What would you do with

[Jardack]

lots of topsoil?

I have to dig out an area in our garden - roughly 7' square and from 2" to about 6" depth to make a deck.

So will have loads of soil! It is pretty stoney and probably full of weed seeds (cos it has been abandoned!!)

I could try and put some around the garden I guess but that will make the beds higher than the grass and will that make it harder to cut?

I need to get started as the continual rain has certainly made it easier to dig!!

Jardack

[snowowl]

Can you make a small raised bed Jardack.If you have the space then you could put all the soil into it and have more room for growing extra things.

[Deleted]

When i dug out my pond i put the soil around the shrubs so the beds slope upwards from the lawn towards the fences. Now its fairly hard to notice cos all the shrubs have grown and filled out
and it doesnt interfere with cutting the lawn

[Essexgirl]

When we dug out our pond I piled the soil up on the opposite side of the garden, levelled it,then seeded it to create a raised lawn. Or you could always fill your trousers with it and go for a walk and loose it like they did in "The Great Escape" ;D

[Barbara]

what if she dont wear trousers ;D ;D ;D

[Weeterrier]

No problem, she could wear some big knickers.

I always put my dug-out-of-somewhere-else topsoil on my beds, but I try to keep it away from the grass, by making a little trench at the grass edge.
Alternatively, and I've had to do this, what is the soil like under your tree? Could it do with some extra? My tree roots were so near the surface I found it difficult to plant anything, but now, with topping-up , it's fine.
Or a raised bed for veg or alpines. Or you could advertise and sell it

[Deleted]

Raised flower bed gets my vote too ... alpines and bulbs as they like and benefit from the extra drainage ;D

[Jardack]

oooh thanks everyone, I'd forgotten I'd posted.

I am going to try and use it around the garden, good tip from Steve re the beds I will try that out I would make another raised bed if I could think where to put it, but the only space is on a north facing fence which has some big shrub thing that I don't like but can't seem to get rid of (with huge roots)

Started digging it yesterday, it is a lot easier now we've had so much rain, just need it to stop long enough for me to dig it out!!

Jardack
PS apologies for the spelling, am on my 2nd glass of wine! (hic)

[Spruance]

A banked area can 'consume' vast quantities of soil and if you have the room can make an interesting feature too.

What is now my vegetable plot was originally part of the lawn. I removed the turfs and inverted them along the full width of the bottom of the garden, and subsequently bought in two tons of topsoil which was also barrowed on to the new bank, and have continued to put surplus soil on the same area. Consequently over the last fifteen years the ground level at the bottom of the garden has risen to around two feet higher than the rest of the garden, and there is still plenty of scope for further deposits.