dirt fix after landscapers brought bad garden fill

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kimberlyfawn Gerrardstown, WV Aug 02, 2010

Hi there! We recently had to had professionals redo our front yard for serious drainage issues. They leveled the yard & filled the garden w/ a pale yellow mostly clay substance & topped it w/ 3 + inches of mulch before I knew what I had. How can I best amend the soil and improve the drainage at this point as it is too large an area to just dig out. I am in the mid Atlantic zone 6. Thanks for your help! -kimberlyfawn

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flowAjen central, NJ(Zone 6b) Aug 08, 2010

Did you call and complain? I'd make them fix it.

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kimberlyfawn Gerrardstown, WV Aug 10, 2010

Too happy to be done w/ heavy equipment plus They also put in a retaining wall & several larger shrubs that I picked. I'm trying Gypsum and a light top dressing of fine potting soil?? Looking for other ideas. :)

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flowAjen central, NJ(Zone 6b) Aug 10, 2010

Don't use potting soil in your soil.

I'd mix in some nice compost.

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plantfreak78 Rolesville, NC(Zone 7b) Aug 11, 2010

I agree with flowerjen. Potting soil is for potting. Compost, humus, cow manure and/or pine bark soil conditioner are your best bets.

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patti47 Lynnwood, WA(Zone 7a) Aug 22, 2010

Yes mulch, mulch, mulch. The addition of large amounts of organic matter to the soil surface will correct the condition you describe.

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kimberlyfawn Gerrardstown, WV Feb 21, 2011

I will try the compost and not the potting soil and some peat is probably in order to lighten the soil. They won't fix it of course but they will have to come replace 3 pieris and a beautiful Japanese maple because the soil is clearly too heavy clay, low to no drainage. The mulch layer they put on is very thick at about 3-4" so no more mulch, lol. Do I need to lift the plants to mix in the rest or can I just scratch it in?

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plantfreak78 Rolesville, NC(Zone 7b) Feb 21, 2011

Your safest bet is to lift the plants and re-amend the soil. It would be really difficult to fix it properly with the plants in place.

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