Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design Re: Bulk Soil and Soil Removal 21Dec 07, 2009 7:46 pm Unless you live in Melbourne where is available in bulk i am told For other cities it is really only of use to mix with potting mixes and use in small areas of garden or when planting new plants. Buy in bulk otherwise from someone selling a certified organic soil. Re: Bulk Soil and Soil Removal 22Dec 07, 2009 7:55 pm yeah like I said Hay, we are in melb west, and one local expert gardeners from this area said to just keep the clay soil and put gypsum through with rotary hoe and don't even worry about a top soil! (so if you are laying instant turf you may consider this option). We opted for removal and laying about 10cm topsoil under instant turf, and 20cm in flower beds. Another local expert said this would be adequate providing we did the gypsum too. Dont forget they can take the clean fill to Truganina for free - tell them that when they are quoting you to remove soil... A thankful person is a happy person. [/color]My hobby design blog: http://aviewondesign.blogspot.com/ Re: Bulk Soil and Soil Removal 23Dec 07, 2009 8:03 pm Aggh but WA leads Australia in Educating the public and researching best practice gardening. This is by way of nessesity for us. We are miles ahead of the rest of Australia Re: Bulk Soil and Soil Removal 24Dec 07, 2009 8:42 pm Fu Manchu Aggh but WA leads Australia in Educating the public and researching best practice gardening. This is by way of nessesity for us. We are miles ahead of the rest of Australia of course they are fu, no one ever doubted that! lol A thankful person is a happy person. [/color]My hobby design blog: http://aviewondesign.blogspot.com/ Re: Bulk Soil and Soil Removal 25Dec 08, 2009 7:01 pm Not sure how many threads in here you read, but you should definitely read this one viewtopic.php?p=366780#p366780 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Bulk Soil and Soil Removal 26Dec 08, 2009 7:17 pm Just a quick question in relation to the soil, I was advised by a "soil guy" that when I lay some new soil under my new lawn, the best product to get would be a sandy loam, he said that this is the best for drainage and also for lawns, is this correct? I thought I was meant to get organic soil? Also my bobcat guy asked if we had adequate drainage, he said we could just get a drain centered in the lawn as we are on a flat block, is a drain hard to put in? Would we need a plumber? What is involved? I never saw installing drains mentioned in lawn prep before and was just curious? My karma ran over your dogma Re: Bulk Soil and Soil Removal 27Dec 08, 2009 7:58 pm He kind of is and in a few of my posts I have mentioned about mixing sandy loam in as well. Just the sandy loam will result in having two soil structures separate from each other and resulting in poor root growth and nutrient retention. Blend certified organic soils in and they will help to break the clay up naturally and yet retain features of the soil that will be beneficial to the health of the turf. nutrient leaching will be greatly reduced as well The soil needs to be a home for a good population of soil microbes, not just a particular structure. Sandy loams onto or into clays will mean a strong reliance on fertilisers and water for a green lawn. certified organic soils allow soil microbe populations and worms to do their thing and very naturally. You will not need loads of fertiliser, water, and gypsum to have a healthy looking lawn because it actually will be healthy The sandy loam won't do that. Combined is best of all. They do need to be mixed /tilled through into the clay. This gives the roots something healthy and consistent to grow in. Hopefully you can get it to a good depth and that means deep roots and less hassles in summer. The practice of just using sand / yellow sand/ lawn sand down then laying turf is an outdated practice. WA leads the way with this newer better practice These better practices are not fully understood by many in the industry let alone the public you guys are getting the cutting edge of information Re: Bulk Soil and Soil Removal 28Dec 08, 2009 8:12 pm blah as for getting soil and some soil conditioner in. Just got 3 cu m delivered to do a small bed area. It looks like a tiny pin prick at my place. finally I think Dh understands when i said we needed at least 10 CU M. He had thought I was being WAYYYYYYY over the top. Where as I saw that as probably only the tip of the iceberg. sigh. roll on final bit of retaining wall on the 19th so I can begin the first garden bed. Re: Bulk Soil and Soil Removal 29Dec 09, 2009 8:30 am Thanks Fu - thats what I thought - maybe half sandy loam half organic soil and then rotary hoe/mix it together. Just out of interest how much do I need to bring in? Our backyard space is 8m deep x 16m wide and our front yard space if 10m wide x 5m deep, I was thinking of getting it about 10-20cm deep? I was thinking about 30m3 maybe a bit less? Oh and on another note, my bobcat guy mentioned this, when I spoke about getting a grey water gator set up via sprinkler system rather than by drip line irrigation...thoughts? "I would check on the Grey water system you mention as I understand it it must be a subterranian system and distributed immediately from the source. I beleive this is EPA legislation" My karma ran over your dogma Re: Bulk Soil and Soil Removal 30Dec 09, 2009 10:09 am Hi Haywgl, Basically you are not allowed spray grey water in the air and/or have it leave your properties boundary. Direct surface application is allowed. http://epanote2.epa.vic.gov.au/EPA/Publications.NSF/2f1c2625731746aa4a256ce90001cbb5/4fb5d827f4615eaaca25746d0004df7e/$FILE/884.1.pdf If using decent greywater (eg shower/bath) staight away, I reckon a upside down green soaker hose is a good option in your front garden, if you know what i mean Re: Bulk Soil and Soil Removal 31Dec 09, 2009 8:05 pm Yeah you'd be right. Here in WA we don't have too many grey water systems and they are a little controversial among some people due to Perth's unique soil structures and underground aquifers. Most lawns are irrigated with domestic water and the use of MP rotators is the best way to apply it. In the case of grey water you will need to do some serious research on the netafim set ups but the guys at netafim are happy to receive emails about how best to get it right . Excellent systems when established As for 30m3 That much won't be needed I'd be using more like 6m3 at the most so 2-3 of lawn sand for you guys over east and 2-4 m3 of organic soils should be good Re: Bulk Soil and Soil Removal 32Dec 09, 2009 8:27 pm How did I work out 30m3??? I just multiplied the w x l (16 x and then multiplied that by .10 (for 10cm in height of soil, then for the front did the same w x l (10 x 5) x .10 - got me about 20m3......I'm so much happier now about my quote, which was origianlly over $1500, it should now more likely be around $500... Just on certified organic soil does anyone know where to buy this in bulk in Melbourne, I have done a search to no avail....I can get the sandy loam, but they didn't stock a 'certified' organic soil..... Oh an on a side I brought 5 bags of Naked Farmer Oragnic soil starter stuff today - that is all I could carry but I will go back and get more!! My karma ran over your dogma Re: Bulk Soil and Soil Removal 33Dec 09, 2009 8:54 pm http://www.baag.com.au/ do certified organic soil not sure how far they deliver though, they will deliver to me 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Bulk Soil and Soil Removal 34Dec 09, 2009 11:16 pm For that figure, you won't be filling that entire volume, only a percentage of it. Bare in mind that the more you get in, the better the result will be. Re: Bulk Soil and Soil Removal 35Dec 10, 2009 6:31 am Thanks Lisa -I have emailed them to ask Fu - so how much in depth would you recommend? It seems all the soil places I speak too say it should be about 10cm which gives me a figure of 18m3 to spread out evenly over my entire front/back yards.... Do you think 5cm in depth would be adequate, making me need about 9m3? My karma ran over your dogma PM me your email. 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