Awesome! Thank you.

In another thread, Bobby (the OP), left the following text:

Hi folks: I'm in a bit of a pickle here and I'm hoping you could kindly
offer your feedback. Within the past year, I have lost two Korean
Dogwoods that have been planted in the same spot in front of my house.
The first one was planted a little over one year ago. It died due to
'wet feet'. I had a one year warranty on it, so I had it replaced with
another 8' B&B Korean Dogwood. The second tree has now shared the
same fate as the first one. I made it a point not to even water the
second tree because I knew the first tree died because of the poor
drainage and clay soil. However the replacement tree succumbed to all
the record rainfall amounts this summer here in Maryland.
I'm now
faced with the dilemma of what to do. I would really like to plant a
tree in this particular location because it'll serve as a wonderful
visual anchor at the front/left corner of my house. But unfortunately
being that it's a new constructions home, the builder sold off all the
native soil and I'm left with clay. I'm definitely not going to plant a
3rd Dogwood tree. I'm leaning towards planting a tree that's doesn't
mind wet soil, such as River Birch or Sweetbay Magnolia. But I'm still
scared of spending $300 on a B&B tree without doing something to the
planting location. I'm hesitant to add more organic material to the
planting hole because the water in the surrounding soil will travel the
path of least resistance - which would be the amended planting hole. So I
figure that'll just make the situation worse. I thought about
installing a French drain, but the amount of labor involved and having
to tear up my lawn turned me off. So here's an alternative strategy that
I was hoping the knowledgeable members of this forum could comment
on. What if I simply avoid planting the new tree in the clay soil to
begin with and instead build a raised planting area above the existing
clay soil? (see attached drawing)
Is this feasible and if so, what
would sort of planting material would you recommend I build the mound
from: compost or a compost/top soil mix? Thank you in advance for any
suggestions you could kindly offer me!

Best,
bobby~

"The planting hole is too deep..."

I disagree with that unless the intent would be to pile soil on top of the rootball. I saw no indication that Bobby was planning to do that. In fact, with a little settling, the original rootball might be left sticking out of the ground too much.

"...the edges too perpendicular..."

Not the planting hole edges, because with a newly made berm like this, the bowl shaped planting hold is superfluous. Although there is no scale given in the picture, I do think that the berm may be way too small (narrow). It looks likely, given the picture above, that the tree might quickly develop so that the majority of it's roots would be in the original, poorly-draining soil. I'm not sure if that's what Gardengal meant, maybe.

"And no amended soil."

The berm could be made of amended soil or something entirely different than the underlying soil. Different relative soil types might lead to various issues, but one of the key worries with amending planting hole backfill (the "bathtub" effect") would not be present in a berm. As always, it is almost never a good idea to amend down into native soil right around the tree (or just underneath the berm).

Thank you for copying my original post with this drawing. For some reason the original post wouldn't upload when the photo was attached. Anyhow thank you for your input as well Brandon. I'm just going to leave the base soil as is and build the mound on top of that. Do you have any suggestions on what I should make the mound with? (compost or compost with store bought top soil)

Thanks again folks for taking the time to read.

Bobby

Is there any chance that you have some "high place" in your yard where you could obtain most of the material from. If not, there may be some of those garden centers / mulch places around that could provide you with some decent soil. Using soil that is at least somewhat like your native soil (but maybe a little better draining) would help encourage roots to grow down into the native soil a little better. Just compost won't work for a berm for trees, because it will break down and mostly disappear (incorporate down into the natural soil).

Maybe I should have examined the drawing a bit more closely..........did not make the connection that this was a berm or raised area of soil. And I assumed the second post was just a duplicate and did not read the text that explained what the OP was attempting.

Based on a more thorough reading of both, I agree with all Brandon's comments. My suggestions are more suited for planting directly into the clay, not into a berm on top of the clay soil. In fact, I had considered adding a suggestion to my comments to that effect - of simply leaving the rootball on top of the existing soil and mounding up to it. But that sometimes tends to alarm folks who think 'planting' means 'digging' so I left it out of my response.

Thank you Brandon and Gardengal. Good point on the idea of just using compost to create the mound. I'll visit some local garden centers to see what they have to offer in the way of soil. I just always thought the top soil that are sold in bags at stores are all generic.

...the builder sold off all the native soil... That's a common practice and one reason why plantings around new homes, even the lawn look so terrible. What's even worse is when the heavy equipment runs over the subsoil repeatedly and packs it down. That's probably why your soil won't drain, after all the site had to perk in order to build right?

If it were me I would spare no expense to plant the new tree properly. I would dig through the compacted soil and break it up. If you have to do it by hand use a digging bar and maddox. As for compost check if your county has a composting facilty like mine shown here. Small quantities are free, pickup loads are loaded up for a small fee. This is in Maryland.

Thanks for the info Sam. Yes Harford County offers free compost and mulch at their site in Street, Maryland. I go there often. But in this case, as Brandon mentioned, compost would probably not be suitable to create the berm with. I'm going to stick with soil that's somewhat native to this area.

Thanks!

I had a similar dilemma when planting a container Carpinus caroliniana tree in a low spot near my patio last spring. My solution was to plant the tree about four inches above normal. I then made a 3-4" topsoil ring (bought in bulk) around the tree out to about 5' in diameter. Then added about 2" of leaf compost as a mulch. It has done fine despite heavy rainfall this year. Anyway, I don't think you need to plant the root-ball completely above ground as shown in the picture. Even just a slightly raised planting zone will keep water from collecting around the roots. And if you raise the planting area up too high, you will create puddles somewhere else.

Regardless of how you plant, I would suggest a tree species that is more tolerant of wet feet. Two dead trees in two years is a pretty strong statement from your Kousa dogwoods.

Regarding the clay soil, I have the same deal. I have been topdressing my beds with bulk-purchased leaf compost instead of traditional bark or hardwood mulch for the last several years. In select spots, I tilled it in a little bit. It has definitely improved the drainage and workability of the soil. I can plant annuals now with my bare hands (without a trowel). Only downside has been that sometimes you get a batch of compost with a lot of weed seed. But sucking it up for four years or so is worth it in the long run IMO.

why didnt brandon give his own link .. maybe in the other post?? .. see link below ...

i would NOT go with compost .. after all... IT IS COMPOST... and that word means its NOT SOIL ...

i would go to a soil depot and get a good top soil-sand mix ... something that when you take a handful ... and try to squeeze it like a snowball ... holds for a moment .. and then falls apart ... that meas its friable ... as compared to say.. your clay ... which mever falls apart ... so air cant get in.. and water out ...

if you plan on planting many things ...or building beds.. have them deliver a truck load... and just store it for when you need it ...

again... do not confuse soil ... with compost ...

and do understand ... the tree will happy grow down into the clay ... the problem with the clay ... is the transplanting ... and water management.. until the tree can get its own roots down into it ...

if your lawn is ferted ... or will be.. the tree will never need fert ... and frankly .. i would be of the opinion.. that the little berm you build.. will ever need it.. trees just dont need all that much from us ... the leaves are food making machines.. so if you grow the leaves... and the tree grows the roots.. you should be all set ...

i would also suggest.. you go no bigger than a 4 footer ... cost is significantly less... and it will get established.. and probably outgrow the larger plant.. in 5 years ...

i like to say.. there is no instant gratification in trees ... you cant buy time ... tree time ...

ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

I'd go with a 4 ft magnolia. Once established, they grow fast, and are reasonably tolerant of squish.

Thanks everyone for all the new suggestions - greatly appreciated! The top soil-sand mix sounds like a great idea! In addition the Sweetbay Magnolia, I'm looking at Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry as well, which can also tolerate wet feet.

I'd like to offer one caveat about the sand idea: It's not a good one. There, done!

No, really, in order for the addition of sand to improve a soil's drainage characteristics, it must comprise 70% to 80% of the total mix. Sand drains well because individual grains lodge against each other, leaving tiny gaps within which water and air can freely infiltrate. If the percentage of sand is not sufficiently high for these individual grains to lean against each other in this fashion, what you actually end up with is a type of concrete! I'd be very wary of using sand in this manner. Unless, as I said above, it can constitute a major percentage of the final mix. There is nothing magical about adding a little sand into a soil that somehow makes that soil better in any way. It is only the high proportion of sand, with it's relatively large particle size and angular shape (by comparison, clay particles are much smaller and are rather flat in shape, hence, the greasiness of wet clay, the particles easily sliding over and under one an other) that makes for such good drainage and aerification attributes.

+om

And if you use too much sand the result is a poor and dry soil. In general it is best to avoid creation of zones of differing soils. If your yard has been compacted by equipment the best solution may be breaking the compaction up mechanically (underground utilities permitting). Otherwise berms or mounds of different soil dumped on top, without blending with the existing soil are fine as long as the artificial topography so created fits into the existing scene physically and visually.

Another generally true circumstance is that it is best to choose plants adapted to the existing conditions rather than making major modifications in an attempt to accommodate kinds of plants that may die if planted on the existing site. The bigger growing plants are the more you have to do to make them comfortable - it is one thing to provide a better draining area for a tree and quite another to make a small flower or vegetable bed. Where an entire garden seems to have tough conditions it may work better to plant workhorse trees and shrubs that can survive there more or less as things are and then create small special areas for non-woody plants to get additional interest from those.

Hi folks - I got around to digging out that dead Dogwood tree over the weekend. It's remarkable how although we didn't receive any rainfall in Northern Maryland for a few weeks prior to this past weekend, as I was pulling the dogwood's rootball out of the planting hole, I noticed that it was drenched. The rootball was essentially a ball of mud - no wonder the roots drowned.

Nevertheless, I backfilled the original planting hole with the native clay soil. Then I planted a beautiful Serviceberry Autumn Brilliance according to the illustration above. I probably set maybe just the bottom 4 inches of the serviceberry's rootball into the clay soil and then used a few bags of topsoil to build a berm around the remainder of the rootball - and mulched it well of course. I'll certainly have to water the new tree more frequently with this planting method, but at least now it has a much better chance at establishing roots than the previous two dogwood trees. I'm not thrilled about the 'volcano' appearance, but it reminds me of when these big landscaping contractors pile mulch 3 feet high up onto the trunk of trees.

Thank you again to all for your suggestions and feedback!

bobby