Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Sep 21, 2008 9:51 pm A quick pre turf question for those in the know.
Us Westies in Melb have this wonderful clay soil, which seems to compact quite hard. I have put gypsum down and watered it in, even tried to dig it in a little, but to minimal effect so far. I have to use a crowbar to get deep rooted weeds out, and believe a rotary hoe is going to be a waste of time. I plan on putting down Kykuyu, due to its hardiness, water features and summer strength, also becasue I can controll it creeping. If I put the turf down on 100mm topsoil over the gyspsum and water crystals, how due you think it will go ? Water is not an issue due to several full tanks and washing machine water, but I dont want to blow money if the roots wont take becase of the hard clay. Thoughts? Adrian B Re: Pre turf question 2Sep 22, 2008 12:09 am they will take.
Lots of "powerfeed" by the seasol mob will also help. 10lts of powerfeed will have the same effect as 1 tonne of gypsum! Organic material is the key to a better soil in heavy clay as well as sands. I remember years ago when we lived there the Kike grew no dramas in unprepped clay soil. I don't know about they water crystals though. great in theroy but will mean that they is going to be lots of moisture in the top 100mm. That means the turf gets lazy and doesn't send deeper roots to find the water. That means you ironically use more water due to weaker plants not doing well in the heat come summer. Then every winter it will get better again. Re: Pre turf question 3Sep 22, 2008 8:38 am Thanks FM - we will be in a similar situation.
What sort of organic material do you think should be added? Manure? Compost? Our plan is for a lawn about 250sqm so I'm thinking that we'll need to hire a rotary hoe to turn in such a large volume of organic material. After 4 years - we're in! Re: Pre turf question 4Sep 25, 2008 1:19 pm I use certified organic soil improver (from gardenersdirect.com.au) that contains loads of rotted piggey poo. However in Sydney I would see if you can find "biowise" that is also a great certified organic soil.
Maybe contact the garden gurus because Nev and Trev are based out of Sydney now to the best of my knowledge and they have used it many times for various landscapes here in WA so they may know what's good in Sydney. I might do some research on what soils are available Re: Pre turf question 5Sep 25, 2008 1:22 pm I've heard of Biowise from the Garden Gurus tv show. I'll look them up - ta!
Thanks for info on them relocating to Sydney - I've been missing the show recently! After 4 years - we're in! Re: Pre turf question 6Sep 25, 2008 1:28 pm Fu Manchu they will take. Lots of "powerfeed" by the seasol mob will also help. 10lts of powerfeed will have the same effect as 1 tonne of gypsum! Organic material is the key to a better soil in heavy clay as well as sands. I remember years ago when we lived there the Kike grew no dramas in unprepped clay soil. I don't know about they water crystals though. great in theroy but will mean that they is going to be lots of moisture in the top 100mm. That means the turf gets lazy and doesn't send deeper roots to find the water. That means you ironically use more water due to weaker plants not doing well in the heat come summer. Then every winter it will get better again. Do you just pour on the powerfeed? We are in the same situation as Adrian and my husband and I can't agree. Last time we used gypsum and rotary hoed, then added lots of topsoil and lawn seed. Quite frankly I think the end result wasn't worth it. All the older houses on the other side of Wyndham Vale have couch or kikuye growing well with minimal effort/preparation as far as I can tell. Re: Pre turf question 7Sep 25, 2008 1:38 pm spray it on. Much easier. Use an old seasol container that goes onto the hose. Add 100ml of Powerfeed into it and do that every month or two at least or every fortnight for a longwhile is better You can get 10ltr containers of Powerfeed and Seasol now from Bunnings and even bigger from Ag suppliers and there should be one or two of them around Werribee
10ltr ones are about $70. Re: Pre turf question 9Oct 22, 2008 10:09 pm I better add to this that using "powerfeed" as a clay breaker isn't a one of application and neither is gypsum. Use it at least every month for best results.
from the seasol folks "To improve soil structure and condition we can apply and blend solid organic matter and use gypsum to open up clay soils and improve soil "friability", however this can take a great deal of material, and time to gain improvement. The liquid composts in PowerFeed are in a highly concentrated form, extracted from ancient deposits of decomposed plant life and other natural sources unique to south eastern Australia. This means PowerFeed becomes a fast acting soil conditioner, as well as a fertiliser. Just 50ml of PowerFeed in 9 litres of water is equivalent to the application of 10 kilograms of gypsum ! The application of PowerFeed will rapidly stimulate beneficial microbial activity as well as provide a fast acting boost to the garden." They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 5878 We've had the offer of a short term tenant whilst waiting for CDC/DA home approval and demolition for our knock down rebuild. It would achieve a pretty low rent as it's… 0 13752 The fastest thing a builder will do is bank your cheque, those systems work perfectly with lightning speed, everything else is slow burn. Just the way it is. 1 8706 |