HELP: Garden prep

Hi H1,

I have been hibernating and have not visited here for a while. I thought after the build, things would be a little quiter, I was sooooo wrong. Been busy fixing a few things inside the house and now I am being forced by the body corp to fix my front yard!!!!

I have read a few threads and got an idea of what to do but to get "approval" first from the experts. Basically what I will do in the front yard for soil prep will also be done at the backyard. I believe I got clay soil (Point Cook area) although it is not very compacted. I can easily dig it with the pick axe (while getting the weeds out) but I don't know if this is only the top as I have not dig it more that 200mm.

A photo of what I am tackling:

Front:






Back:




What I have done so far:

Front:
- pulled out all the weeds
- levelled it

Back:
- sprayed weedkiller (Roundup) on all of it


This are the woody weeds that I am really struggling to kill:



What I am planning to do:

1. Level it a little more.
2. Dump mushroom compost (maybe 5cm thick) on the whole area.
3. Put mulch on top of the compost.
4. Dig the areas where I would put some plants in.
5. Put more compost on the plant hole.
6. Plant and put more mulch around the plants.

I have pulled the weeds on the front but I didn't get all of them (some of the roots are so deep that they broke when I was pulling them out) so I am planning to spray some weedkillers on the whole frontyard but am worried that these will also kill the plants that I am planning to put in. although Roundup say that you can plant 7 days after you spray it.

Is this a good plan or will I waste time and money doing it this way? Really need you help guys before my body corp kicks me out

What you describe seems OK however it can be done easier if you are putting plants rather than lawn.

Roundup is fine for killing weeds. You need to mix up a strong batch rather than just use the premixed sprays. For a new garden I use 11mL per litre of water. Once you have sprayed you need to leave the weeds for a couple of weeks before you do anything else. Then

1.Shape it.
2.Put a few plants in with compost mixed with the original soil around the hole.
3. Mix in some water saving granules with the compost if you are going to do anything before Easter
4.Lay newspaper over the rest or the garden about four sheets thick overlapping.
5.Cover the newspaper with wood mulch.

A few plants plus the mulch will get the body corporate off your back.

Don't put too many plants in until about May when the summer heat is long gone.

From May start putting more plants in scraping the mulch back and putting lots of compost in the hole but mixing with original soil not just compost.

This process has worked very well for me in Werribee

thanks a lot for that bashworth.. i don't have that much newspaper so might have to pass on that one..

I also saw on TV that granular soil wetter.. might put that in the plant hole also...

Although you can just use the mulch the advantage of the layers of newspaper is that it controls the shoots of any weed seeds the roundup didn't kill before it rots to become part of the mulch.

how about using weedmat? i got heaps of the coolaroo weedmat you can buy at Bunnings...

Weedmat is OK if you have it. I just use newspaper because its cheaper for me and I have lots of it.

Ok. Updated steps for me to follow:

1. Level it a little more.
2. Dump mushroom compost (maybe 5cm thick) on the whole area.
3. Put weedmat.
4. Put mulch on top of the compost.
5. Dig the areas where I would put some plants in.
6. Put more compost on the plant hole.
7. Plant and put more mulch around the plants.

Would the weedmat prevent water getting into the soil? Coolaroo website says it would allow water/air to flow through.

Also, is there a minimum thickness for the mushroom compost. I don't have enough depth to work with and don't really want to dig. Is 5cm of compost and another 5cm of mulch enough? Though I would be digging the areas where I would plant.

Thanks again.

Weedmat will let the water and air through to the soil.

If you want to spread the mushroom compost over the whole site thats up to you as it will improve the whole soil. I don't normally bother as I concentrate on the area around the plants I put in. I don,t see much advantage of improving the soil where there aren't going to be plants

Check out the stickies at the top of the landscaping forum. Fu has posted some super tips on beginning your landscape and prepping the soil for planting. Good luck with it.

1. Level it a little more.
do this after you mix in the "Certified organic soil"
2. Dump mushroom compost (maybe 5cm thick) on the whole area.
use "Certified organic soil" instead
3. Put weedmat. Forget it, it is just shadecloth and is a pain in the arms legs and back to plant through in the future
4. Put mulch on top of the compost. needs to be between 500mm-1000mm thick for best results and it should be "green Mulch",
5. Dig the areas where I would put some plants in. Just dig the whole lot through
6. Put more compost on the plant hole. no need to if you dig it all through
7. Plant and put more mulch around the plants. just back fill with the existing mulch

thanks mecha-wombat..

- what's a "certified organic soil" . i thought that's the mushroom compost
- 500mm of mulch? that's half a meter deep!!!!
- i really don't want to dig the whole lot due to lack of resources. that's why i'll just dig where i plant but still put compost on the whole lot so the other areas will be ready in the future

this way, i can order the compost and mulch in the next day or two, level it up to path/driveway and start planting a few plants

sorry 50 mm deep
Looking at too many house plans HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

layering the soil in other areas will not do much for the soil structure in the future, however if you are going to dig it in them in the future, I suppose if you covered it with GREEN mulch and then dig it all through at a later date it would be fine

Mushroom compost would be fine but the COS is the bees knees lots of good microflora and fauna in there

MC has alot of chook poo and other stuff that tilts the balance away from a good balance of micro-organisms
(I pretty sure thats what Fu said somewhere)

My garden mantra for success is
FEED THE SOIL NOT THE PLANT
(I blame Fu for that)

yeah.. i am pretty much trying to do that also, feeding the soil. that's why i want to make the prep right.

how do you order that certified organic soil? looking at my local garden supply's list of product, they don't have it? what do i tell them? just "certified organic soil"?

I am sure one of Victorians will know where to get it

I agree with Mecha-wombat!

Ditch the weedmat - it's crappy and a waste of money! I also wouldn't bother with newspaper layers either if you are mulching, there just isn't a need. Sure newspaper will break down over time but you'd be much better putting down some sugar cane or pea straw mulch and then some tree mulch over the top.

As for mushroom compost it's really not that great. You can get some Certified Organic soil from Bulleen Art and Garden in Melbourne (www.baag.com.au). These guys know their stuff! Even if you don't get the certified soil their other soil mixes are a lot better than what most other places will have.

ah.. me a little bit !@#$!@# today.. was googling certified organic compost when it should be soil!!!

Whoa, dude, you need to read the soil prep threads.
Mushroom compost, layering, water crystals, weedmat - no way!!
Spray out weeds with roundup a la Fu (seasol + detergent added - search it), leave for a week, add organic matter and soil ammendments, dig whole lot through to 300-400m, mulch heavily in garden areas with pea staw and then tree mulch (100mm thick total). Lay out your turf in levelled out lawn areas, plant into your garden beds - done.
Weedmat in garden areas will be the bain of your life, not to mention the pollution to the environment. Think of the old black plastic later underneath gardens in the old days, what a nightmare that is.
You have clay soil - add sand if you can and as much organic stuff as you can get. Zeolite + spongolite, never water crystals.
Any weeds poke their heads up - pull em out or spray em out.
Keep your mulch layer topped up - it will thin out rapidly.

ahhh... this prepping is making me dizzy too much info to digest and too many different opinions. i don't know if i am going blind but can't seem to find that post of Fu about soil preparation and most links I see are for WA..

found that link that Fu had on google books (Gardenng down-under) and will try to read the section on soils..

you may have noticed from the above posts that i am trying to avoid digging and rotary hoeing because i am trying to avoid bursting the pipes and electrical cables but most, if not all, suggests this method..

will go now and read...

Keen, Mecha-wombat and I are all pretty much saying the same thing!

Read this thread viewtopic.php?f=19&t=21938

Don't stress over the info being for WA, it is still applicable for Vic.