How to Dispose of Soil

Any excess soil of good quality should be saved and reused where possible if you have space and plans for future gardening projects. There are two main types of soil of differing quality:

• Topsoil – this is the dark and crumbly layer of soil found in the top 30cm. It’s the most valuable and better-quality soil that’s useful for effective drainage, raised flower beds, and even garden turf. Topsoil should be kept and reused or given to someone who can use it in their projects.
• Subsoil – chalk and clay soil found 30cm or below the ground is considered subsoil. This isn’t as good a quality as topsoil, although there are ways to improve it with fertilisers and aeration. You’re less likely to have as many uses for subsoil but it could be improved or added to compost in some instances.

Before reusing soil you should check its suitability for growing plants with a few simple tests. Assess its compaction, workability, water infiltration, soil structure, and tilth. If the excess soil is of decent quality then you could reuse it to build raised flower beds or add to plant pots in your garden for growing flowers, shrubs, vegetables, and other plants.

Consider giving away excess soil if you can’t reuse any of it or don’t have enough storage space. Contact local community groups as they might be able to use it for any gardening projects, such as planting new flowerbeds at a community centre. Farmers, parks, friends and family may also have uses for excess soil.

Another option is to sell or donate your excess soil online by using Gumtree, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and Freecycle. Advertise the soil as it is, whether it’s good quality topsoil or poorer quality subsoil. Some people might take low-quality soil off your hands to use for laying a patio or as the base of a flowerbed.

Donating soil online also means you can save yourself some time and effort by requiring whoever wants it to collect it. This means you won’t have to load the heavy soil into a car or van for delivery. If you’ve got lots of soil you can even let multiple people come and take some, filling their own bags or containers until it’s gone.

Save time, money, and effort by recycling soil with a professional waste management company. At Divert we can collect waste soil from businesses and homes as part of our garden waste collection services on a one-off or regular basis. Book removal at a time and date that suits you.

We divert all your soil away from landfill to ensure it’s reused and responsibly disposed of for added peace of mind. Labour is included so our team will load all your excess soil into one of our vans or trucks. Licensed waste carriers then remove your soil and ensure safe and legal disposal.