Clueless Needing Gardening Help!

Okay, so we've been in the house now for over 5 weeks. I'm gettin' sick of walking on dirt, the driveway has been laid, the fence is going up in the next week and evil weeds have taken over our block!

Now, I've no desire to be a gardener. I don't care much for it but I know I have to do something to all this weed-covered clay soil. But where do I start? I don't know a single thing!

We're putting decking to the alfresco and portico, some paving in the side/backyard and maybe some grass. There will also be some kind of pebbles placed to cover other areas I have no idea what to do with.

But again, where do I start? Something about levelling the land? Do I just chuck the pebbles on top and hope for the best or am I supposed to do something else first?

And once the decking gets started are you supposed to put something under the decking (like gravel maybe?) to stop the weeds from growing a whole new planet under the decking?

This sounds familiar, are you sure you aren't around the corner from my house???

Here are some D's to work through

Dreams - What do I want
Donts - What to I not want to do. What if you dont want grass, what are the options.
Details - Details fo what you want to put in, what size shed, what type grass, what type water feature
DETOURS!! - Council regulations
DUMB QUESTIONS - Ask a lot.
Design - Pen to paper
Damage - How much$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
DIY - What can I do, what can I NOT do, and whats should I not do.
DO IT - The 'fun' part.

Here is what we did.

DREAMS

Decide what you want i your garden, what you do and dont like, and what you need. Also what are you going to use the garden for. Kids??DO you need a shed? HOw about a rainwater tank. That and a heap of other things, including budget, will help determine your garden.

Now what you can do is map out what you visualise in your mind..

Example, we do a lot of entertaining. So we have decking from the alfresco are to wings on each side of the alfresco, giving us about 50 cubic metres of deck. Then steps down to 20 square metres of paving, which elads to a water feature. Shed on the left, clothesline on the right, and grass from the pavers to the fence lince. Raised garden beds on all sides.

DONTS

Dont want grass? what are your other options. How will they look, how much,

DETAILS
You then need to think about what you will need to achive this.

Grass,
pavers.
shed
water feature,
Plants
etc etc etc Here is your shopping list.

Do your research about how they work, sizes and prices

Very important question. CAN I GET IT INTO MY BACK YARD??????.

DUMB QUESTIONS - Asking how long the cord is on a water feature pump may seem irrelevant, until you run the cord to your outdoor powerpoint, and you are 1 metre short. remembering that power needs to be at least 600mm underground, you dont want to have to dig up your handywork.

DESIGN

Measure up your garden and draw it to scale using graph paper. Take about 10 copies of it so you dont have to draw it again.

DETOURS - What regulations and covenants (if any) are in play in my design, things like pergolas, shed sizes etc.

DIY

Can you realistically do what you want to? Can you level the back yard with a shovel and a barrow? Maybe but it will take a while. Can I install powerpoints near my water feature, unless you are a sparkie, hmmm NO!!!


Part two to follow.

Just remember, green side up, brown side down.....


But in all seriousness, there's not a lot to it if you choose natives - not only do they require little water, they can also put up with our summers, winters, and everything in between.

Talk to your local nurseries or landscape suppliers, as they will be aware of the soil types in the local region, and be able to advise you on the best plan of attack regarding what you need to do to create healthy, growth-friendly garden beds.


As far as your deck, I am going through this now. As my yard slopes slightly toward the house, and is predominantly shale, the water runs along the topsoil. I have plans to dig a trench, lay agline to get rid of the water, and cover it with gravel - which I am also going to spread around under the entire deck surface to minimise the weeds chance of growing. It was also suggested to me to put black plastic down, then the gravel, but this defeats the purpose of my drainage trench which runs half way under the deck.

hahaha .... welcome to our world!!! )

As you know from reading our blog we experienced exactly the same frustration ... still are in all honesty.

But Adrian's advice is great ... and I would agree that before you do anything, plan, design, draw ... do all that stuff.

We made a couple of big woopsies in the front yard because we didn't plan ahead, but now that we have drawn our plan we can fix these problems and continue doing a little bit at a time.

Plant selection is a huge one if you have no desire to become a gardener. Spend a lot of time at your local nursery to find out what is low maintenance, what you like the look of and how it will look against your design.

It is fun though .... it's hard work but rewarding (if you do it yourself).

Or .. if you are one of the lucky ones that can afford to pay a landscape designer to do it for you .. I say good on you!!! ))

Looking forward to reading your blog when you start the project!!!!

A

P.S. and definitely get to the Garden Expo if you can. It will hopefully give you lots of great ideas!!

Hey YSSIM, first you need to tackle the weeds. You can pull them up or spray them so that you kill the roots as well. Then you need to look at your design & drainage. There are PC programmes available that can help you to visualise a design that you can make up yourselves. That might help you.
Make sure you look at a good weed mat to control the new weeds from taking over the garden and under the deck. Drought tolerant, low maintenance plants are probably best so that you don't have to keep tending to them. Succulents and grasses are pretty good in that regard. But it is personal choice.

We have the siting plan now and i am looking forward to planning our gardens to incorporate features outside specific windows and doors. It makes walking in the garden an adventure. Maybe once you start on the path, who knows you may even enjoy it! Get inspiration form books, magazines and other peoples gardens too. Good Luck

Thanks guys! So full of useful info and advice!

I've drawn plans up already. From a long time ago. Even before they started building the house! Hehe This obviously isn't my area of specialty so I knew the plan/drawings were going to change. A lot!

Okay, here's a few more...err...clueless questions.

Do I really need some type of drainage? Can't I just dump a whole heap of top soil and pebbles and then be done with it? And that's a serious question!

And...what am I supposed to do with my clay soil? Do I just put the right kind of topsoil and level the top soil or do I have to level my clay soil first and then put top soil? Do I even need top soil or can I pave right on top of clay soil?



Must find nursery! What do they look like, again? Hehe

Hey there Yssim, here is a little post I spotted for you.. sounds easy enough too...

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1676965.htm

See how you gow, but I do know that clay soil treated right can give you really really good results once it is broken down to useable soil....

Re the drainage issue, this can bea wait and see approach, if you find you get a lot of water sitting on top and not sinking through the ground it may be that the clay is not soaking it up and you need to refer to the above and once completed not need drainage.
If it does, check here...
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s908557.htm

Hope it helps mate...

Missy, talk to a nursery about the clay soil. You can hire a rotary hoe and break it up and add gypsum (I think) or whatever the nursery recommends. This will help break the clay up.

Hi YSSIM

There is a nursery in our area that offers garden design services for quite a reasonable price. They can do a Computer Aided Design (CAD) drawing on your house and lot plan, or a mok-up garden concept on your house photo. They also offer a free plant placement service to go with the design, that is once you buy the plants they come to your house and place them exactly where they should go, ready for you to dig in.

They also offer landscaping services and house visits among other services. I had no idea that these types of services existed from a nursery, so maybe there might be something like that in your area?

Good luck and have fun

Hi Uncle-ant,
Which nursery is that? We are in the same area as you and just starting to think about landscaping.

Hi Penjay

Sorry, should have mentioned them. They are a Plants Plus franchise:

Grevillea Nurseries
63-65 Railway Avenue
Werribee VIC 3030
Tel: 0397413100
Fax: 0397425356

The ladies name is Maree, very friendly and helpful. You can go into the store and see samples of other work they have done. As we have just built and have a 'blank canvass' we got Maree to do a CAD design on our lot plan.

Good luck with your garden Penjay

Cheers, Tony

Hi YSSIM,

Gardening should be fun, a bit like designing your house. You get to do it the way you want it. You don't have to do all the hard work ourself, just contract it out and leave the best bits for yourself.

Good luck with it

Pop into the botanic gardens too.
You get to see all the plants in their grown up state - be it making a mess or lots of lovely shade - just like they will eventually be.
Take a picnic - chill out and be in it just like it was your home garden and then you will feel what inspires you - what plants you like or dislike be it look, texture or smell.
Then slowly put in the areas close to the hosue so your not traipsing clay mud through the house.
By the way - I bought a house that was built in the 70's and I got bare clay at the back door when I bought it - and that was last year

So don't leave it that long to do something

Steve

Post a photo or 2........

If you want some ideas / planting suggestions and DIY info then have a browse through my website:

www.solidthinking.com.au

Cheers.

Solid Thinking….I’ve got a question for you!

I’m putting down some flag stone, possibly like the one in the photo.

How thick is that roughly. And do you lay it in on a bed of sand?

You were already 'bookmarked'.

Hey! I remember that nursery
It used to be our local when we were kids. I even found an old werribee Shire pamphlet with an add for them in it dating back to the late seventies (or sometime round that)

I haven't read all this thread yet and don't know if it has been mentioned but a great idea to work out what you want in your garden is to see what is growing well in other gardens in your area.
Then visit your local retail nursery ask lots of questions.

Hi YSSIM.

A couple of things you'll want to think about. Firstly, how much time do you want to be spending out in the garden? I'd guess not much.

Secondly is how much work you're willing to do at the beginning, because the more you do now the less you'll probably have to do later.

Whilst natives are absolutely fantastic for being no-mess, no-fuss plants that don't need too much attention, like any other plant they need to be lovingly cared for when they first go in the ground, and depending on the sorts you get, they can also be really picky.

If you have clay soil, you're also going to run into another problem--poor drainage. Most plants don't like what's called "wet feet", which is what they get when the water won't drain away from their roots. Rot sets in, the plant gets sick and dies and that $100 you just spent is starting to look like a waste, and the good lady wife is asking you to please explain. ; )

The fastest way to deal with clay soil is actually not to bother dealing with it at all. Get whatever ground cover you want (turf can be a pain in the backside with our current water restrictions, but there are plenty of other options) to cover your clay soil, but wherever you want to build a garden bed, simply get some topsoil trucked in and mound it up to a height of around 8-10 inches (20-25cm). That will give most plants smaller than trees enough space to develop a reasonable root system. Conversely, plants tree-size or bigger (whatever that is!) should be able to deal with the clay soil just fine.

However, it will still be worth your while in the long run to use a claybreaker. Others have mentioned gypsum, but many natives will not like it. I use a liquid claybreaker, but it's currently in the shed and I'm quite warm inside in my PJs so I'll go find the name of it for you tomorrow. Essentially it's just a case of filling up a watering can and spreading it out, and then watering it in over the following days (which, depending on your ability to get up at 6am twice a week, may be hard to do with water restrictions). The bonus is that it won't burn any plants' root system and it's safe to use with natives and other acid-loving plants like azaleas and rhododendrons.

One thing you might consider is checking out the plants at a large display village. They will be the kind of plants that don't require a lot of maintenance. If you take a photo and show it to someone at a nursery, you should do fine.

One other thing it might be worth doing is buying a DIY soil pH testing kit and finding out what the pH of your soil is. You can pick up a manutec kit at almost any nursery for a reasonable price.

If you PM me and let me know what part of Melbourne you live in, what aspect your house is in and what sort of effect you're after with your garden, I'd be happy to make some suggestions.

I'm not a landscape designer, but I've learned a lot about growing plants over the last few years, and I'd be more than happy to help you out. : )

--Mike