How to add new soil to yard
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Anonymous
| We are v slowly tackling our huge yard after moving in March. We have a shady area mostly mulch and weeds where I can see hostas and bleeding hearts. Neither plant seems to be thriving however. Id like to plant more shade living plants and beautify the area. A landscaper told us it needs new soil and nutrients. Can I just move soil from an area we'd like to build a patio and call it a day? Or do I need to buy bagged soil? Or do I just fertilize? |
Anonymous
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If you have a large area that needs new soil, I would order a load of quality topsoil, have it delivered and hire someone to spread it out.
It is arduous work if you are covering a lot of ground, and bagged topsoil gets used up fast. Just make sure the soil you are buying is of good quality. |
Anonymous
| There are certain kinds of trees that suck up water and nutrients and discourage other plants from growing around the roots. They are : oaks, certain kinds of maples, cherry trees, ect Those are the ones I can think of. If you have this, think hard before you invest in a lot of new soil and landscaping. We water around ours, but the tree just sucks the water right up. You can tell how dry it is by putting your finger into the dirt about 1 inch. So something under those tress needs to be VERY hardy. look around at your neighbors for your local conditions. GL. |
Anonymous
| Op here. Thanks for the input. Would it hurt to move the dirt from the patio construction to this area? I understand it probably will still lack sufficient nutrients. |
Anonymous
| OP, go to American Plant. They can help you. If you add material like Leafgro it will add nutrients to the soil nut they can give you the best advice. They sell amazing compost tea that you can use to water the beds periodically to replenish nutrients. If the soil is clay then coir (coconut fiber) will add organic material and help break it up naturally. Good luck. |
Anonymous
No, but you will need to enrich it with something else. |
Anonymous
Whatever you do, don't do that! The soil under the ground is very much lacking in nutrients. That's why they say "top soil" |
Anonymous
It is perfectly usable, it just has to be enriched. Seriously OP, American Plant. They have experts who will advise you for free. |
Anonymous
| American Plant may be OK for advice but their prices are high. If the OP is on a budget it may be worth shopping around. |
Anonymous
Anybody can (and does) sell anything as "topsoil". |
Anonymous
| Which is why I said to make sure it's from a reputable place duh! |
Anonymous
How should the OP judge whether it is a reputable place? |
Anonymous
Don't you have any common sense? Talk to people and get opinions? Or do you live under a rock? |
Anonymous
Why so insulting? There are a lot of plant stores in the area that have good reputations, or at least a lot of advertising, whose advice I would not trust. The only way to know if it's good topsoil is to look at it, and even then you don't necessarily know if it's good topsoil; just that it's probably not bad topsoil. |
Anonymous
| Was the soil tested or did the landscaper just think the soil was poor? |