Question
Hello,

We had a local gardening company do some landscaping in our yard a month ago. They put in a new bed in the front (added soil and mulch) and planted a holly tree, some laurels, boxwoods, and a globosa low graft spruce.

Since the bed is fairly empty, I planted some mums, ice plants, and asters yesterday. I was planting near the bottom of the down slope of the bed and found that the soil the landscapers had put in was placed over top of the grass. I dug up the grass the best I could to plant the new plants, but I am worried about whether the roots of all the trees/shrubs/flowers will have trouble growing because there is a layer of grass under the soil. This is of particular concern for the plants that are closer to the grass level. The trees and bushes they planted seem to be faring well - they're growing tons of new leaves. And the grass is obviously dying under the soil. But I am not sure if they'll be stunted in growth once their roots hit the grass level since it was fairly tough to rip up with a trowel.

Is it common practice for gardening centers to place soil over the grass? Will it be a problem for our plants? The gardening center is coming back in a few days to fix something, and I am wondering if I should ask them to fix this as well.

Thanks
Jennifer Brooks
Washington DC

Answer
Hello Jennifer
yes you should be concerned, although the grass will eventually die it should have been removed before planting or building the bed. as the grass decomposes under the new soil it will compete for nutrients with your plantings. And if there is any quack grass in there it will invade the bed, the root systems can be invasive. If you paid for it have them do it right.  Good Luck  larry  ;-)