Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Jul 28, 2016 7:33 pm Hello, I'm about to start laying my first lawn and I'm trying to follow Fus guide however I'm getting a little bit confused. We are on extremely hard clay soil which is creating drainage issues around the house. Fu says that organic Compost and lots of it will fix it. My question then becomes about laying the turf. Do I lay the soil on the mixed in compost ground. Do I mix the compost in and then get some organic sandy loam and mix that into the top and lay the soil on that? Or do I skip the compost and just get plenty of organic soil mix that in with the clay and lay on that? I'll in west Melbourne so will be getting all my stuff from the green center. Organic Compost or Organic Soil? 2Jul 28, 2016 10:38 pm Break up/cultivate the clay to 100mm (200mm ideally if drainage is an issue) then lay about 20mm of organic compost on top and mix through again. Compost is a soil conditioner, it gives the clay better structure for root growth and drainage. Level it all out then layer 100mm of sandy loam on top. *Lightly* roll the surface to compact it slightly. You can add gypsum to step one if you want. Without testing your clay it's difficult to know if it will work or not. Won't hurt though, clay in west melb is gypsum reactive in parts. Re: Organic Compost or Organic Soil? 3Jul 29, 2016 10:07 am Also if possible, grade the area so there is a slight slope directing water away from your house. Re: Organic Compost or Organic Soil? 5Aug 16, 2016 7:37 pm I'm in a similar situation and we have heavy clay loam soil aka very sticky black s**t I'm going to spread a 50mm layer of organic compost, gypsum 2kg/m2, and pearlite on the soil and then hoe it to approx 300mm deep. Let that settle for 2-3wks and water well. Then spread 50mm of sandy Loam and zeolite on top, but not mix it through and then lay turf on top. I am not sure whether Perth has its own way of doing things in regards to this. Most of Perth has class A (sandy soil), except for some areas near rivers or hills. 2 13099 We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 37143 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair I'm in WA and our sandy soils make drainage a bit easier but this is what I'd be doing. Dig down to your footings and let the wall dry out. Clean it all well by brushing… 1 5194 |