Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article , [H]omer wrote:

I didn't make it clear before, but my current 'soil' is about 1/2" of
what looks like mainly sand (think the kind of soil you get at the
inland edge of a beach), followed by ???" of clay (I haven't struck rock
yet!!!). Therefore, for all intents and purposes, there is no real soil
on site; I'll have to buy some in.

That smells wrong. I strongly advise analysing it first - your clay
may not be entirely clay. My soil is 60% sand, 18% silt and 22% clay,
and you should likke at various loams - if you have basically clay,
you WANT the sand.

To analyse clay at home, half fill a clear glass wine bottle

Hi Nick,

Yeah I remember doing the soil-test-in-a-jar experiment way back in my
school days.

Let me put it this way, the clay under my garden has the consistency of
putty, i.e. it is nearly pure, terracotta-red, potter's clay. It's so
'good' in fact that I am actually going to be selling it to a local arts
and crafts club.

It would seem that I'm sitting on top of a clay pit. Oh lucky me.

I am brassed off that the property developers slapped lawns directly on
top of wet-clay with zero drainage.

I understand that clay is not intrinsically the evil entity that some
people think it is; it is rich in nutrients after all, but it's also a
pain WRT drainage.

I think my garden may actually be one of those that really does need
field drainage pipes.

I'm going to be calling in a guy who's a tree surgeon and landscaper, to
help me with a tree that's been blown partly over by the horrendous wind
we get round here, so I'll ask for his expert opinion about drainage on
site as well.

Thanks again,

-
[H]omer