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The quality of topsoil
Author(s) -
Bradshaw A.D.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
soil use and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.709
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1475-2743
pISSN - 0266-0032
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-2743.1989.tb00769.x
Subject(s) - topsoil , environmental science , landscaping , land reclamation , agricultural engineering , soil water , soil science , engineering , ecology , biology
. The topsoil widely bought and sold for landscaping and similar schemes is intended to cover poor substrates and to provide improved growing conditions for plants. Two extensive surveys have shown that top soils at present being used are of very poor quality and rarely meet this requirement. Many of the substrates that the topsoils cover out‐perform them, or can readily be improved to do so if modern land reclamation techniques are used. From this it follows that there could, and should, be (i) much more discretion in the use of topsoil, (ii) more attention paid to the improvement of existing substrates, (iii) more consideration given to the use of other materials as topsoil substitutes, and (iv) more care taken in the choice of top soil materials where these have to be used. It is suggested that the present British Standard for topsoil is inadequate and that is should be replaced by a three‐tier system in which there would be separate specifications for; (i) high grade topsoil, (ii) lower grade topsoil, (iii) materials which can act as topsoil substitutes. In this way it should be possible to obtain a better and more reliable performance in landscaping schemes and lower costs.