Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Aug 12, 2010 12:37 pm hi everyone, Ok before you ask 'why didnt you do a search', i just wanted to say that I did do a search but the search isnt very good. Alot of post came up with the same thread and I couldnt really find anything that exactly related to me. If there is a thread, please guide me in the right direction! Thanks. I am in the process of planning my retaining wall now. Once the wall is done, I will need to prepare my soil for turf as well as garden beds. At the moment, like all new estates, our land just has heaps of builder's fill. The fill is probably about a metre deep, or even more, and full of clay. As the area i'm working with, which is around 7m long x 4m wide, is up on the retaining wall, its going to be hard to get a rotary hoe up there to break up the soil. It is very important to rotary hoe the area before putting down top soil? How deep should I dig out the old soil for the top soil? Is it 100mm or 200mm ect. I'm planning on using lawn mix as topsoil for the turf and garden. Is this soil good enough for the clay, or will i have to use another type of topsoil, or do I have to do something else before putting in the topsoil? I'm hoping to get this done right the first time so that my plants dont die a few months later because I didnt prepare the soil well enough. Many thanks for your assistance. Idiots are fun, that's why there is one in every village! - Dr. House - Re: How to prepare soil for turf/gardening 2Aug 12, 2010 10:41 pm I notice that you guys in the east get topsoils where as we buy soil improver's and conditioners and landscpae mixes more in the west It really is the same thing but topsoil as a name does encourage people to lay it on the top as a soil in it's own right. To have success doing this it needs to be nearly 500mm and the lower part mixed with the existing soil/clay. Of course this is cost prohibitive to most normal budgets. So shoot for a layer 300mm or so (deeper of possible) actually turned over and mixed through your current soil. Take out a fair bit to account for the level but you really won't have to remove too much. Your guess would be pretty close. say 100mm. Again depends on budget. Get some zeolite from a stock feed supplier or agricultural supplier. Mix that through as well. Get quite a few bags, say 5 or 6 more if possible. I can't make a call on what the lawn mix is like without going down there and feeling and smelling it myself. That won't happen but I do welcome the offer I heard Melbourne is nice this time of year Having heavy clays as well as organic material sand content is important. The ratios can vary a bit depending on who you ask and I guess I have my theories and practices. In the end get what you can in there. I rarely use lawn mixes or topsoils. I use cert organic composts and mix them through our sands. A good healthy soil should be moist, not have an offensive smell, and be able to be clenched into a ball in your hand. Looking for some advice on pool surround planting. We have roughly 500mm wide garden bed around the edge of our pool. Depth of the bed is only around 250-300mm to top… 0 3857 They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 5863 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 13091 |