I Planted in Mounds-Have Problem Cuz I Didn't Break Dirt Beneath

15 years ago

I moved into a newly constructed home last autumn that had a yard full of nasty, sticky, heavy clay. I'm a single 48 year-old woman so I didn't have the strength or endurance to dig into the cement-like ground to plant my many flowers, shrubs, berry bushes, etc. Especially since I had a large yard and tons of plants to get in the ground. I was also worried about poor drainage so I bought top soil and planted everything above ground in little mounds.

Being a new gardener I didn't realize the importance of digging at least a little ways into the soil underneath the mounds before planting on them.

All the plants were doing well until late this summer when I noticed some leaning lavender plants, russian sage, and lantana. It seems the plant roots don't want to venture into the bad soil under the mounds so the plants are beginning to topple without the support of a deeper root system.

Is there anything I can do at this point to fix this problem without damaging the existing roots?

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Comments (8)

rj_hythloday
15 years ago
If the roots are that weak you could probably just pull up the root ball w/ some careful digging outside the perimeter and replant into a deeper dug prepared hole.
digdirt2
15 years ago
Only other option is to mound up more soil mix around the plants - in other words make the mounds much bigger. Or if you use good quality compost mix instead, over time the worms and other soil dwellers will work it down into the hardpack below.

But you have alot of money in permanent plantings so in the long run it may be less costly to hire a professional landscaper to do it up right.

Dave
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jean001
15 years ago
You wrote: "I didn't have the strength or endurance to dig into the cement-like ground to plant"

As for the "little mounds" -- was that for individual plants? If so, how high is each mound?

Beyond that, clay is good stuff. All you need do is dig when it's possible. In other words, the ground should be moist but not soggy wet.

So, lesson learned.

Next time you can soften the soil if you irrigate enough to soften the soil. Next, allow it to dry enough so that so that it's easy to dig.
dottyinduncan
15 years ago
If your clay is like mine, you have a 20 minute window of opportunity to dig in it. Winter makes it slimy and sticky. Summer, it's as hard as cement. For those 20 minutes between the two, it's great to work in. We have used mulch overtop of wet clay with decent results.
User
15 years ago
I find that Starbucks coffee grounds mixes well with clay and leaves a friable soil. If you can loosen the soil at all, that would help a lot.
Kimmsr
15 years ago
What was the used to make these "mounds"? If what was used contained lots of organic matter then as that was digested the plant roots will have less of a support system and the plants can fall over.
esther_opal
15 years ago
Clay soil is your friend!

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hosta/msg0521154911849.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Clay soil
tomatozilla
15 years ago
There are parts of our garden that were sort of similar to your problem - and because it was a 45 degree slope I was worried breakingup the soil would enable it to race downhill with watering so I'm always leary of removing too many roots even if they are weeds! So I made raised beds using the flexible bed edging and heavy duty stakes for it and in some cases sort of pinned the plants in place using wooden stakes or burlap layers with pins (all of which rot eventually) and then just kept heaping new quality soil or mulch on it as the old broke down as kimmsr points out will happen. Eventually, after a few years, heroic moles and earthworms burrowed up from the cementitious soil below, and roots of wanted plants are replacing roots of undesireables and the soil is easily forked and in many places I can simply stab into it with the hands.

I Planted in Mounds-Have Problem Cuz I Didn't Break Dirt Beneath

Comments (8)

rj_hythloday

digdirt2

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