Hi there, we bought a property with a nice large garden space some time ago. Keen to get a garden started, we sent away some soil samples to GardenSafe and discovered the whole yard had extremely high lead levels.
We've been thinking about ways to manage this and keep the yard safe for a small child. The cost of removing and replacing soil is completely unfeasible, so we have landed on covering the existing soil with a layer of geofabric, before covering with another 10-15cm of soil (and in some places toppings) and planting a mix of decorative plants, shrubs, perhaps grass on top of that.
Our thinking is that this will reduce our concern when small child drops their snacks in the dirt and then takes a bite, and dramatically reduce dust from the contaminated soil reaching the house. Water will still flow through the geofabric as it is permeable. There are places where we will cut holes/gaps in the geofabric around existing plants and shrubs that have deeper roots. Still, any edible plants we grow will be in raised vege beds with imported soil.
Before laying the geotextile, we are loosening the contaminated soil and adding compost, in the hope that it improves the fairly heavy clay soil and based on some limited reading about compost affecting the bioavailability of lead in soil. Also good for the existing plants.
My question is basically whether this all seems sound, whether there are any other factors we should consider. And what kind of geotextile might be most appropriate for the job... Woven/non-woven, etc.
Appreciated!
