poor soil

Zumpel

Hi All ,

I bought a house in a new development around half a year ago. Seems like they took of the good top soil when getting the building site ready, but they
didnt put it back on. So now I have a very wet and rocky "lawn" (bit of a bog in winter, really ) What I have done so far is add sand, compost and fertilizer, and two packs of lawn seeds. Paid off, but in general, the soil
still is quite wet/poor.

I havent got time or money to rip out the whole top and replace it with some proper topsoil, really. Any other suggestions on how to improve the soil without major "operations" ? (I got time, not really looking for a instant solution, just want to make sure I move into the right direction.)

ta

gregos

Get stuff growing in it as quick as you can. The more plants you have growing in the soil the more its structure will improve. Doesn't matter what you grow.

Start a compost bin. Start two of them. Have the best-quality compost free of charge. Avoid peat-based additives: not environmentally friendly.

Collect a few trailer-loads of well-rotted stable-manure. They give it away free.

Make your own liquid feed by soaking your weeds in a plastic bin and draining off the water after a few weeks. Keep it in sealed containers and feed your plants with it. Nettles are especially rich in nutrients. It's free.

karltimber

hi,
what happens in some sites is that they use the back gardens as a road during construction - before they build the walls and the soil is compacted.

so when new topsoil is put on top the water saturates this topsoil and has no-where to go.

So relaying newer top soil is not going to do much..

One possible thing to do is put in land drainage into the garden -- a digger and alot of stone....
and drain it into a sinkhole or a gulley....!!

Karl.

Zumpel

thanks guys, for now I think I'll try planting a lot of stuff and maybe another sack or two of sand. if that doesnt help , i'll seriously look into the drainage idea (makes me eyes water just thinking of it...)

cheers