Soil for raised beds (advice/recommendation needed)

[miga]

Where do you get yours? Any advice on what to avoid? Am thinking of ordering some of this:

http://www.thecompostshop.co.uk/products/topsoil?gclid=Cj0KEQjwifWnBRCB5PT57KSVw-kBEiQASV7aRARmfJofd7hgWupy09A3qK1W1eZRQSR0C8GPN4aZEncaAouS8P8HAQ#!/Vegetable-Topsoil/p/675187/category=235815

Yay or nay (from experience, professional or otherwise).

[ed_pete]

Seems pricey to me. Rockinghams sell 1 ton bags for ?45.

[racyjan2]

I have 3 horses that live in fields and so I have well rotted manure to give away for free !!! There is no bedding in this ,just manure..some piles are 4 years old !! Only thing is you have to come and collect from field so you must have transport..is in Keston...in bromley...

[GrahamP]

Miga,

I have a friend with over 30 bags of top soil which is ready for collection (free).

It was taken from her cultivated back garden and is now neatly bagged in the front garden close to the road.

If you would like more info please get in touch.

Graham

[cella]

To be honest when I originally filled my new raised beds a few years ago I used lots of the bags from LIDL and now just top up each year with the same. Very reasonable cost and my courtyard garden now has thriving, mature, happy growth, including a large olive tree and a huge tree fern.

[mancity68]

I have the opposite problem. Some old and rotting raised beds that I want emptied out and soil getting rid of. Any ideas on how best to do that?!

[miga]

Thanks all for the advice - I pulled the trigger too early on the above link and now feeling like a bit of a mug!

Never mind, I'll follow some/all of these options the next time I'm looking for soil. I especially liked the Lidl suggestion - I hadn't even considered looking there, and googling for a minute, it seems fairly well regarded.

Racyjan2 - I might take you up on your kind offer of manure in the not too distant future.

[miga]

Should probably add I went for this in the end: http://www.compostdirect.com/black-gold/p2. Seemed appropriate for what we wanted.