Laying turf question

I have just prepped my front and backyard ready to lay turf and was just wondering if any of the small bits of bark/mulch type material that came in my composted soil will stop the turf roots from establishing into the soil?
I rotaryhoed the crap clay fill and then spread composted soil and rotaryhoed it all again as well as adding biochar, bactivate and seamungus to the mix.
I plan to plate compact and pick out any large bits bigger than a few cms but there is a fair bit of bark type material mixed through the soil.

Don't want my new turf to curl up and die on me!!

The bits of bark wont be a problem unless there is large clumps of it. Also i know Fu recommends plate compacting but i definately would not do that with clay soil. Compacting works great on sand but on clay it crushes all the structure you created by cultivating. Use a roller instead.

Thanks that's a relief, I have a very lightweight plate compactor, only about 60kgs so I think it should be ok. I'll do a test patch and see how firm it becomes.

Its not the firmness that's the issue. When you dig up/cultivate clay soils it's broken up into a range of aggregates, like small clods. These aggregates range from tiny to large and when mixed up together provide air and moisture gaps for your plant roots to grow. Now if you whack it with a plate compacter you crush these aggregates back together and destroy the air/moisture gaps before the plants/grass get a chance to send there roots in.

With sand (ie Perth) all the soil particles are roughly the same and you can whack it all you like and you won't change the soil structure. You can also whack loam soils a little bit without issues.

Sorry for hijacking the thread Titch101.

Beatrixkiddo, I remember you posted somewhere saying adding sand to clay soil if the turf area is to play on. My local nursery has a list like - yellow lite brick sand, Skye white brick sand, TGS white sand, white sand, washed concrete sand and packing sand. May I ask what sort of sand do I need to get and how many cubic metres do I need for an area of 4x16m?

Thanks

Edit: 1 more question, would it be a good idea to run a couple of slotted AG pipes in that area?