Rats wrote:
On Nov 25, 1:00 am, "Bob Hobden" wrote:
Never compact clay unless you want to use it to make a pond. Spreading soil
over solid clay will mean that any rain will not drain away and the soil
will become waterlogged, at least it would in the UK. If this may be a
problem for you in your rainy season (our summer?) it would be a good idea
to think about drainage now before you do more work. Put in soil pipes to a
local ditch, build your own pond to take the excess rainwater again using
soil pipes, if it's clay over gravel as here then break through the clay
layer with a borer and fill the hole with shingle...

Hi, thanks for your reply. WRT drainage, fortunately my section is
gently sloping allow for access water to run off without any issues.
Even in the torrential down pour we've had in Auckland in the last few
days I've had no drainage issues.

Not without machinery and youi don't want heavy machines tearing up and
compacting the clay any more.

So the trick is no compacting of the clay. Gotcha.

Just shuffling over it pressing your heels in, then gently raking, then
shuffling again etc etc is enough.

Some of the equipment hire places have a small roller you can hire. I
was planning on using this. So you're sure it's not necessary to
compact then?

There was one more question I forgot to ask and it's an important one.
How close to the house should I spread the soil and plant grass? I've
heard that you should allow for some clearance as too close could mean
the wood would end up rotting. Maybe I could just plant the grass
irrespective of how close it is and then once it's taken root I can
carefully spray the edges so it doesn't grow too close to the house.
What do you think?
I don't know what your local geology is like in Auckland NZ - is it
limestone based? Here in the UK, in the limestone areas, the sort of
concreting aggregates and sharp sands sold, cheaply, by builders
merchants are usually crushed limestone. This does wonders to clay - if
dug in it weathers the clay to soil in about a year and keeps it that
way for centuries. Worth a try.

rjbl