When You Need Topsoil
Topsoil is the workhorse of landscaping — it fills, grades, and levels. Unlike garden soil or compost, topsoil is relatively dense and inexpensive, making it the right choice for large-volume fill work: leveling a yard before laying sod, filling low spots, building up beds, or providing a base layer under amended garden soil.
The Topsoil Calculator converts your project dimensions to cubic yards (for bulk delivery), tons (some suppliers price by weight), and bag counts (for smaller jobs). Topsoil weighs about 2,200 lb per cubic yard — roughly 1.1 tons — and a typical delivery minimum from a landscape supplier is 2–3 cubic yards.
Quality varies widely. Screened topsoil has been sifted to remove rocks, roots, and debris — it's worth the slight premium for any planting application. Unscreened fill is cheaper but can contain clay, stones, and weed seeds. For lawn preparation before sod installation, screened topsoil at a minimum depth of 4 inches gives new grass roots the best chance at establishment.