Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Jul 24, 2009 6:55 pm I need to raise the level of the backyard to level things out and make things 'nice'. Buying soil from the nursery will make me broke and I live in a land of clay in the northern suburbs of Brisbane. My plan is to advertise for some clean fill (probably clay?) add some nutrition to it and top it with turf. What preparation do you suggest before I level it and what do I need to treat the clay before I lay turf or plant grass seed? I'm trying to do things on the cheap too and have got a sizable area to cover. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Re: Turning 'Fill' into soil? 2Jul 24, 2009 7:32 pm Knuckle What preparation do you suggest before I level it and what do I need to treat the clay before I lay turf or plant grass seed? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Wait 5 million years after you have your clay fill before adding seed, itll be soil by then, maybe...... Re: Turning 'Fill' into soil? 3Jul 24, 2009 9:30 pm There have been a few threads on this. Try this one 1st : http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=17735 Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: Turning 'Fill' into soil? 5Jul 28, 2009 11:54 pm That is for sure. Remember the best law of gardening. Never put a twenty dollar plant in a 5 cent hole, you'll end up with a 5cent plant Soil prep is the key and nothing is better than "certified" organic soils. The Gypsum comes a distant second. In bulk, this is not often cheap though but will pay for itself in the long term. Turned through into the soil 300-400mm. Constantly using "powerfeed" or anything containing liquid humates / humic acids, fulvic acids will be a benefit too Get a worm farm going, use the "worm wee" on the soil too. Molasses at least 3 or 4 times a year will help a little too. In Brissie http://www.brisbaneorganicmarket.com/garden.html Re: Turning 'Fill' into soil? 7Aug 02, 2009 12:16 pm Well for seasol, I think your cheapest price is as mentioned. Farmers also get similar products made the seasol company from ag suppliers. Get some spongolite and zeolite too. Bentonite clay for sandier soils and loamy soils. For those in Sydney interested in building healthy soil, http://kimbriki.com/ Peter is an incredible bloke who is very passionate and knowledgeable when it comes to one of the most important things in your garden... the soil It isn't a bag of fertiliser that makes your plants grow well. I hardly if ever use them. It isn't just plant selection that creates good gardens. I also mean in that a good garden won't have much impact on the environment no matter what type. All we have to do is when building or creating a garden, go the extra and focus on the soil. http://www.soilfoodweb.com.au/ Re: Turning 'Fill' into soil? 8Aug 02, 2009 12:37 pm so fu. in my case I need to add soil since I'm on rock at the front except where the ground is close to the house where it is site sand which is very coarse white gritty sand. do i add a "landscapers soil" and then put really good soil where I plan to plant or should I buy in a heap of screened top soil and then add landscapers mix to the planting areas as i go adding additional goodies.. again as i go. also what about out the back where i have clay? a general top soil and then add to it wiht compost, molasses, and gypsum? or???? remembering I'm talking about 3/4 of an acre here not little bags of stuff but lots of cubic m will prob be adding a sheep poo mix too at some stage. 2 4349 yeah i couldnt picture it issue either, but i could clearly picture what they were doing wrong haha 2 5295 If you're in a flood zone, not only are you dealing with the importation of fill and laying it down in 150 lifts to achieve compaction, you're going to have to consider… 4 5532 |