1. How to Improve your Topsoil www.topsoilshop.co.uk/topsoil-calculator

2. Step One Dig your Soil Over - digging your topsoil over improves the soil in many ways, it aerates the soil, mixes organic matter into the soil and moves leached nutrients back up into the root zone as well as breaking it up to make the soil easier for roots to penetrate and therefore grow. www.topsoilshop.co.uk/topsoil-calculator

3. Step Two Add more organic matter Add organic matter in the form of mushroom compost or soil improver, this will add nutrients and improve the soil structure. Organic matter is a vital element in a good quality topsoil, it holds essential plant nutrients close to the plant root system, locks in moisture and help break up heavy soils. www.topsoilshop.co.uk/topsoil-calculator

4. Step Three - Mulching Mulching is the process of covering the soil surface with a ground cover material, this material can take the form of bark chippings, leaf mould or compost. The benefits of mulching are to increase soil temperatures (mulching keeps the heat in), decrease evaporation of moisture (therefore keeping plants well watered), and if you use a compost as a mulch you benefit from slow releasing nutrients feeding the soil. www.topsoilshop.co.uk/topsoil-calculator

5. How do I Calculate Volume? It is easiest to calculate volume in cubic metres or litres. To do this simply measure the length, width and depth of the area you need to fill with soil in metres and multiply the three figures together to get the volume in cubic metres. www.topsoilshop.co.uk/topsoil-calculator

6. So how many tonnes to the cubic metre? As a general rule a tonne of screened topsoil equals around 750 litres (0.75 cubic metres) or 1.3 tonnes to the cubic metre. It should be noted that blended topsoil may be less dense and therefore closer to 900 litres or even 1 cubic metre to the tonne. www.topsoilshop.co.uk/topsoil-calculator

7. Now simply divide the volume in cubic metres by the cubic metre per tonne figure. If I need 9 cubic metre of screened topsoil. 9 divided by 0.75 = 12 tonne. www.topsoilshop.co.uk/topsoil-calculator