Can someone help me identify this soil

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to buy a house here un Australia with the the big idea in mind to start gardening.

We've found a nice one today with already a pond and an adjacent forest.

The big issue I'm having is the soil. It looks alright at some places to non existent on others. The soil is a bit grey to brownish.

Could someone help identify this soil ? If it's a lost cause or too difficult for a beginner, I might just move to the next one...

Here are some pictures

234-242 Lavelle Drive, Logan Village, Qld 4207 https://www.realestate.com.au/property-acreage+semi-rural-qld-logan+village-136380614

Thanks

It will be near impossible to identify your soil type from pictures of the surface of the ground. I don't think a realtor would allow you to dig any up, but here is one method to see if you have sandy or clay or (enter type of soil here) soil. If the realtor allows you to dig up some soil, do the quart jar soil test explained here.

If I were looking for a new place, I'd look for land that is not overly compacted. Like the path around the house is compacted. It's a path. It will be compacted. But compare that to the rest of the property... In that context, how is the rest of the land? Is there stuff growing on the land? I'm not familiar with your climate there, maybe the paddocks have been overgrazed? Maybe it's just the time of year?

However, I think that wherever you buy, the land will need improving. From reading through Dr. Redhawk's Epic Soil Series, I've come to understand that even subsoil can be brought back to life. So less than ideal soil would not be a deal-breaker for me.

Regarding the possibly overgrazed paddocks, take a peek into regenerative grazing or farming. Here's an article on an experiment in Texas. I think the methods were first developed in Australia? So there may be resources out there that are more specific to your region.

Welcome to Permies!

I see plenty of vegetation surrounding the yard. Looks like they had trouble growing a lawn. Maybe high traffic, maybe the wrong grasses, might just be the time of year.

The US Dept of Agriculture has surveyed the soil over most of the US and they have a web soil survey tool website for looking up what type of soil there is in a given area. It told me part of this 12 acres has somewhat well drained clayey loam with clay subsoil that has gravel sized to cobble sized to boulder sized rock, and the other part being about the same except somewhat excessively drained all of which I've found to be true. The lines were off but the website warned that the tool wasn't meant for small areas but it was right about the two different soils.

Maybe Australia has something like that?

What are the two big brown tanks? Rainwater collection?

Is there so little rain that it needs them? Might explain the lawn. Everything else looks lush so maybe everything else got watered?

Ahh, I see the pipes coming off the gutter now and going to the tanks.

John Pollard wrote:
What are the two big brown tanks? Rainwater collection?

If it works like NZ that's the houses watersupply

Thank you both. You've made me more optimistic about what it will be possible to do.

I went back there today, took a handful of soil. From my non experience, I'd say it's the sandy kind. All houses around have decent grass then overgrazing or wrong grass sound like plausible hypothesis. We've been in the dry season for a month, it will last until September. I'd say it's a bit early to have an effect, but I'm also new to this region...

I also went to couple of other houses 1 hour away, the soil was of the same kind, so, as you said, I should probably not make this too much of a criteria.

There are like big 5 rainwater tanks (the region being dry, they are attached pretty much to every house to save drinkable water), so irrigation shouldn't be too much an issue. The driest area is also at the bottom of small hill, so having a reservoir up there to water the area might also be possible.

I've been able to find a soil report. With a PH of 5, I'm suddenly less optimistic.

https://resources.information.qld.gov.au/soils/reports/sites?project=SEQ&site=3

Hi Roger,

I would recommend a soil test using the Albrecht methodology. Not all soil tests are the same.

This test works on telling you what the present minerals are in the soil and then balances the ratios of so-called
idea soil.  In this way, you are not guessing and know exactly your starting point and the way forward to improving the soil
to enable you to grow nutrient-dense produce.

Once you have the results you should get a soil prescription of what minerals are needed, which you should apply and start
your soil regime by feeding the soil with organic matter and biological life.

There are a lot of cheap and effective preparations that can be utilised to improve any soil.

By the way, I do this type of soil test and advise on how to improve the soil by organic means. Message me if you are interested.

Be warned, to do this correctly you need patience and perseverance. The results are so satisfying and rewarding for your soul and health.

Cheers
Anthony

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:Regarding the possibly overgrazed paddocks, take a peek into regenerative grazing or farming. Here's an article on an experiment in Texas. I think the methods were first developed in Australia? So there may be resources out there that are more specific to your region.

For the OP or others who might be interested: Australians have really pioneered regenerative grazing. Because the Australian climate can be so harsh, poor management of the land can really degrade it. But the soil can be rebuilt with regenerative methods surprisingly fast. I loved this interview with Johannes Meier on how his community built back topsoil surprisingly fast:

Historically, some experts have said it takes three hundred to a thousand years to build inches of topsoil. But we’ve learned that’s actually not the case. Soil is not built primarily by decaying leaf matter and so forth. Living, healthy topsoil is created by plant root exudates – the carbohydrates, vitamins, organic acids, and other nutrients released into the soil by the root systems of plants. Of the sugars that plants create through photosynthesis, 30–40 percent transfers to the soil through the roots in exchange for nutrients. In this way, plants feed soil biology: fungi, bacteria, microorganisms, and mycorrhizae, the symbiotic associations between plants and fungi in the root zone. Those take the sugar and convert it to humus, which is topsoil.

So topsoil can actually be built quite quickly. But it won’t happen without diverse plant life. This diversity is key, and it has everything to do with the way we farm.

Also, check out Charles Massy's book The Call of the Reed Warbler, which I reviewed from an American POV here.