Saturday, March 31, 2012

How Much Topsoil is in Ten Yards?

This is a large delivery of ten yards of topsoil.  How much is ten yards of topsoil?
Well according to the Internet, 10 yards of soil is equal to
27 cubic feet of material, 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet, 27 cubic feet.  It will cover an area of 10 feet by 10 feet to a depth of three inches, a third of a yard per 100 square feet for every inch of depth.
I covered the huge pile with a weighted tarp until I had a day off to spread it around.  Topsoil should be screened before you get it by a reputable nursery.  This topsoil was wonderful, light and fluffy and east to shovel and spread.
Why did I need this topsoil?  I had to fill tracks made by trucks last December when two very large trees were removed.
At first I tried to fill the ruts with soil from the way back in the garden.  I had to dig it up, then haul it over to the spots and then dump it.  My son, a very smart fellow, suggested that I order topsoil.
Sometimes when you do a job, other jobs result.  Here is the huge rotted tree that was felled in one piece.  It was too damaged so that climbers could not cut it down from the top to the bottom.  It left large depressions.
Wood from these two trees was carried out to the back by trucks and Bobcats for future splitting, resulting in more ripping up of the back yard.
Now fast forward to March.  This is the rotted tree trunk.  Even before I started to spread the topsoil I had to remove debris from the lot line and yard.
This is the footprint of the felled tree and how much soil it took to level it.
The first day.  About 75 percent of the pile remained, and I knew that I needed to get some help.
 Fortunately, I knew a few young men that could work along side me and tackle the pile.  The weather  here has been mild, and we really got it down a lot.
 They filled in much of the lawn.
 This was the pile on day three of shovelling, and I finished it by myself.
The pile raked and gone!
 I use old fashioned tools, but ones that really work well.  The wheelbarrow comes from a farm out east in Mastic, Long Island.  Unfortunately it has closed, by the good news is that Suffolk County bought the development rights, so it will be kept as open space.  
 I have seen plastic rakes in the big orange store, but old metal ones work best for me.
 Although there was much to repair, I had some extra which I used to fill in other low spots.
 This area up front was  mashed up due to the removal of the first tree.  We did replant the large Azaleas, which seem to be fine.  During the removal of this tree, we set them aside and I covered the roots with a blanket.
So here we are today, and its raining.  It is a little too cold to sprinkle the grass seed, but my lawn is full of natural plants, or weeds, so I can do that when it warms up later.  It has been an unusually warm winter here in the Northeast, but with grass seed so expensive, I will wait and follow the instructions on the bag.  The real question should be:  how long will it take to spread 10 yards of topsoil.  With help, it took me three days.

7 comments:

Margaret Gosden said...

Very satisfying I am sure! I would have done the same thing. Good job!

Elizabeth said...

Well done, Lori ( and helpers)
a job well done!

BernieH said...

Well done to you all, especially yourself! That was a mighty effort. I'm sure you're pleased with the result now. Hopefully things will be looking great very soon.

lisa lewicki hermanson said...

Thanks, gardening friend, that will
stick with me - 10 yards will cover a 10'x 10' space to a depth of 3 inches. That part is easy - the spreading it out part takes work -
hope the garden looks great this year with all your efforts!

Anonymous said...

Geeez. That's a lot of soil!

Unknown said...

That is a lot of soil that you ordered, but I guess you needed a lot to fill in all the depressions around your yard. I'm glad that we're able to order topsoil so easily because doing all that work of moving the soil from your garden would take a lot of energy and time! Thank you for explaining what ten yards of topsoil will cover, too! That will come in useful for me someday. http://www.randlessandandgravel.net/Purdy-Topsoil-and-Gravel/

Anonymous said...

1 cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. A depth of 3 inches takes 1/4 of a foot, so the area covered by ONE cubic yard is 27 x 4 = 108, or a little more than 10' x 10'. The area that can be covered (to a depth of 3") by TEN cubic yards is 1,080 square feet.
I spent three days spreading a 12 cubic yard load; it's not a small job!