Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Aug 25, 2012 11:09 pm In one of my garden beds there is about a foot of soil and then a solid clay base. This has caused drainage issues. I was wondering if there was any way to break up the clay (without having to dig up the entire bed/destroy my established plants)? Re: Clay under garden bed 2Aug 26, 2012 7:52 pm Whats the actual drainage issue? If you have established plants growing there then its obviously alright for plant growth. Re: Clay under garden bed 3Aug 27, 2012 9:51 am Gypsum is supposed to be good for breaking up clay but I think you need to dig it through. A blog about our renovation http://notmynightmare.blogspot.com.au/ Re: Clay under garden bed 4Aug 27, 2012 10:50 am You could add some organic compost by digging in around your established plants and Fu always says that Powerfeed is the best thing to break down clay - and much faster than gypsum For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Clay under garden bed 5Aug 27, 2012 11:16 am There are plants there but they are not exactly thriving (i.e. having some leaf drop etc). I think that the main issue is around when there is heavy rain (so that the bed fills up with water and because of the clay base has no-where to go). Does Powerfeed need to be dug in to the clay or would it work by boring some holes to get it down to the clay base? Re: Clay under garden bed 6Aug 27, 2012 12:14 pm Unfortunately there is not much you can do from above if the clay is impermable. You need to break the clay up. Or if your foot of soil is imported sandy loam you could install ag drains to remove the water sitting on top of the clay. Re: Clay under garden bed 7Aug 27, 2012 4:48 pm Powerfeed is soluble so just pour it over your garden ... do a search and see what Fu says ... For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! 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 3311 Thanks for the insights, that makes perfect sense, and yeah, I will be leaning on the experience of the excavator operator entirely. 6 16121 I want to build a bigger driveway (without a nature strip) than has been approved under my CDC. I’ve also had a DA approved to build a deck. It looks like I can do this… 0 4800 |