I bought a bag of Soil Perfector just to see what it's like, and it looks very good, but particulate size is large & will promote very fast drainage if used in any large quantities. The grit you can get is likely crushed oyster shell - thus, the salt warning. Here's what I'm thinking: Soils do not ALWAYS need to be able to support themselves indefinitely. By that I mean, some nurseries actually build a soil that they know will "self destruct" over the course of a couple of years. What happens, is roots actually become a part of the soil structure. As organic particulates break down, the roots remain, providing air pockets as the small soil particles are washed from the drain hole. Not the best arrangement, but pretty OK o/a. If all you have is the bark and the SP, You might try: 7-10 parts bark 2 parts SP 1 part sphagnum peat 1 part perlite You might need to tinker with the mix a little to get the right water retention, and Citrus will assuredly do better in a more spare soil (more mineral content), but if you add all that SP, you'll not have enough H2O retention to get you through a day. I wouldn't go to more than 2 parts peat, either. Did you call Profile Corp to get Turface MVP distributors near you? We have at least 3 nursery wholesalers in lower MI, that all carry Turface, so obviously there's a market. I'll leave a link to profile where you'll find the 800 number in case you wish to chase it down. Al Here is a link that might be useful: Click me & I'll show you Turface info

Update. I was able to dig a few holes myself to about 6" and 24"+ wide and then I filled them with water and let them drain a few times. They drain within 3-10 hours. After a couple soaks, I was able to get one of these holes to 15", others to 10". Where I want to put dwarf Reed and Fuerte avocados I could only get 3" down. An asphalt driveway was here before which probably compacted things. I had a landscaper use a breaker hammer to dig large holes (~18" deep, ~36" D). Here's where my problem is. I filled these with 12" of water and two days later the water has only drained a couple inches. This surprised me because all other holes I've dug into the DG have drained well even though they seem like the same material. I'm thinking I should build up the ground and plant them above grade. I know avos have most of their roots within the top 6" and the area has a few inches of existing soil, plus a thin layer of leaves and then 3" of fine bark mulch I put down. The hard DG also softens over time with water and organic matter, right? Is this a good plan? I have broken concrete available for back fill. I think I should layer it with soil to eliminate air pockets instead of making a dry well which I don't think will drain. Lastly, is this a good idea or am I fighting a losing battle? I chose avocados because avos are evergreen, this is an ornamental part of my property and we love and eat them every day. However, I don't want to kill two expensive trees. One hole has the wheelbarrow over it. The other hole has some rubble in it (an attempt to raise the water level to possibly more porous soil. Proposed plan:

I always thought decomposed granite was crushed granite, what is left over after the larger bits have been screened off. Here in Phoenix the terms decomposed granite and 1/4 minus are used interchangeably. But selling decomposed granite with clay in it seems like a scam to me. 50 years ago in Upstate NY many people used crushed granite and decomposed granite for driveways. Concrete and asphalt driveways were very rare then in our area. Larger crushed rock was put down, generally not rolled because that cost money. You drove on that for a year which pushed the rock down into the soil and you raked loose stuff back over into the ruts. Over time that made a good base. Then you brought in some smaller rock and repeated. Then decomposed granite. The bigger rock helped keep the decomposed granite stay in place. The bigger rock pushed down into the soil reduced future rutting. But you still had to re-level and bring in more material every 3-5 years or so. Here in Phoenix I like decomposed granite a lot. I like a thin layer, 1/2" max. More than that and it's like walking on the beach.

Not just a plain bark mulch - get playground chips. Bark mulch can be sharp and produce splinters. Playground chips are wood chips that have been tumbled to remove any sharp edges and are virtually splinter-free. Rubber mulch is good for this purpose as well. And lasts the longest. But make sure the area is fully enclosed with regards to the mulch or it will be migrating everywhere. And you don't want rubber mulch in your lawn or in the garden! But definitely not the DG.......unless you have a very large container of band-aids on hand!