Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Aug 20, 2015 2:36 pm Hi, I have a new house pad that has about 300m2 Of hard packed clay from building, no top soil. I want to start getting it ready for next year for a garden and lawn. Any one have suggestions on what approach to take Gypsum straight on top? Plowing? Tilling? Aerating? Or even just mulch and compost on top? Thanks Re: Clay soil 2Aug 20, 2015 6:54 pm Is it full clay or is there a mix of clay and soil? We needed a post hole digger to plant as the ground is like iron and we have a gravelly clay/soil mix. We spread newspaper and green mulch with compost on top, then added gypsum liberally to each plant hole. We've also used rock mounds for plants that need good drainage- but you can use soil for mounds without the rocks. For the lawn, I think you would be better off to add a layer of well prepared soil and plant on top of it. Re: Clay soil 4Aug 20, 2015 9:17 pm We "drilled" 4 deep holes per plant, then broke down the walls between, added lots of gypsum and sand and compost all mixed together. So far so good! I was also told gypsum will work its way down through the soil. I found this site was helpful: http://www.australianplants.org/fsttwenty.htm Re: Clay soil 5Aug 21, 2015 8:20 am There is another thread with exactly the same title: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=75210&hilit=dispersion+test The information there might help you out. Re: Clay soil 6Aug 21, 2015 10:27 am Amend the soil. If you look at Fu Manchus soil prep guide for turf, you can use similar concepts for the rest of the garden areas. If you are ok with some of the plants that thrive in clay soil, you may need to do even less. Overall you need to plan out what you want from your space and then ammend the areas appropriately. For trees, you can just do large holes with either rock for drainage or soil if deep enough. Once the tree establishes, it will do its own thing in the clay and rock. Think some of the citrus orchards planted in rocky outcrops in italy. Stuff will grow, you just need to get it established and strong. Creator of superduperonium, expert at expert things, nobel laureate, can hold my breath for 10 minutes. Clay soil 8Aug 23, 2015 6:18 pm Bring in top soil, you don't have any going by your posts. It's true plants/trees can and do adapt to clay soils but rarely do they adapt and grow *well* in heavy clay (as described). On residential blocks there is just too much compaction and waterlogging (as the sites are levelled out.) In a natural large block of land situation heavy clay soils are fine, but in small blocks under intense use, clay is horrible. While ammending the soil is preferable in most cases, you still need some actual top soil with structure to amend.. Even if its 100mm. Fu's post are fantastic if you have sand, loam or clay loam, follow his info and you won't regret putting in the effort. But *true* clay is a different beast altogether. Re: Clay soil 9Jul 28, 2016 5:28 pm Had the same type of trouble on our block of land, nearly 100% clay. It's going to take a while, but I had a high success rate of growing bushes, trees, etc with this solution: DO THIS JUST BEFORE SPRING WHILST THE GROUND IS STILL WET. 1: Look around your area to see what grows well. 2. Try & find a local 'backyard' nursery that has a good variety of inxpensive saplings (no older than 9-12 months). 3. Dig your holes with a 'grubber' about 1 ft deep x 1 ft diameter 4. Plant your saplings & backfill with exactly the same soil you dug out ( maybe with a teaspoon of slo-release fertilizer. 5. Dig a trench around he sapling so the water doesn't wash away. 6. As the ground begins to dry, keep up the watering over that single summer/autumn season. 7. The following summer/autumn, leave them alone (no watering, etc,) You may loose some, but the others will go looking or water & you will have some very hardy plants/trees. Good luck I've dug some footings to embed a post anchor into. My holes are around 450mm deep which I'll put a 200mm stirrup into. The bottom of these holes seem firm enough. … 0 3777 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair I'm in WA and our sandy soils make drainage a bit easier but this is what I'd be doing. Dig down to your footings and let the wall dry out. Clean it all well by brushing… 1 6189 Three options 1 Ask the liquidator 2 Find another PD customer and ask the source of their report 3 Pay for new report 3 14030 |