Depth of soil needed on top of gravel

blast06

Hi,

Am in the middle of building a new house and have to now start thinking about the gardens ..... my initial problem is that entire front and back gardens are currently 100% gravel to an unknown depth. All the top soil was stripped off during site clearance and is in a few big piles. My question is what depth of soil i would need to put over the gravel to have an optimum sod for the garden.

Cheers.

paddy147

blast06 wrote: »

Hi,

Am in the middle of building a new house and have to now start thinking about the gardens ..... my initial problem is that entire front and back gardens are currently 100% gravel to an unknown depth. All the top soil was stripped off during site clearance and is in a few big piles. My question is what depth of soil i would need to put over the gravel to have an optimum sod for the garden.

Cheers.

I would say get in a digger and remove as much gravel as possible.

12-18 inchs of good quality soil is what I would put in,if it were me..and also thinking of any future plants,shrubs and small trees and also thinking of actual types,of plants,shrubs and small tees.

Some will grow in shallow soil,where as others will need a good depth of soil to send down and out stabilizing/anchor roots

We had to do this aswell,as our builder left alot of rubble and gravel/cement in and under the front and back gardens,after all the building work was finished.We spent days digging out/de-stoning the garden and digging it all out and starting from scratch.We then got in new topsoil and mixed it in with compost,manure and horticultural grit too and created our own gardens.



Its no harm to mix in plenty of grit with your new topsoil too,for good drainage purposes.:)

paddy147

Oh and also take note of any underground utilities (mains water,gas and electrical cables) that may be in your garden......take note of where these utilites are and their precise depth in the ground.

Remember where they are with regards future digging and planting of plants,shrubs and trees.


Hope this helps.:)

redser7

Yes do your future self a favour and get rid of the rubble/gravel now before putting down the topsoil. A quick search of this forum will give you plenty of accounts of heartache over bad lawns and builders rubble/rubbish underneath.

blast06

Thanks for comments.
Re the gravel .... i didn't really explain well enough. The entire site (quite big .... 0.7 acres) has a complete gravel base, i.e.: i had to do a lot of excavation to get the site down to the required level required by planning and so have so far had ~220 lorry loads of gravel taken away (luckily enough all for free cos quarry near by was happy to get it .... and is giving me all my stone and sand for free in return). So there is no rubble, its just a complete gravel base that i could keep digging down into for an unknown depth.
I have though 3 very large mounds of top soil throughout the site (the initial layers of topsoil before the site excavation started .... we took away the layers of subsoil) and so need to get an idea of what depth of loose top soil to spread over this gravel base to determine whether i have enough top soil. I was hoping it would not be 12-18 inches or else i'd say i'm in a spot of bother !!

paddy147

blast06 wrote: »

Thanks for comments.
Re the gravel .... i didn't really explain well enough. The entire site (quite big .... 0.7 acres) has a complete gravel base, i.e.: i had to do a lot of excavation to get the site down to the required level required by planning and so have so far had ~220 lorry loads of gravel taken away (luckily enough all for free cos quarry near by was happy to get it .... and is giving me all my stone and sand for free in return). So there is no rubble, its just a complete gravel base that i could keep digging down into for an unknown depth.
I have though 3 very large mounds of top soil throughout the site (the initial layers of topsoil before the site excavation started .... we took away the layers of subsoil) and so need to get an idea of what depth of loose top soil to spread over this gravel base to determine whether i have enough top soil. I was hoping it would not be 12-18 inches or else i'd say i'm in a spot of bother !!

Well if you only want all grass..then 6-8 inches would be plenty...but surely you will want trees,bulbs,flowers,plants and shrubs on a nice sized plot like that..:)...you will be looking at 12-18 inches of soil...possibly more....depending on plant/shrub/tree types and also if planting any big trees.



Remember what I was saying about undergound utilities??

Allways know where they are 1st,before you dig..and dont just whack a pick axe or fork/shovel into the ground when planting anything.

Also when installing any wooden stakes or poles into the ground.

Make sure you know where utilities and any waste water pipes underground.:)

blast06

Thanks !
6-8" i can probably manage without having to secure more topsoil.
Re trees and all that .... hadn't thought of that so i guess what i can do is excavate a few holes say 24" deep before backfilling with topsoil. So need to get planning on what i want and where in the garden !
Cheers.

paddy147

blast06 wrote: »

Thanks !
6-8" i can probably manage without having to secure more topsoil.
Re trees and all that .... hadn't thought of that so i guess what i can do is excavate a few holes say 24" deep before backfilling with topsoil. So need to get planning on what i want and where in the garden !
Cheers.

Exactly..:)


Dont forget to draw up an actual plan of where all underground utilities and underground pipes are located.


Then you can base your garden plans off this plan so as not to be digging up or bursting through any underground utilities.

Keep the underground utility plan in a folder for safe keeping...with regards the future.;)


Make your soil depths much deeper where you are going to have plants,shrubs and trees too.Give the plants,shrubs and trees plenty of depth and width of soil,so that they can send out /down shoots and roots to stabilize and anchor themselves down.

You will be fine and you will have a lovely garden for it.:)