DESIGNING WITH URBAN SOILS
Soil is fascinating. It is simultaneously biotic and abiotic, its qualities can radically shift within a square metre and it has remarkable plasticity. Top soil is critically important, as this is where the majority of soil life resides. Top soil allows for nutrient cycling through interactions with subsoil and gaseous exchanges. While metropolitan Melbourne’s top soil is generally shallow and typically hydrophobic, the depth of the top soil in this region ranges from almost absent on the steep hills around Warrandyte to a metre deep in the bayside suburbs. Soil specifications, in all cases, need to be site specific.
An interesting case study is to compare Melbourne and London’s climatic conditions. Melbourne’s annual rainfall is
