Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Sep 19, 2011 8:02 pm Hey guys/gals, I am pulling some of my back yard down. This involves removing a retaining wall holding what would be around 2-3 cubic meters of clay. What I plan to do is use this as a base to flatten out my grassed area of lawn. I will raise it around 100mm by placing this clay straight over my kikuyu. I know Kikuyu grass is hardy and will no doubt grow though but what I wanted to make sure is that having a clay base will not turn my grass (when it grows through) into a sponge during winter. I don't want to have my grass turn into a swamp. Any problems here? Re: Clay under grass 2Sep 19, 2011 10:13 pm Umm im no expert but putting clay onto grass doesnt sound like a good idea. The clay will just sit there. I think it would really need to be mixed in with some of the soil amendements already recommended in the turf laying thread or just collect the clay and chuck it... As i said im no expert but ive dug through clay and its a big clump of clay at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day its still a big lump of clay... so good luck Re: Clay under grass 3Sep 20, 2011 12:17 pm The most important thing I need to know is where are you living? As for making clay into something, absolutely doable (for ever), just like you can turn sand into a permanent friable soil. Clays can also be worked and improved permanently. Both soil types are at opposite ends to the scale yet the answers are so very similar. Re: Clay under grass 4Sep 20, 2011 12:44 pm Fu Manchu The most important thing I need to know is where are you living? As for making clay into something, absolutely doable (for ever), just like you can turn sand into a permanent friable soil. Clays can also be worked and improved permanently. Both soil types are at opposite ends to the scale yet the answers are so very similar. I'm in Victoria, Caroline Springs. The couple of questions i have are about the clay not becoming to squishy under foot during the wetter months. Also i would want to ensure a nice flat and even grassed section. How do i best achieve this with the lumps of clay I have to work with? Thanks Fu.... Re: Clay under grass 6Sep 22, 2011 8:11 am Fu Manchu Oooo I'll take a look later I will save you the time of putting up a detailed post Fu. After a bit more excavation it seems that the clay i will be using is full of rock. From big to small and a lot of it. A fair bit of rubbish to?? I think it might be easier to remove it all and start with a fresh base. Re: Clay under grass 7Nov 08, 2011 10:41 pm I'd say you'd be far better off working with what you have and that way end up with healthier plants. Add lots of zeolite (2-4kg per m2), some sand, and heaps of organic compost dug through to about 30cm and blended with the existing soils. Root structure will be far better that way and plants will be healthier. I've dug some footings to embed a post anchor into. My holes are around 450mm deep which I'll put a 200mm stirrup into. The bottom of these holes seem firm enough. … 0 3377 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Please help me to answer this question , it will help me a lot as i can go to buy confidently with your recommendation: I want to put synthetic turf in our backyard for… 0 5589 Thanks for the insights, that makes perfect sense, and yeah, I will be leaning on the experience of the excavator operator entirely. 6 16288 |