Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Apr 24, 2016 9:41 pm So We are going into winter and I have a laundry list of things to get done around the place, turf being one of them. Ideally I don't want to be walking on mud all winter so would it be ok to lay out new Palmetto turf as it gets colder? My other question is, I'm going to prepare the soil as close as I can to Fu's guidelines, however the soil I'm starting with is heavy clay and to make that worse it has crushed rock all through the top 50-100mm. So will that crushed rock be damaging or can I just add in all the organic soil and hoe it through? Re: Preparing for new turf 2Apr 25, 2016 8:16 am Posting to follow.... We have the same issue! C U S T O M. C O R A L. B R O N T E. 43 http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=79581 M Y C U S T O M C O R A L B R O N T E 43 ...............Kitchen! 16 Nov 2016 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=79581 Re: Preparing for new turf 6May 04, 2016 9:24 pm Depends on your version of 'crushed rock' and 'all through'. Is it 5mm, 10mm, 20mm or bigger? Is it 20%, 50% or over 70%? Take a pic and show us. Fortunately we had very little builders rubbish left on site and spread nearly 40mt of turf underlay. My husband then installed the irrigation system and we placed Sir Walter buffalo in August. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ My husband is an agronomist and he said he would lay Palmetto now if he had to. Obviously it would be better in spring, but it will establish but just not as quickly. Re: Preparing for new turf 7May 05, 2016 9:24 am To the OP - you are going to have to get rid of much of those rocks as possible - probably by hand. They have a habit of working their way to the surface if only down 50mm or so. The more you remove, the easier it will be for the turf to send down roots as well. Sometimes this can be just lots of manual labour to dig down, rake over and remove all the rubble. Smaller pebbles ( 20mm and less ) are OK and they probably add a positive component to the soil but anything bigger get rid of them. You mention you have heavy clay. What sort of slope is your yard on ? If is is sloping, then drainage won't be a problem but if it is flat you should install some drainage pipes to remove excess water after big downpours. Then do as per Fu's guide with lots of organic matter, some Gypsum etc maybe a sand /loam mix and use a rotary hoe to mix it in as thorough and deep as possible. As per anything - the better the prep, the better ( and usually the quicker ) the end result. I've seen more than one guide that recommends in heavy soils to remove the top layer entirely down to 200-300mm and to toss it then replace it with a sandy loam plus added organic matter. Using a Bobcat or Dingo to remove it would be the best option in this case just because of the huge amount of work involved. Stewie Preparing for new turf 8May 05, 2016 6:37 pm Thanks to you both. Stewie now that you point it out that is a good point about them coming to the surface. I will endeavour to scrape as much as possible out. With respect to the yard, it does slope from one side to the other so water will run all be it below ground level. My plan is to add loads of sandy loam, gypsum, and zeolite with maybe a little organic compost just to sweeten it a bit. All of this will be hoed in as deep as I can get it. I'll then let it rest a couple of weeks before laying the turf because I'm unable to use a compactor because the current soil is really sticky and sticks to the bottom of plate compactors. LynneB why would your hubby now choose palmetto when yours looks so fantastic? Re: Preparing for new turf 10May 06, 2016 9:07 am Not sure it will be a worry - so long as you are adding some good top soil. It might even help with drainage and root growth. My only tip - if it is the very start - do your irrigation system in conjunction with lawn. It is cheap and easy to do - and well worth it in the long run. Just to get the piping down at least. Then flag the points you will need. 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 3044 They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 5863 |