Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Sep 10, 2010 12:58 pm Hi there, I am a novice gardener with a blank canvas (new build) - bare yard covered in Kikuyu. I'm on the Mid North Coast of NSW. Our soil is clay - rock hard when dry, mushy mud when wet. We are 1km from the ocean. We get a lot of rain over Summer (most during November to April) – after we bought, we had to spend most of our garden budget on drainage, etc. due to flooding. Needing a “dry spell” garden is not too much of an issue here, due to the rainfall (a dry week is when we only get rain once in the week!). We have a water tank that is for the garden/loos/laundry – it has never gotten empty. Here the average Summer temps are around 30c, can get to high 30’s. The Winter averages 7-20c, pretty mild Winters here. The front of block is North facing – backyard fence borders East, South & West. Fill for Garden Beds - We're about to put in a big L-shape garden bed along East and South fence line. In this bed I am hoping to plant a screening plant along the back of the bed, then shrubs along the middle, and small flowers for the kids to pick flowers. What do you advise to fill it with? – soil suggestions, or if there are other things we can work into it. Gypsum / PowerFeed – Fu, I read that you recommend PowerFeed over Gypsum, does this include all plant types & garden beds, as well as lawn areas? Wetting Crystals – what do you recommend? How do we put them in? How deep are they worked in? Drip lines / watering systems - what do you recommend? Do we organise this before soil / planting? Screening - I want to screen along the South fenceline (neighbour's deck overlook our yard) – but don’t want something that takes up too much space. I have been googling hedging plants and these keep popping up - Bamboo (Slender Weavers), Acmena smithii (Neighbours-Be-Gone), Murraya Paniculata, Agonis. Can you let me know what may suit the conditions here? Our lawn is Kikuyu – where we place the garden beds should we pull it up? Or cover it and put garden beds on top? Vegetable Beds - We’re also planning on putting in some free-standing veggie beds in the middle of the yard – again, should we pull up the Kikuyu? What do you suggest we fill the veggie beds with? West side of the house – it’s a wet, muddy, shaded spot, which has drainage and has been graded so that heavy rains can flow down away from the property. It roughly 1m wide. We’ll be putting down pebbles / gravel over the mud. What would grow well here in pots? (just a few below bedroom windows for a bit of visual interest). Something that will grow well despite neglect and shade, and perhaps no taller than 1m – any suggestions? Any other tips you can offer for a novice like me is much appreciated! Many thanks! Perdita. Re: Novice needs help - garden bed soil, screening plants, 2Sep 10, 2010 1:50 pm Hi there Perdita. I'm also from the mid north coast of NSW. Where are you? Re: Novice needs help - garden bed soil, screening plants, 3Sep 10, 2010 1:53 pm Sorry, I'm in Port. Also about 1km from Shelly Beach. I know what you mean about the clay. One thing I have to say when it comes to lawn up here, I recommend Sir Walter. We've planted - best ever!! If your in Port or close I can give you a list of my contacts up here for soil etc, etc. I'm constantly on the hunt for more info too. Re: Novice needs help - garden bed soil, screening plants, 4Sep 24, 2010 8:54 am Thanks for your reply garden lover!
I'm approx an hour south of you, but have some rello's your way. Lovely part of the world! Yes, I would have loved better turf, but the Kikuyu is what came with the build unfortunately and we can't afford to returf. Sorry I haven't been back on here for a while (too busy in the garden). We've almost finished the front garden - ornamental & feature trees etc. In the back garden we've built a big L-shape bed, but it hasn't been filled yet. It took days to dig up the turf for the major bed! And we've still got more beds to put in, I'm thinking we'll try and kill the turf off with black plastic/cardboard or something. Once the beds are all in we'll have to get some soil delivered. I'm thinking of scrounging around for some broken bricks/tiles - would this help in drainage of the beds? (in terms of it being clay underneath). Bit by bit, we're getting there! Re: Novice needs help - garden bed soil, screening plants, 5Sep 24, 2010 8:28 pm Hi Perdita Sounds good. I've been busy in my gardens too. Finishing my backyard and just starting to landscape our pool area - yippee. Has been on the drawing board for the past couple of years now and finally is going to happen. I went and purchased all my palms etc and cant wait for them all to arrive tomorrow. For drainage, try and get your hands maybe on some free draining gravel? The tiles and bricks might leave too large a hole for the plants to handle maybe ? Not certain. I've been reading up non stop about this horrid clay soil. From all accounts though, the "experts" state to not dig into the subsoil clay. Mix the upper layers of clay with organic mix soils and build garden beds up for better drainage. Apparently if you dig into the hard subsoil clay, it will pool with water instead of naturally draining and then the plant will drown I've just planted a large tree in my backyard. My topsoil is a mix of clay and organic mix. As for the subsoil, I've done what a landscape architect at my work advises for whenever a large client i.e Council are planting large trees into the clay around here. Dig further than the root ball of the tree (depends on the size of rootball), - he gives actual measurements but I'll give you guesstimates. So if the subsoil clay has to be dug into, do this, then put a pipe with "sock" (I used ag drain for mine) - run it from one side above the soil level, down to bottom of the hole and then up the opposite side. Cut it on both sides just above soil/mulch level. On top of this drain add gravel - say 100mm, then he advises sand (I didnt put the sand - hubby said dont worry - boy will he be in the dog house if this fails!!!!! My 2 ridgebacks will just love cuddling up to daddy ) and then the good quality soil mix. Raise the garden bed. I have seen so many trees planted with this method around town and with sheer neglect they survive because of his planting methods. So I can definately say this method works. The pipe works in various ways - if the water is ponding at the bottom, it will allow air flow down there to dry the water. It also allows oxygen down to the roots which is vital. And in very dry times you can pour water into this pipe to allow for deep root watering as well as the normal top soil watering. This method wouldnt be used on all garden plants, but if you have to dig into the subsoil clay to fit the rootball and raising the bed still isnt enough, then I think it is a good idea Especially if you are paying big bucks for your special trees. Eventually my tree will send its roots down either side of the drain and into the subsoil but at least it wont be drowning as apposed to if I did nothing Murraya could be a great option for you. It creates a great tall screening hedge but doesn't drop fruit like lily pilly. The flowers smell divine. 2 10240 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 We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 37139 |