"Rats" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I have some questions about spreading topsoil and planting grass.

I have recently taken ownership of my new house which was built from
scratch. During the building process almost all the topsoil was
excavated and what I am now left with is exposed clay. This clay is
now starting to harden rapidly as summer approaches here in NZ.

Fortunately my section is not big so I don't have too much topsoil to
spread. What I do however need to do is to shovel some of the clay
around the section in order to make the ground levels a little bit
cleaner and neater. Currently there are some lumps on the site where
extra holes were dug and the clay was just dumped there.

So my questions a

1) What is the easiest wayof breaking up hard clay in order to move
and spread at another location of the site.

2) Once I have moved the clay can I just leave it there or should I
compact it? If so then what is a simple way of doing this?

3) I'll be spreading topsoil using a wheelbarrow. Any other easier
ways of doing this? I estimate 10 cubic metres are required so that
would be about 60 wheelbarrow loads! Gonna be a tough couple of days
so any easier methods would be appreciated.

4) Once the topsoil is spread, again, do I need to compact it before
planting grass?

5) How exactly do you plant grass? Do you just grab handfuls of seed
and throw them about?

6) I forgot to mention that there are some weeds present on site.
They've somehow grown through the clay. Should I kill these off with
some weed killer or can I just bury them under the topsoil?

Thanks in advance to all who will read this post and comment on it.

Cheers
10 cubic metres 60 barrows lot more than that order some 60/40 clay sand mix
spread it evenly the returf