What kind of shrub did they plant?

'Or should I mind my own business? ' -- probably

I'd mind my own business, lol...but yeah, that was a mistake. May as well see it as a learning opportunity. Nor would I try to explain. All too many of the peeps I've ever tried to explain some aspect of tree care to...in particular a couple of brothers in law....never took anything to heart anyway. And their trees are still doing sh*tty too!

Dave, they planted a Common Lilac, because they love the Common Lilacs in my yard.

Wisconsitom, Dave, and to anyone else who reads this, if I were to pull out half the garden soil, and put in native top soil and then mix it all up with my hands, so that it is well blended, that wouldn't disturb the shrub too much would it, since the shrub was only planted yesterday?

I've decided to go do that this weekend, because like i said, these people have been good to us. If a high wind ever knocks a shingle off or part of a fascia off our siding, this neighbor is the first one over knocking on our door offering to help, sometimes even before we're aware of the issue. He would do anything for us, and I want to return the favor. I can't sit there and not help, but I also couldn't say anything to him directly because he's a retired contractor and well, he has let us know that he pretty much knows everything. :<

They probably didn't use enough of the peat, manure, and fert mix to make much of a difference. Lilacs are pretty tough, forgiving plants, in your part of the country.

Why not, just not say or do anything, and use it for a learning experience for the both of you? If the Lilac goes bad, he learns something. If it thrives, you learn something.

I think it's good to be honest and warm with your neighbors, and fill them in on something you happen to know a lot about. Especially since it seems they do the same for you, and you appreciate it.

Then offer to help them fix it.

it should live, however that wasn't the best choice in soil

In this case there really isn't much "wrong" with what they did. While it is not ideal for the roots to have to go through another substrate before they get into the native soil, it is a lilac and will have no problems doing so. So long as there is sufficient moisture, both the garden soil and sandy soil are easy for the roots to grow into, particularly if the whole area has been mulched. The main time to be concerned (IMO) is when a decent sized area is excavated and a completely different type of soil is used in place of the native soil. Like some of the others said I would let it be, see what happens, and worse come to worse (the shrub dies for some reason) explain it to them next time.

Clay soil would have been a problem because of bad drainage. But you say the soil drains well. They probably do a similar thing in Florida sand.

the bigger problem.. is when you dig a clay cauldron in non draining clay .. then add water retaining media to the hole ...

in this case they added water retaining media to a well drained soil ... not all that bad as noted above ... frankly.. a shrub will grow right out of it.. imo.. before there is a problem ...

when i moved 1650 hosta.. in promix .. and jammed the promix gobs into sand ... within a few years.. i had losses .. the larger plants.. grew right out of it ... but smaller ones did not.. so by august ... the sand had wicked all the moisture out of the media... and they were dry rotting ...and those that made it to fall ... did not survive winter ...

fast forward a decade later ... i many of my hosta fairy ringed ... the dead center EXACTLY the size of the media ball i planted ... so it was still a problem ..

all that said.. its a lilac ... i once dug a L sucker.. put it in a used pot with 3 inches of media.. put it on the north side of the house.. and forgot about it for 2 years ... and it lived .. lol .. we arent talking anything foo foo here ...

i am not going to address your compulsion to replant neighbors mistakes.. lol ... frankly.. i am surprised with this long cool spring.. in z5 .. anything even needs to be watered ...

ken

" Or should I mind my own business?"

When in doubt in suburbia - this is the list of top things to do:

1) mind my own business

2) mind my own business

3) mind my own business

Well, as soon as dh heard about my plans to fix the shrub, he said no way, don't do it, just let it be. So while I'll be giving the shrub the side eye for the next couple of years, I will mind my own business.

I guess because they got the lilac because of me that I feel some sort of responsibility for it. I don't know. But I won't do anything to help it.

It's actually funny that this thread popped up last week. I went through a similar situation myself. Saw some neighbors doing something - or I should say about to do something - very ill-advised, horticulturally speaking, and sent them a friendly email about it. Saying I couldn't help but notice and didn't want them to waste their money. I didn't even want to be so bold as to walk over there while they were outside. No need to invade someone's "personal space". But of course I saw this weekend that they did exactly what I told them not to do, a few days after getting the email which they acknowledged. I won't go into details but it involved planting a some shrubs. I mean, WTF? That guy who has 100+ blooming BLEs like rhododendrons and camellias in his garden? Couldn't possibly know anything about them! (actually similar to ilovemytree's situation, but with a plant less forgiving than lilacs and they were making even more mistakes)

It's safe to assume these days that people are just going to be willfully stupid and that there's nothing you can do about it, unless they are close friends or family. And even then...

what's a BLE?

broad leaved evergreen

Ok I'm just gonna ask because I def don't know, why is MG garden soil so bad? I know I have used before..idr for which plants but I know I've used it...but I typically use black kow compost mixed with my regular dirt?

I don't know what MG garden soil is. What does MG stand for?

Miracle Grow

The neighbors ended up coming back almost a week early. I am so glad I didn't "fix" their shrub. Could you imagine if they had pulled in while I was in the midst of it? lol

Hi Nessdizzle 5b North East, MG is a soil amendment, it's not soil in and of itself. It should never be more than 50% of what a shrub (or tree) is planted in.