levelling soil

[nannynet]

Hi all,dont no if i'm on the right thread but after some advice please.I'm in the process of tidying up a bit of my allotment in front of my shed for somewhere to put a bench and pots etc. Trouble is the plot is on a slope and the area i want to tidy up slopes down about 12''or so. I no this may sound a stupid question but what would be the easiest way of levelling it off? should I dig out the soil or add more to the lowest level?

[OllieMartin]

You could do a combination of both. Mark out the area you want to be level, put boards up at the bottom end that are half the height of the sloped section. Then dig out the top part and put the dug out soil in the bottom against the boards.

Hope that makes sense and is the sort of thing you meant.

I drew a diagram to illustrate. Dig soil from A and put into B (Black box is the soil-retaining board)

[Snadger]

Do as Ollie says but make sure you strip the topsoil off first! The method is called 'Cut and fill'.

Never, ever,ever,ever, mix topsoil with subsoil in a growing area as you will always have poor results!

Note:- When storing topsoil store it in low heaps as piling it up high can damage it's structure!

[nannynet]

thanks for your quick replies yes that is exactly what i was after thanks so much..and not going to plant in this section just want somewhere tidy to sit ,reflect and have the odd glass of wine so will cover with the usual weed repressents and bark chippings.