Question
I purchased my home late fall last year so this spring I'd like to update some of the existing landscaping. The previous owner put down black plastic and then wood chips over top of that. Some areas have plants and/or shrubs already. I'd like to pull up the plastic and add some dirt so that it is sloping away from the foundation. Once that's done I'd like to plant flowers (annuals mostly) and add the wood chips again. My questions are these:

1) Is it necessary to lay the plastic or can I just apply the wood chips over the bare dirt?

2) If I need to lay the plastic, do I need to poke holes in it so that the water can get to the flowers? Seems like the plastic would prevent that if not.

3)If these beds are against the foundation, how far up the foundation can I fill in with dirt- are there any worries at all?

4)Can I use the bags of top soil purchased at Home Depot/Lowes or should I invest in fill dirt?

Any other thoughts or suggestions are appreciated since this is my first attempt at landscaping! If it helps, I am located in Northwest Ohio.

Thanks!  

Answer
Kristy,

The black plastic/woodchip combo is an awful mess for a number of reasons, not the least of which is, it doesn't work! It does lousy things to the soil and the roots of plants it's surrounding, it never stays put...floating up and looking like litter (I could go on....)

Get rid of the black plastic.  If the stuff is old, that will be a particularly irritating job, because the plastic breaks down and turns brittle, and leaves you hundreds of little pieces.

If you want to add soil, the bagged stuff is ok, but relatively expensive.  If you don't need lots, and that's convenient, go ahead.  When adding soil, just don't cover any wood, or any openings.  The big ones (vents, windows) are easy to spot, but the little ones, like weep holes at the base of brick facades are tough to see.

For mulch (anything that covers the soil surface) I'd go with compost, not wood chips.  Chips or bark take nitrogen to decompose.  That's nitrogen your plants won't get.  So if you want to use the chips for a particular look, add fertilizer too. Otherwise, go for a high quality compost.

Hope this helps,
Mark in Portland

(ps, I grew up in Elyria OH)