ᐅ Sifting Soil – Is It Worth the Effort?

Our house construction project has completed the groundwork and removed a good amount of topsoil. I would estimate around 50 cubic meters (65.4 cubic yards). Since we want to level out some uneven areas on the plot, this is quite helpful. Beforehand, the lot was overgrown with wild grass and weeds, and at least with the latter, we don’t expect to see them again.

Is it worth the effort to sieve this amount of soil? Does anyone have experience, tips, or practical ideas for cost-effective equipment?

We screened a similar amount using the Scheppach rotary sieve. It took about a week. Whether it was worth it... well, it only cost muscle power and some electricity.

We received screened topsoil.
When I compare it to the unscreened soil delivered to one of our other neighbors, I’m glad we invested a bit more. Their soil contains a lot of stones and weeds instead of lush grass.

For manual work, I would also recommend using a trommel screen. If an excavator is still on site, renting a small screening machine could be considered as well.

Our gardener said that screened topsoil is basically useless in the end. After screening, only dirt remains, and the good components get sifted out. Small stones on the surface can also be raked away before sowing the lawn seed.

I could confirm this myself. Some neighbors had to use fertilizer on the screened soil, while everything grew wonderfully on the unscreened soil. Of course, there was also some weed, but that tends to appear naturally in more rural areas anyway.

nordanney schrieb:

Our gardener said that screened topsoil is basically useless in the end.

Well, if I think about having stones in the lawn again and again over the next 2 years, I would screen it. You have to fertilize the grass anyway.

The top layer should definitely consist of screened soil only. It’s not worth dealing with roots and stones that can later surface again.

In my opinion, screening it yourself is not worthwhile. Screened topsoil is simply too cheap.
I think we paid around €20 gross per cubic meter (about $22 per cubic yard) including delivery and installation.