Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Feb 19, 2010 1:02 pm Hi all, I have searched and searched, but have come up with nothing. We are about to take possession of our house and although i have great ideas for the landscaping, i am stumped as to how we get going. Our problem, we have clay and we have a lot of it. It is all imported fill that was brought as part of the subdivision. And the fill isn't 'clean'. Not only do we have the usual bricks, tiles and assortment of crap - it brought with its fair share of exotic and local weeds. At this stage my biggest priority is to prepare the soil right the first time. I am considering hiring a bobcat to come in and scrape the top 200mm and remove all the clay and weeds. Then i can start fresh and bring in a truckload of sand/soil and the like to provide a good clean base for our plants. My question is...is there any point after the clay is removed to spray the exposed soil to kill off any remaining seeds/weeds and anything else that might grow. I expect the cost of removing such a large amount of material could be quite costly - but i dont want any weeds to be left on my land - nothing. And is the best depth for turf about 300mm? and what about garden beds and areas where i will be planting trees and shrubs. And while i am here, we have a very light coloured fence on our rear boundary and the sewer/stormwater running along the rear boundary as well (at least 1m invert). I intend to construct a raised planter bed - possibly two rows of sandstone (~600mm) and then line the fence with either timber or blue board to protect the fence and ensure the planter box drains properly. Does this sound feasible to ensure there is sufficent clearence so that the roots wont eventually damage the sewer/stormwater and the volume in the planter box wont damage the fence? Thanks for any replies. BTW, this forum has been fantastic for information. Thank you to everyone as i have 'borrowed' many very useful ideas such that my fiance thinks i am a genius I've filled, levelled and compacted around 100mm of roadbase in preparation to lay some outdoor court tiles. Prior to doing the final compaction, I dusted the top with… 0 3044 can someone with more experience give me their insight? land is pretty much flat its pretty much at the top of a hill. left and right neighbours are flat in line with my… 0 7466 2 4385 |