of the 35m garden (up a slope, and another raised level) so I don't really fancy barrowing loads of topsoil up there, so I want it bagged, and I can probably lift about 20-25kg at a time

I have found dandys do topsoil 1 tonne (40x25kg) bags for £100, so I could do that, but is there any where cheaper anyone can recommend? I also reckon I will need some improver/manure, so where is the cheapest place to get that?

Thanks

poppysarah

Cheapest topsoil - Look in the local free paper - near us a skip company does top soil at 25 a ton with 20 delivery. It's dumped loose though but so cheap you could probably bribe a few friends to help you.

There's someone on ebay selling it cheap in bags too.

You might be able to lift a 25kg bag a few yards but you will find it as difficult as any other way and still with steep steps it'll be really hard work. And the second bag will feel heavier.

Is there no other way you could get through to the top of your garden?

hotcookie101

Nope, there is no other way to the top of the garden, and we don't own a wheelbarrow so would have to factor that into the cost of the topsoil if bought in a bulk bag, plus there is the shovelling from bag to barrow, risk of barrow toppling over going up the steps etc etc.

The thing with bags is we could easily break it into 2 stages-one from the road to the back of the house, then up the steps to the top of the garden. It would save me a day at the gym It will also require less shovelling.. I am just wondering where the cheapest available might be-so far Dandys seem like the best deal

poppysarah

Have you asked at local garden centres?

Ours does top soil 3 for £10 I think. 70l bags.

hotcookie101

Thanks
No, I haven't asked yet, thinking of popping to one this weekend, so will ask then. What weight approx do you think 70l of topsoil is?

poppysarah

hotcookie101 wrote: »

Thanks
No, I haven't asked yet, thinking of popping to one this weekend, so will ask then. What weight approx do you think 70l of topsoil is?

Norra clue. Depends on moisture too much.


I think we have 40l bags and they're pretty hard to lift but I'm a weakling. Not just cos of the weight but for getting hold of them.

Visit a garden centre and pick a few up and see.

Blackjack_Davy

You'd be better off buying in bulk seek out a topsoil supplier who can deliver from the back of a tipper lorry and it's much cheaper than an garden centre.

Mushroom compost is a good soil improver (but avoid it for lime hating plants) and it's cheap - it's £1 a bag delivered around here (bag is about 50 litres) - look in the local paper for suppliers

kizkiz

Our local garden centre does a bulk bag of general purpose top soil for £36. Cheapest for miles around
Spent wednesday shovelling 6 bags worth into barrows and wheeling into the back garden. Knacker doesn't begin to describe it, but it was certainly doable

hotcookie101

A bulk bag is not an option, I know it would be cheaper, but for ease I want it bagged. Will look in local paper for mushroom compost.

royg_2

B&Q are doing their 70L bags for £3 as part of an Easter special offer which started on Friday. Its the same stuff that won the Which trials and I used along with some top soil and a manure mix to fill in my raised beds last year.

The bed which mainly had this compost did very well with salads and shallots growing very well.

I intend to get a few more bags from this offer to top up beds.

Although 70l bags the compost is relatively light so would be ok for carting up a slope although for this reason could benefit from some top soil mixed in to give it some more body.

valk_scot

TBH I'd beg or borrow a barrow even if it does come in bags. Lifting 25kg and carrying it up steps and then up a 35m garden is perfectly do-able if you're reasonably strong with no back problems. Even I could have done it before my back gave in and I'm a middle aged woman. But to do this x40? You're asking for trouble, honestly, if you're not used to this sort of lifting work. Borrow a barrow.

I've been building beds in my garden btw, about 12" high. I've filled them with a mix of things...bin compost, rotted leaves, good scatter of pelleted chicken manure and the same of fish, blood and bone meal, all the used multi-purpose compost from my pots last year, the contents of a few cheap grow bags and then a thick layer of mushroom compost on top as a weed suppressing mulch. I'm going to grow beans in one bed so have started a composting trench there. If you're skimming off non-weedy turf remember you can also put that in the base of your beds while digging them out, with the grass side downwards and then covered with a layer of other stuff. If you do that and dig the underlayer to at least one spade depth you'll find the soil level comes up quite naturally and you'll need less top material. Also, don't fill your beds to the brim straight away. It looks pretty in the gardening mag pictures but then you'll have no depth left to add a layer of water conserving mulch in the summer, or manure in the winter.