Good Evening, everyone. We moved last year and the soil on my new yard is what's called "calcareous", meaning alcaline with a LOT of seashells and pretty hard to dig - I had to buy a pickax. After rain lawn is kind of swampy - this soil doesn't absorb much. Sod was just put on that stuff - no top soil. So that's where I start my new garden. After that pure sand on my last yard seems not soo bad...I bought too pallets of top soil so far. Planted 4 trees (2 citruses, fig,persimmon). I planted them on 6'x6' raised beds (because of standing water in summer). I mixed top soil with existing soil. So, here is question: did I make a mistake? Should I just make a heap of top soil and plant a tree in it? I was reading a lot about this type of soil and it looks to me now if I mix these shells with any bought soil they'll make all heap alcaline again.
It's amazing how much fertilizer you need to pour on that soil just to keep plants alive! Everything planted there starts to grow at first then goes into shock and die.
I would want to plant a mango - have a space for 2 more trees. Again was reading a lot about mangos - it looks like it's not recommended to make a mix with top soil for them. The problem is - I want to plant it a little higher and the only soil I can put there is top (garden) soil I can buy again. Why it's not recommended to make a mix for mango? If someone has the same soil - please share you thoughts and experience.