Planting through burried decorative rock

9 years ago

Hi. I have a new house and the previous owner didn't do much to maintain the outdoor area at all in the 30 plus years they owned it. We recently had several giant shrubs removed around the foundation. We hired someone to prep the beds by removing old river rock landscaping rock that was burried beneath about 2-3 inches of debris and add topsoil. We started to plant yesterday only to find out that he didn't remove most of the rock. He just added the topsoil down on top of it.

We aren't paying for the service we didn't recieve but now we are left with a bigger problem because now the rock is burried even further. This is a fairly big area. It's about two beds around 20x20 each. He gave us a great price which now we know why. I'm afraid we won't be able to afford to have someone finish the job plus I have a bunch of plants we just purchased sitting in my yard.

This "landscaper" said to just dig the holes and don't worry about the rock (that he does that all the time) but we have a lot of clay in the soil so we are trying to mix the soil we dig out with organic compost.

So my question is, is it really ok to leave most of the rock there? Will the roots have enough room if we get all the rock out of the holes we dig? This is my first attempt at any sort of landscaping and I'm so frustrated I could cry. Thanks.

Comments (2)

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
9 years ago
Crying will probably do more good than digging up additional rock. :-)

Yes, I would say, go ahead and plant the newly purchased plants amongst the rock.

This post was edited by albert_135 on Mon, May 26, 14 at 15:03
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
9 years ago
Agreed, it will be fine, people garden very successfully in very rocky soil all the time. Also agreed, I wouldn't pay for that! When you excavate the rocks while you work, they should look pretty again on top of the soil. A loose collar of rocks around newly installed plants can prevent squirrels/toads from digging them back up anyway.

Mixing up anything in the clay is not necessary to improve the tilth, fertility, drainage. Disturbing the soil is actually more harmful in these areas. Adding organic matter periodically to the surface is the best way, the way mother nature does it in a forest/jungle. Mulch, leaves, lawn trimmings (as long as you've mowed before grass made seeds,) small clippings from other plants, compost, pine needles, anything you have available should help. The more diverse selection of materials you use, the more help it will be to the soil/plants. As they decompose, the microbes and other organisms in the soil will move the bits of material to the proper levels to be used by the plants.
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