Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Dec 09, 2011 7:44 pm Hi all, Summer is here and we have finally managed to free up some time to clean up the back garden. Our back yard slopes downwards and we have a retaining wall to reduce this slope. Unfortunately while the house was being built, the back-fill/rubble was dumped in within the retaining wall by the builder. So this area is full of bits of concrete, rocks, bricks etc. After building a new house, we are a bit budget conscious and our plan was to just simply put 100-150mm of top soil on top of this area and be done with it. The area within the retaining wall will be split into lawn and vegetable garden. After reading some threads on this forum, it seems that what I was planing to do is disastrous for good plant growth. So I have a few questions that I hope I could get some help on. My questions mainly relate to preparing the existing soil, before bringing the new top soil/organic soil in. [1] What do you guys recommend for the area within the retaining wall - in terms of preparation? I think the first step might be manually picking out the big/large bits of concrete/bricks/rocks etc. by hand. Then what should we do? We have already gone over the area with a manual hoe (http://www.freepatentsonline.com/D0474660-0-large.jpg). The soil is not hard, or clay..it breaks apart fairly easy in your hand. [2]Should we have a different approach for the preparation for the areas that will be used for a vegetable patch and lawn? [3]For the areas outside the retaining wall there is already grass, but it is mainly a weedy type grass, I assume spraying roundup is the best way to kill this stuff off? [4] Rotary Hoe - I assume that we will have to hire one at one stage. I'd like to have the area within and outside the retaining wall ready for hoeing at the same time. Have I got this right: (i) Area withing retaining wall (rubble): after picking out the big bits of rubble, bricks etc. go over the area with the rotary hoe before bringing in the topsoil (i)Area outside the retaining wall (grass/weedy): spray the roundup/weed killer, then wait for the grass to die. Remove the grass and go over the area with a rotary hoe before bringing the top soil Please correct me or give me your suggestions. Help and advice is much appreciated. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Uploaded with ImageShack.us I've filled, levelled and compacted around 100mm of roadbase in preparation to lay some outdoor court tiles. Prior to doing the final compaction, I dusted the top with… 0 3037 Hi Building Expert, Thank you for the feedback, much appreciated, there is also a code of conduct for building surveyors which they need to follow as well. I am looking… 4 3644 the leaves that are now underground go yellow, the tips that poke through photosynthesise and have chlorophyll, same reason they grow rhubarb in the dark. 5 4815 |