I've always wanted to try the sandstone rubble technique for growing
natives which has seemed so successful for Don Burke.
http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/fac...rubble_40.html

Basic idea is to mound sandstone rubble to 1m add 10 cm compost with 10
cm mulch. Plant natives directly into sandstone and stand back.
So to do this I need to source cheap sandstone rubble. Apparently you
can get it cheap from quarries as it isn't very useful for any thing
else.
I'm in Sydney north west. Anyone had a go at this? Where do you get the
sandstone?

regards Nick.

In article ,
Nick Cook wrote:

I've always wanted to try the sandstone rubble technique for growing
natives which has seemed so successful for Don Burke.
http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/fac...rubble_40.html

Basic idea is to mound sandstone rubble to 1m add 10 cm compost with 10
cm mulch. Plant natives directly into sandstone and stand back.
So to do this I need to source cheap sandstone rubble. Apparently you
can get it cheap from quarries as it isn't very useful for any thing
else.
I'm in Sydney north west. Anyone had a go at this? Where do you get the
sandstone?

Sandstone rubble is still very cheap, but the cartage is a killer. I had
trouble getting it at a decent price because I live at Lidcombe -- you may
have a wider selection because of your location. I just used the Yellow Pages
and settled on Bakers Landscape Supplies. Last March, they charged me $200
for 10 tons of 10cm sandstone rubble. I need a bit more, actually.

BTW, you can skip the compost, and use much less mulch. I am waiting for my
council to drop off tree chippings and am making do with a light cover of lawn
clippings. Even the Boronia megastigma has coped with the heat so far.

I used the John Hunt technique of having a 50cm deep 50cm wide trench dug in
my clay soil as a water reservoir (it's got brickbats and broken concrete in
it as well as the rubble). He reckons this works better than just mounding
soil up. It appears to be working -- I'll get back to you in ten years!

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

Once long ago, against her breast, a mother hush'd a babe to rest
Who was the Prince of heav'n above, the Lord of gentleness and love...
John Wheeler, 'The Silver Stars are in the Sky'