Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Oct 07, 2011 1:47 pm OK, so I am getting SEVERELY ahead of myself, as we have only just got the soil test back on a new block of land we are ready to build on. BUT I'm eager, curious and want to know what we are up for. We are building in South East Victoria, on a flat block, the soil report has stated that Site Drainage is poor. Now I have struggled to understand the soil report completely but; The ‘Borehole logs’ show the following; 100mm – FILL CLAYEY SILT/SILTY 200mm – CLAY dark grey 300 – 500mm - CLAYEY SILT, med dense, moist, grey/orange Further – SILY CLAY, very stiff, moist, grey/brown Now I don’t know what any of this means, but am curious as to what will need to be done to improve drainage for landscaping purposes later on. It mentions something about reactive soil and such. I dont know what any of this is! Does it mean I'm going to have a muddy garden every time it rains? Re: Poor Soil Drainage 2Oct 07, 2011 2:20 pm 100mm – FILL CLAYEY SILT/SILTY First 100 mm of soil 200mm – CLAY dark grey 100- 200 deep 300 – 500mm - CLAYEY SILT, med dense, moist, grey/orange 300 - 500 deep Further – SILY CLAY, very stiff, moist, grey/brown beyond 500 deep This is the way I would read the report. Most soils have a mix of clay silt ETC... some more so than others. Clay is a bad drainage material. It is also bad stuff to build on as it expands and contracts when wet causing foundation and wall cracking. This will all have to be taken into account by the builder when he reads the report and the foundation will be built based on that report. As for drainage on the land that is another matter to contend with that I would not like to make any suggestions for. Sand is the best stuff to build on as it has no settling problems and excellent drainage, but not great for growing things in. Re: Poor Soil Drainage 3Oct 07, 2011 8:47 pm Wateman Now I don’t know what any of this means, but am curious as to what will need to be done to improve drainage for landscaping purposes later on. It mentions something about reactive soil and such. I dont know what any of this is! Does it mean I'm going to have a muddy garden every time it rains? When we first moved in our soil was lifeless, mostly clay. The front sloped towards the road and did the south side of the house, the only issue was the north side as it sloped towards the house. When it rained, water would sit there for ages, up to a week. I added some drainage to help but the biggest help was mother nature. With the grass and other vegetation came the worms. Now the soild hardly holds any surface water. Obviously your builder will take into account the soil and build accordingly. Hi HomeOne, I'm in the midst of landscaping a cat run down the side of my house, and the recent rains have me wondering if I need to install some sort of drainage. I've… 0 12246 2 5822 I would find out how deep your clay base is and depending on the depth install a cut off drain which is more than a normal agi drain. Where the neighbouring walls is… 2 3141 |