CONFUSED! Topsoil - HOW DEEP?
"Stormy" Gray
9 years ago
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"Stormy" Gray
9 years agoRelated Discussions
How much topsoil do I need for new lawn?
Comments (11)I mostly agree with texasweed in hesitating to till. I realize you can find hundreds of articles on that topic, but you will never find a reliable landscaper that tills before installing a garden. They always use a tractor and box blade to develop perfect drainage and seed bed. If you are in a new development, your soil was probably graded already. If you add more soil you are almost guaranteed to ruin the drainage. If you end up with water draining into the house, you are in for a long time of headaches. I'm am assuming you don't need more soil. No matter what soil the contractor left you with, it is adequate to start a lawn. Pure sand is what I use as a replacement for my lost topsoil. Sand will never be "topsoil" but it works great for grass. Removing the rocks is a good idea, but I would not go way overboard on that either. My bedrock protrudes from the surface in places and is as much as 18 inches deep at the deepest. You can't dig holes in my garden without a pick or jack hammer. But I digress. Whatever soil you are starting with is fine. It will become topsoil before you know it. As for seeding, the most I would do, assuming your soil is properly graded from the contractor, loosen the very top with a leaf rake, apply a mix of Kentucky bluegrass seed and turf-type tall fescue, roll it down with a water filled roller, and water. KBG takes a little longer to sprout than fescue so keep watering daily until the KBG comes in. Set your mower to the highest setting and mow when the grass is tall enough to be mowed. Back off on watering frequency as you can but increase the time you water. Eventually you should be watering every other week unless your part of WA is in the desert. Then during the hot part of summer you might need to water weekly. Fertilize after you have mowed the grass for the second time. You don't add weed killer unless and until you have weeds to kill. Don't worry about not having weeds. Spring seeded lawns are very susceptible to crabgrass sprouts. Keep your grass growing up tall and that will help keep the crabgrass out....See MoreHow do you know ....topsoil
Comments (12)i put about a quarter inch top soil...it covered in grass.the roots sank deep into the sand...but not without the topsoil This can work if the soil is loose sand/loam, but not so much if it's clay, particularly the highly compacted clay subsoil often found on new construction lots. In my own yard I had 4" of topsoil spread before seeding with grass. Some areas have more like 6" and others more like 2" (the top soil was used to even the grade as well). In every case where I have removed sod to plant other things the grass roots go to the bottom of the top soil (a sandy loam) and stop once they hit the clay. The moral is whether or not one needs topsoil just depends on how capable the existing soil is of supporting healthy plant growth. Not talking about the local weeds which are adapted to the prevailing soil conditions, but the stuff one wants to grow. It is far less labor and time intensive to truck in 4-6" of decent quality topsoil than it is to improve the bad soil (or subsoil) for an entire yard. Unless you have the skills though, you will want to pay a landscaper to put down the topsoil and make it conform to a proper grading to avoid water issues in the yard or worse, around the home foundation....See MoreTopsoil fill for 'new' beds? How much? What to use?
Comments (7)Yes, the leaves will sink down, so you should really heap up the first load; dampen them as they put down and walk across them to pack down, as the leaves are spread. Afterwards, you add more leaves as a mulch every year, so it will pretty much maintain depth. I found about 15-25% shrinkage which is considerably less than for lasagna-style, maybe because of being packed down?? Sure, broken pavers (2"-3") will do for drainage, but if some are in good shape, think about setting them at the top edge every few feet to have a place to sit. You may need to get some gravel as well, it takes a surprising amount to fill 4"x48". Consider laying soaker hose as part of the finish work. Attached to a repeating timer, it can do the watering for you. You should find that a bed with organic compost is better at managing water than plain dirt. That is actually a reasonable amount of light, a good many annuals and soft perennials would be happy with it, as well as many of the 'shade' lovers. With that light, I'd be tempted to get involved with fibrous begonias. No, no I mustn't think about that, it's YOUR bed. Thisle ~ you'd be better off posting a separate thread. Just which plants are in the bed will matter (along with how much time and energy you have). Most shrubby types will do fine if you pile the leaves to about 4", but those perennials with soft crowns will be happier to be lifted and re-planted this fall so that their crown can stay near ground level. I practice a mild form of lasagna around my perennials, giving them a couple inches of shredded leaves in the fall, then in the spring I top that with a layer of paper and another inch or two of the leaves. By doing this every year, the bottom consistently gradually turns into compost while the top [fresh layer] acts as a weed barrier....See MoreCONFUSED! TOPSOIL - How deep??
Comments (6)Rather than go sentence by sentence disagreeing with ianna, I'll just skip ahead to yardtractor1. Listen to him. If your yard is flat and drains perfectly, then any topsoil or topdressing or sand or ANYTHING you bring in (except compost) will screw up your drainage. If you have low spots in the yard where the water collects when it rains, then either 1) bring in enough sand or top soil to level it or allow it to drain properly for your location, or 2) dredge away the area where the soil is damming up the water. There is no 6-inch standard for topsoil. I find that statement to be hilarious. In my neighborhood in San Antonio my house is on solid limestone with crushed limestone brought in as fill and "topsoil." I have supplemented that with outside topsoil but mostly with washed beach sand. And by the way the extra topsoil and sand messed up my drainage, so that was a long time ago. I'd definitely do it different today. Then my sister-in-law at the beach has about 3,000 feet of sand under her house. So how does this 6-inch standard work? Is that the average of all averages? Any soil you have, unless it is poisoned with something horrible, can be corrected and turned into wonder soil. If it is chemically imbalanced (99% chance that it is), get a $25 soil test from Logan Labs in Ohio. If it is biologically weak (again, 99% chance it is), then grow grass and begin now applying organic fertilizer. The effect you are looking for with the high spot in the middle of the yard is called "crowned." Is there a problem with too much soil? Yes. As yardtractor mentioned, drainage is the main problem. But here is a picture of another problem. This house is in a neighborhood where someone got them started with annual topdressing of 1/4 inch with topsoil. After 40 years the soil is 10 inches above grade. When it rains the soil washes out into the sidewalk and into the street. These people have installed landscape edging just to contain the flow of mud. I have lots of pictures of Topdressing Gone Wild....See More"Stormy" Gray
9 years ago"Stormy" Gray
9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago"Stormy" Gray
9 years ago"Stormy" Gray
9 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago"Stormy" Gray thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)"Stormy" Gray
8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
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