Garden Soil Crack in my garden

raiseyoursteaks on 14/03/2018 - 10:12

Hi All,

I'm here to gather some thoughts around the current issue with my land. My intention is to first check if this is a council issue and ways I can fix this issue permanently.

Problem - found a crack on my land (Melbourne, Victoria)
Picture here - https://i.imgur.com/FjQRtbk.jpg

  1. Orange Line - My land boundary
  2. Red Line - Visible soil crack 1 cm in diameter. Some sections I can poke 2 foot deep with a small stick.
  3. Yellow - Flood plains when the creek overflows. This happens less than 10 times a year.

The sections in yellow are most of the time damp and with the trees just outside my fence, I reckon the erosion is "pulling" my land out. Hence the crack.

I do not have bit trees along my fence, just shrubs, I'm now considering planting some medium height trees to hold the ground.

There land outside the boundary is council land, there's a bike/running path along.

Question:
1. Can the council do anything to mitigate the problem? Is this even their problem? Or is this a Melbourne Water issues?
2. That trees can I use, those with moderate height and good rooting system. I need one that is not too intrusive to the fence next door. Something 3-5 meters max (or shorter)
3. Any other advice?

Home & Garden

Comments

  • iforgotmysocks on 14/03/2018 - 10:15
    +8

    What did the council say when you asked them?

    • raiseyoursteaks on 14/03/2018 - 10:16

      Haven't spoken to them yet

      • Ocker on 14/03/2018 - 10:43
        +2

        That would have been the first thing I did.

  • nocure on 14/03/2018 - 10:49
    +5

    Please record the call and post it here…

  • Euphemistic on 14/03/2018 - 10:54
    +1

    Has your fence moved?

    • raiseyoursteaks on 14/03/2018 - 11:30

      A little and I know this because the doors to my back gate has widen.

  • Nugs on 14/03/2018 - 10:54

    concrete

  • chumlee on 14/03/2018 - 11:00
    +1

    Careful. Crack kills

  • barbarella on 14/03/2018 - 11:12
    +1

    I recently lived in Warragul, Vic. and in summer my backyard would get heaps of dry cracks like that. I think it is just the dryness of the soil and it all goes away in winter. The house I was in was only a few years old and the soil on the block had been ?built up/moved/graded/etc. ready to build a house.

    • raiseyoursteaks on 14/03/2018 - 11:28

      MElbourne hasn't had a good rain in weeks, soil is generally dry. What concerns me is the way the crack has lined up. It's not just a normal crack.

  • mskeggs on 14/03/2018 - 11:19

    Can the council do anything to mitigate the problem? Is this even their problem? Or is this a Melbourne Water issues?

    Have you considered it might not be somebody else's problem?

    I think the idea of planting trees would be a good idea anyway. They do hold the soil and prevent erosion, and they are nice to have around.

    • raiseyoursteaks on 14/03/2018 - 11:42

      I agree on planting trees bit. Do you have some small to medium trees to recommend?

      • Qkumber on 15/03/2018 - 13:45
        +1

        Corymbia ficifolia is the native “gumnut” tree which is small 4-5 m and is really pretty. most trees are more like 10m+ or you could go for dwarf fruit trees for 2-3m trees

  • raiseyoursteaks on 14/03/2018 - 11:25
    +2

    UPDATE: Spoke to council. They did say there is a storm drain at the top left corner. They suggested to get a structural engineer to have a look since it is in my property and with the report, the council will act on it.

    • raiseyoursteaks on 14/03/2018 - 11:27

      They also said I might need a retaining wall for my fences. I already have some thick sleeper fences.

  • Woodinski on 14/03/2018 - 11:29
    +1

    Cracks are most likely from the seasonal shrink-swell of soil if the in-situ material is clayey. How reactive the soil is will dictate how much it shrinks / swells. I assume that the material is fairly clayey and also fairly reactive (can you roll the soil into small, thin sausages?). In theory the cracks should disappear during winter and return late summer next year.

    Planting large trees in close proximity to your house is not a good idea as this will increase the amount of shrinkage that occurs in the surrounding soil which may result in damage your house (depending on what movement it has been designed for). General rule is to not plant tress any closer than their height from your house.

    • raiseyoursteaks on 14/03/2018 - 11:34

      You're spot on the clay soil - found this when I was digging to plant some trees. My slabs was classified as P which they inserted additional bores to support.

      I have to plant some medium trees there. Not too large trees

      Btw if I apply that general rule, I can't plant any trees along the border.

  • sparkles on 14/03/2018 - 11:47
    +1

    Our garden is currently full of large cracks, some wide and deep enough that I worry the small dog will get it's leg stuck down one. It firstly start to happens over where I know are pipes but is now spreading all over. It is simply because of the dryness here in VIC. The ground is turning into like rock as it is a high clay soil.

    • raiseyoursteaks on 14/03/2018 - 12:23

      Thanks for sharing Sparkles and good to know. The clay is everywhere in the garden.

      I think my cracks is going to go wider soon. Some sections the crack is really deep.

  • JimmyF on 14/03/2018 - 13:50

    Seriously…..?

    Clay cracks when it dries out (shrinks) and when it get wet it expands (cracks disappear).

    • raiseyoursteaks on 14/03/2018 - 14:01

      Seriously what?

      Thanks for pointing out the obvious but was expecting more to the problem as my fence has sunken, there's a water catchment outside the fence and close. There's also a creek nearby.

      • raiseyoursteaks on 14/03/2018 - 14:03

        There's also no other visible cracks around the lawn front and back. Just this particular section.

      • JimmyF on 14/03/2018 - 21:00

        Seriously what?

        Soil moves as it shrinks and expands…..

  • try2bhelpful on 14/03/2018 - 14:05

    Some parts of Melbourne are so bad with clay soils you will see that the solid brick houses have significant cracks in them. Something to keep in mind when you are looking at buying a house. Some of them look like parts of them they are heading for a better suburb. Some cracking is cosmetic but if it is bad enough it can be an indicator that the stability of the house is compromised. If you have a house in these areas make sure the soil is consistently watered and drained.

  • garetz on 14/03/2018 - 17:22
    +1

    looks like subsidence, could be due to many factors, bring someone in to have a look and give you recommendations, it can become worse real fast.

    • Sensiekatie on 15/03/2018 - 10:54

      Absolutely … ge5 some soil tests done tha5 assess subsidence/movemen5 issues. Someone who can check fence line etc and assess it all together.

      If you choose trees, ensure that they don’t create other is sues. In NZ they used to plant poplars along boundaries everywhere as wind breaks on farms etc and found they would uproot in high winds/storms.

      • Euphemistic on 15/03/2018 - 11:08
        +1

        Your t is broken.

        • Sensiekatie on 28/03/2018 - 10:41

          No - it is the silly update on The iPad. now has other things on the main keyboard and if you pull the key down as you touch it, the other character appears. When you want to do it, it fails to work.

          It drives more crazy.

          tttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

          And now the same touch
          5555555555555555

          And other keys do m@ny 9ther anno6ing th8ngs

          See - a big time waster

  • ms_caz on 14/03/2018 - 18:05

    Work on improving the composition of your soil - add gypsum and lots of organic matter and water it in well.

    • raiseyoursteaks on 14/03/2018 - 22:31

      that is a good tip, I'll look into purchasing that soon. Thank you.

  • Euphemistic on 15/03/2018 - 11:10

    How steep is the section of land? If it isn't steep, there isn't much to worry about. If it is too steep to mow (that's a technical measure), then you may have a serious issue.

    It has been really dray around home for ages. Current;y there is a gap around the comcrete slabs where the ground has shrunk away from the house, fence posts etc. I assume its going to close up now we've had a little rain. for me it's nothing to worry about as the block is relatively flat.

    • raiseyoursteaks on 15/03/2018 - 12:05

      It's not steep at all. It could well be the tree outside the fence drawing all the moisture up. I'd worry more if I saw these cracks near the house.

      Yesterday I bought a tree and tried to dig a hole near the top corner of the fence. A combination of rocks and really hard earth - too hard to dig a hole and definitely too hard for the tree to survive.

      • Qkumber on 15/03/2018 - 13:50

        Use a hoe to break up the soil so the roots can spread out and grow. It will be tough. Ask your local garden centre (not Bunnings) for plants that can grow in clay.

        • raiseyoursteaks on 15/03/2018 - 17:56

          Thank's I'll do that. I've already got one "Forest Pansy" growing very well. There's a garden center already on my mind.

      • Euphemistic on 15/03/2018 - 14:15

        So you bought a tree without finding out what the problem was? Plenty of internet clever points there.

        • raiseyoursteaks on 15/03/2018 - 17:49

          who said I bought a tree just for this? I already had one from the nursery a few weeks ago but haven't made up my mind where to plant it.

          You're clever in ASSuming :)

        • Euphemistic on 15/03/2018 - 19:34

          @ferret: well, you did say you bought it yesterday.

  • [Deactivated] on 15/03/2018 - 17:11
    +2

    I live on the River Murray and have this problem quite often when the river is lower than it's running height.
    These cracks near and close to creeks and rivers come about because the clay beneath the water level expands and is in need of water to close these cracks.
    Now I can tell you that it will take a LOT OF WATER to seal these cracks and hopefully this will happen once that creek starts to run again in the winter months.
    Where you are must be having a very dry season for this to come about.

    That's it in a nut shell and getting getting some one or council to fill these cracks will be fruitless as the filling will slowly dissipate into the cracks and not serve any purpose what so ever and the more you put in the more it will find a bottom less pit.

    So let hope this season will give you a good rainfall to seal these cracks.

    • raiseyoursteaks on 15/03/2018 - 19:10

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts Kraftie.

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