Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 May 20, 2012 1:23 am Hi there, new poster and new at this landscaping experience from looking for some advice in relation to turf and landscaping. I have read through the mountain of information in the turf laying guides, and have posted in there, however without luck so thought I would post here in an attempt to get a response. We have just received hand over for our new house in Cairns and now it is on me to start looking into some landscaping. I have had a landscaper quote on doing some basics, but the cost and the quality of the final product has made me look into doing it myself. I have a large area that i need to get sorted out (almost 500m), and originally was going to turf the lot, then come back afterwards and put the gardens in, but I am starting to think differently now (I seem to be changing my mind on a daily basis). After reading through the turf guides on here, I have managed to source many of the products I need to get the soil ready to lay the turf on. I have found some molasses, zeolite and perlite from a local rural supplies, the seasol, powerfeed and seamungus from Bunnings and have been in touch with the distributor for Bactivate in NQ, so also should have this squared away. I haven't been able to locate any spongolite so am planning on doing without it. Plans are to have a dingo do a little drainage work and while on site have him use a ripper to save me a little work. I do have a slight concern, when the builders finished with the site they dumped and spread a heap of crusher dust (as can be seen below), do I need to get rid of this before i start or just cultivate it through with the rest of the added materials? Should I also add some sand to this mix? http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa148/KeeperSD/20120518_131248.jpg http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa148/KeeperSD/20120518_131106.jpg I am also having difficulty locating any certified compost up this way, the best i have come up with so far is either http://www.cairnsmulch.com.au/mulch.html - the premium compost or have been suggested the forest mulch http://www.banddlandscape.com.au/2.html as it breaks down very quickly. Can anyone suggest which is more appropriate for my purposes. As I am intending on putting gardens in down the track, is it also best to prepare the whole area the same way regardless of whether it will be turf or garden, and then just build onto the gardens later? I apologise if these questions have been asked and answered before, however after much reading and searching I haven't been able to find an answer. Re: New House landscape help 2May 20, 2012 9:52 am Hi without knowing what is in the actual crusher dust i would scrap it off, why did they put it on anyway? was it supposed to be an excuse for soil or to stop erosion or something? I can help you out more if you could tell me what is under the crusher dust, is it exposed subsoil from the top soil scrapped of during the build? Is it clay? which would be pretty hard at this time of year up your way. Re: New House landscape help 3May 20, 2012 2:09 pm Apparently the crusher dust was the builders idea of finishing the levels around the house for hand over, perhaps it was cheaper than soil. The soil under and in the places that haven't been covered appears to a layman like me as clay. The property has been filled when it was subdivided so i don't think much in the way of top soil got put back down. I have taken a couple of photos and will post them here when i get home to show what it looks like. Re: New House landscape help 5May 21, 2012 2:53 pm Thanks better with pics. What about your levels, how high can you raise the soil? Without actually being able to test your soil a basic outline of what you would need to do is scrap off all building rubble cement etc and build up some new soil. Rip, mattock, dig the clay you have to about 30cm deep and grade/shape this to your liking, this is the subsoil base. Then overlay with a sandy loam or loam soil to gain some topsoil depth. Ideally your want about 20% compost in the top soil, so if you get a landscape soil "blend" that contains 20% thats perfect. This will create new layers and is a little different than whats in Fu's posts but you really don't want to mix that fill/clay subsoil into your topsoil. Re: New House landscape help 7May 21, 2012 7:25 pm Spoocs i emailed the Australian distributors directly and they passed me onto their cairns distributors directly and she got back to me an hour later. Spoke with her on the phone today and she seemed to think the bactivate would not be all that expensive. Didn't have any luck finding it anywhere else so haven't been able to compare prices. One thing she did also recommend was "liquid carbon", can anyone elaborate on this for me? Re: New House landscape help 8Jun 12, 2012 8:24 pm As i am unable to find any 'certified' organic soil/compost, what should i ask the landscape supply yards to ensure i get some soil/compost that will do a reasonable job in replacement for the 'certified' alternative? Re: New House landscape help 9Jun 12, 2012 8:56 pm Australian standards certified is the second best. You will find it numbered AS4419 on bagged compost but you can get it bulk. If your soil supplier doesnt know what the Australian Standards are then avoid like the plague. Re: New House landscape help 11Jun 15, 2012 4:26 pm So all the grey soil in your pics is scoria??? Whats the depth of it? Re: New House landscape help 12Jun 16, 2012 5:35 am Yeah apparently it is, so the rep from bactivate tells me. Not sure why they would use it though as it appears to be more expensive than cheap top soil. Depth varies from just a scraping to maybe 100mm in some parts Re: New House landscape help 13Jun 16, 2012 10:30 am Probably left over junk from another site the builder was working on. Big job i know but i would scrap it off, it could throw your PH level way out. If thats not an option at at least work it it the sub soil, what you dont want is a top soil layer, a scoria layer then a clay subsoil. If that happens the water will sit in the scoria layer waterlogging the top soil making it a slop pit. Re: New House landscape help 15Jun 21, 2012 9:02 pm Another question for the people that might know, I am well into the process of preparing the rear yard for turf and am having it delivered on Saturday morning, question comes about the compacting. When I have laid the turf, does it get a water before the light compacting? I have tried searching, however there are so many results for these search items that I can't find the answer. Re: New House landscape help 16Jun 23, 2012 6:17 am Roll before laying and after, then water Landscape Design & Construction http://cherub.squarespace.com/ Re: New House landscape help 17Aug 07, 2012 6:49 pm After a successful outcome with the turfing, i am now chasing advice for some gardens, plants and trees. The front of the house faces close to east, meaning the windows of the front two bedrooms get a fair pasting with the sun until lunch time. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ While this is the back of the house faces almost west, with an open parkland over the back fence. While at this time of year its not too bad, i imagine summer won't be pleasant. I originally was going to put a blind over the window on the left (dining room), however that won't keep the sun off the wall and i am not a big fan of them anyway. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ As such I would love some advice in relation to gardens and trees that I could use to give us a little relief from the sun in the future. I have some garden areas mapped out (the ungrassed areas) and have put the idea of more along with trees into the bosses head (the one responsible for so much lawn). Others in the street have planted out the parkland behind their houses into an extended garden, and as such I was contemplating the same with trees. The only real framework for me is to retain some of the mountain views as well as a good street appeal. EDIT I have searched and read a number of posts in relation to trees and plants, but I am still a little lost with choices. The local nurseries don't seem all the knowledgeable when it comes to plant choices. Re: New House landscape help 19Aug 23, 2012 3:18 pm Wow KeeperSD - quite an outlook you have at the back there! I am by no means a garden expert but my advice would be to go for a drive around your neighbourhood and see what you like the look of and what seems to be growing well. Maybe have a chat with the people at your local nursery about what you might do. Firstly I would put some plants near to the front windows to "soften" the facade a bit and give you some sun protection. Secondly I'd be tempted to plant a feature tree near the back of the home (to the left of your al fresco area) to afford some shade and add a bit of interest. As to type of plants; I may leave that to the experts (being in Victoria I have little to no idea what would grow in tropical North Queensland!) I do like the idea of a frangipani as your back feature tree though (beautiful flowers and foliage IMHO). Good luck and please put some picture up when you are done Re: New House landscape help 20Sep 01, 2012 3:34 pm Hey Grom Thanks for the reply, we are very happy with outlook and the the reason we want to make the most of it with the landscape. We have done the drive around, but the gardens around here are the typical type thing with palms, lillipillis and small boring ground covers. We are keen to go with flowering plants, to add some colour to the place and just the satisfaction that flowering plants give. I am keen to run with natives mainly, no real reason behind it, but just feel that it is the way to go. Plants/trees in front are definitely on the cards, not sure what exactly yet was thinking grevillias, banksias or callistamons, mainly because these are the only ones that i know of. We are open to ideas, as we really don't know for sure. I hadn't thought of a feature tree in that location in the back, definitely worth a thought, (although I am not a huge fan of Frangipani's), but might look into what would look good there. I am also thinking of some small trees down the right hand side of the house (left as seen from the back), to give some nice shade but also to give some privacy from the neighbours. Would some small fruit trees be suitable for this area? Or is there something better for this area. Landscape Design Parramatta We have been doing a large amount of landscape design work in Sydney… 0 3 Need advice on the backyard plan above. Should I excavate and cut all of the dirt to level with the house slab or semi-excavate as per photo above? Both left and right… 0 24872 Thanks very much! And would the landscaper/contractor generally involve the engineer or is that something the client would do? Thanks for your help 2 10034 |