Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Jun 07, 2007 10:02 am Here's a topic that I never thought I'd have to think about .... how on earth do I break down clay soil so that I can grow a garden and some grass??
I've been googling it and gypsum seems to be the way to go but does anybody know how long it needs to be put on before you can attempt to grow anything? I am a complete moron when it comes to gardening so while I'm looking forward to learning and trying to make a beautiful garden, I'm not feeling so confident with the awful soil that we have to contend with. Fortunately the front yard is very small however the back is a little bit bigger than we had anticipated. Sometimes wish we could just concrete the whole lot but I doubt the dogs would appreciate it!! Looking forward to some advice ) Amber http://www.ourdreamhouse.blogspot.com Re: Clay Soil 2Jun 07, 2007 10:10 am This information might be useful:
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1503292.htm We used dolomite limestone in conjunction with gypsum to break up our clay garden soil. We started planting 6 weeks after treating the clay soil and everything grew fine. Re: Clay Soil 3Jun 07, 2007 10:34 am If you are having lawn, you probably can get away with putting a little less dolomite in those areas and put a bit extra where you are going to have plants. You may also want to consider some friable topsoil. Plant at least 1 tree and remember that a garden can be very enjoyable but you need to create it the way you like it - much like a kitchen
3xb Re: Clay Soil 4Jun 07, 2007 10:57 am We have clay soil as well. I was talking with some garden landscape people and over 400sqm of garden, they said it would be easier & less time consuming to just lay 15cm of good soil on top rather than treat with gypsum and work in over time. A bit more pricey though. Re: Clay Soil 5Jun 09, 2007 11:47 am start layering grass clippings and dried leaves to add organic material to your soil. You could plant trees by digging deeper holes and adding bags of mushroom compost. Prevent weeds in winter by spreading cardboard/ thick layers of newspaper under the clippings/leaves.You can collect more organic stuff from green grocers (corn husks, outer leave of vegies)Even coffee grounds is fantastic. while these rot for your spring gardening the gypsum can be added NOW (I am assuming u r in Melbourne)
For the front, after removal of major debris from the construction and if the soil is pretty level, you could lightly bury the runners from nature strip. By spring you will have a very hardy lawn. Flower beds around it and the landscaping will cost but you've saved on the turf. My neighbour has tried all kinds of grass and found the naturestrip runners the best especially with dogs. www.gardenweb.com.au has lots of info congratulations on your new home. I was unfortunately unable to see your blog.Would love to see finished photos. good luck vp Clay Soil 6Jun 15, 2007 7:45 am Gypsum will not work on all clay soils..... It works by altering the chemical bonds in the soil, this is usually what makes clay soils stiff. A simple test is to put some soil in a jar, fill the jar with clean water and mix it until it goes milky, let it stand for a while: if the water clears then Gypsum will not have a good effect, if it stays milky then Gypsum will work. Re: Clay Soil 7Jun 18, 2007 3:20 pm Thanks for the tip!!! if gypsum is not the answer, what is?? Is the dolomite stuff the way to go??
we want to start getting some stuff in to the soil this weekend so that it has a few weeks to start breaking down so we can at least get some form of garden up and running. thanks Re: Clay Soil 8Jun 18, 2007 3:46 pm You might find this site interesting. Their mag is very informative and they sell (on-line) all the old varieties of vegies etc, (the ones that taste nice)
And they are melbs based and have 2 gardens you can look at. http://www.diggers.com.au Cheers Steve Re: Clay Soil 9Jun 18, 2007 5:12 pm Amber - I think you should be able to take some soil to somewhere like Diggers or other garden centres for some free advice - they can do a quick test of it (the soil & water in a jar test) and provide recommendations. Re: Clay Soil 10Jun 20, 2007 12:26 pm I'd suggest you iinvestigate no-dig gardening, I swear by it! You can even grow lovely vegies on concrete. Its a bit more organic but the results are fab and don't involve any hard labour.
Look for Esther Dean's book "No Dig Gardening" I'm sure there'd be websites about it too. Building a Jandson Espirit in Pennant Hills "What is the use of a home, if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?"Henry Daniel Thereau Re: Clay Soil 11Aug 29, 2007 1:42 am http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1676965.htm has some good tests & remedies for clay soil.
Dolomite (limestone) is a soil conditioner & also helps break up the soil but should only used on acidic soil as it will change the pH balance of your soil. If you use it, include it in the mix with your gypsum. It doesn't replace gypsum. You can get pH testing kits from Bunnings. We have heavy clay soil as well. My plan of attack is going to be to spread gypsum over the top, then some blood & bone, then a thick layer of top soil that has compost & other yummy organic matter (manure, etc) mixed in ( it's good for breaking down the soil & it's cheaper than the "finer" topsoil). A significant portion of my garden is going to be planted in raised beds, so the clay shouldn't present too much of a problem but it still needs a bit of work done to it initially to make it workable. As an aside, I belong to the Digger's club. It's good if you plan on having an edible garden (good savings on a wide range of plants). Re: Clay Soil 12Aug 31, 2007 8:52 am Guys. Worth mentioning is that having bunged all that lovely gypsum ,blood and bone and top soil on you might like to consider getting hold of a rotary hoe for the weekend and stirring it all in then rake it to a fine tilth.
The Victorian clay soils generally are actually very good for growing things IF you can unlock the nutrients,hence the use of gypsum. If you just drop the top soil/and or instant turf on top then that's what you get...75-100mm of top soil on a clay base and a long term battle with trying to get the best out of a lawn that seems to struggle after the first initial flush. Re: Clay Soil 14Oct 17, 2007 12:44 am could I also throw another alternative to Gypsum? well I am going to anyway. There's a product that I swear by called "powerfeed" It is made by the folks who give us "Seasol". One of the great things about it is that it can act as a clay breaker in those soils. It has been use in agriculture for this purpose (all though not solely for that purpose) apparently 10 ltrs of Power feed can do the same as 1 tonne of Gypsum. (pretty sure that is the maths of it) 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 1556 Thanks for your reply. I will just wait and see I guess. Trying to get some more information from our builder. 9 11742 I am not sure whether Perth has its own way of doing things in regards to this. Most of Perth has class A (sandy soil), except for some areas near rivers or hills. 2 8284 |