Bringing in Topsoil?

[HomeBuyAU]

Are there any pitfalls to buying a few cubic metres of quality topsoil?

My soil is very sandy and I thought to speed things up a bit I could just buy a small truck load for $250 for 5 cubic metres delivered from my local landscape supplies store. That way I could get plants in right away instead of waiting for months to get the soil to the correct consistancy.

I'm planting vege gardens, planting fruit trees plus putting in flower gardens etc. I will still be making my own compost etc but this can take months before it is ready.

 

[RedPanda]

Nothing wrong in that in my view. I think it's a great idea.

 

[craigb]

If its a new home sure its a good thing, but make sure you have a look ans see what a "small amount like 5m2" looks like first.

The problem i have found it the purchased topsoils are made from ,sand, some type of recyled waste, and it not the real thing, I have noticed the small bark particles wash away, the sand floats to the top and the heavy silt reduces the water penetration, {Hydroscopic}not that term but the opisiate of it!

I grew my lawn in , straw manure,fine pine mulch, and as the little fella's came up then top soiled it, it was looking great untill the top soil

 

[Rockstar]

As Craig says, be really careful of blended soil. Most of the time it has no body and is a mix of sand and composted bark - more like potting mix. You need to access soil with some clay content, manures, and sandy loam. You will find them more expensive but worth the extra cost. Also ask if they are free from nasty weeds like oxalis, nutgrass and onion weed.

Otherwise contact your local excavation firm and see if they have any decent topsoil they could give you. Natural topsoil is always better than blended.

 

[HomeBuyAU]

My house is an old established home but with no proper gardens and it looks like no one has ever bothered with putting gardens in or improving the soil. it does have a couple of gardens in the front with a few shrubs and weeds.

The tips about the soil offered at these places has made me think a lot and something I never thought too much about before. I'm going to go and inspect the soil they are selling and yes I need it to be more on the clay side and not sandy as my soil is already very sandy. If it's no good I will contact my local excavation firm like Rockstar said.

 

[HiEquity]

Agree with the previous posters - most landscaping suppliers just blend sand and compost - when the compost decomposes you are just left with sand again....

Good veggie loam is 1/3 each sand, silt and clay. If you are keen you can test for this by putting the stuff in a jar, shaking then leave to stand and mark how much settles in different time periods to work out the general composition of each (sand settles quickly, clay takes forever and silt in between). Organics will generally initially float. I can't remember the precise details but if you Google soil / loam test you should be able to find something along these lines.

It's best if you can see where the loam came from and that it's naturally occuring (ie near a river etc) and not a product of blending or compost.

BTW 5 cubic metres doesn't go very far but that depends how many veggies you want to grow!

FYI - you can add organics / compost / manure etc etc to your hearts content but the results will never be as good as if you just had a good loam to start with. With good loam only minimal compost etc is required for great results.. Well worth it if you can find it. You may also need to excavate the sand before adding the topsoil to stop the clay / silt in the loam disappearing through the sand below it...

 

[Rockstar]

If it's no good I will contact my local excavation firm like Rockstar said.

Forgot to add - just make sure the imported soil is free of nasties. Grass is easy to get rid of but bulbous weeds are shockers.

As a horticulturist, I would be inspecting your existing soil as it may just be a little tired but otherwise very adequate to use - and it may be better to spend your money improving it with a few metres of composted cow manure. If there is sufficient depth of topsoil already existing I would be improving it rather than adding to it with more soil. You can also use some chook poo and mushroom compost although they are usually very alkaline so I would be trying to get cow poo first. It may be difficult getting it in bulk in Sydney?? Look up bulk compost and potting mix suppliers to investigate the availability. Once you get it you need to dig it into the soil. A dingo with an excavator attachment would be better than a rotary hoe if the old soil is compacted or hard to dig.

 

[craigb]

sandy soils just add , straw and manure, and turn over a bit it will be great

 

[Glenn]

Hi monsoon,

I brought in 20m3 of good topsoil a few years ago when I did my landscape renovation as the soil on my block was brown sand...great for drainage, but woeful at water retention. The results have been pretty good, although as a couple of people have said, you do see sand washed to the top eventually.

Cheaper alternatives are:

1. Take a trailer to a horse stable...they give away their horse poo for free

2. Take a drive to the country with your trailer and attempt to find dairy farms...see if you can find farmers who will allow you to fill up the trailer with cow pats. This could be an adventurous day for the kids that they will never let you forget, "remember that day Dad made us pick up cow poo!"

3. Try giving the garden a "manure sandwich" as shown on Gardening Australia...a good layer of manure followed by a light layer of freshly chipped wood chips

4. Get a couple of compost bins and worm farms going...old recycle tubs are fine for the worm farms

5. For the sake of economy, look for trees or plants that produce seed that you can easily harvest for planting in your garden...london plane trees, liquidambar, potato, pumpkin, tomato, mango, pineapple

Good luck

Glenn

 

[HomeBuyAU]

thanks everyone for the great ideas & feedback. I should have also said that some parts of the section, including a lot of the vege patch I have dug up are almost completely sand. It's nearly like taking a walk down the beach but then a few feet away it can look more like proper soil. I think this land was once part of the river (Raymond Terrace, NSW).

I have been adding some manure I have found around the section like a huge pile from old leafs dropped from large trees onto the garage over a period of many years but I still need a lot more. I have started a compost heap system, I'm using an open pile but will eventually use the 3 pile system with wooden planks to separate them. I have a several large trees I have just prunes heavily and I have a lot of compost started, mixed in with vege scraps and lawn clippings. I'm going to turn all the twigs and leafs from the trees into mulch tomorrow with my mower.

I like the idea of composted cow manure etc so I will take a trip out into the country and see what I can find. At least there is plenty of resources like that around this region. I'm also getting chickens and racing pigeons once I get the houses built for them and that should provide an ongoing supply of manure so I think I should have a well rounded organic garden system once everything is running smoothly.