Difference between top soil and garden mix

QuestionHi Im trying to regrow my lawn. I dug up all the grass and lost some soil. Im planning to replenish the soil and wonder what kind of soil I should get. I need about 4-5 inch of soild. There are top soil and

well draining soil

QuestionI want to make a perenial bed and I want the soil to be well draining.What ingredients would you recomend that I use to acchieve this and in what percentages? AnswerHi Bonnie, On top of your existing soil I

Soil/plants

Questionwhat plants grow best in clay and is it better to plant more mature plants AnswerHi Kerry, I guess you have clay! So do I and I could not be happier about it. Clay is not a limiting factor

Soil wont absorb water

QuestionHello, We recently bought a house in Northern Nevada, and the soil in our backyard will not absorb water! The water will soak down about 3 inches,turning the top of the soil to mud, but beneath that it remai

clay soil / planting a Chuck Hayes gardenia

QuestionHi, thanks for being there. My husband dug a hole deeper and twice as wide as the pot the gardenia is in. The soil is clay & rock. He filled the hole with water yesterday and it just sat th

amending issues

Questioni would like to know if it is possible to make a raised bed for tomatoes,broccoli, and herbs without amending it with the clay that is on the ground. Can I just use store bought organic soil for the raised b

getting rid of weed

QuestionI have recently bought a house and the lawn is full of weed. i have thought of ploughing and regrassing. in ur opinion do i have to take the surface soil away since it contains the weed roots? or is there an

lilacs not flowering

Question i have lilacs that are about 5 yrs old. when i planted them they were flowering they have not since then. is there something i can feed them to make them better AnswerHi Barbara, High phosphorous fertilize

My plants are all stunted...why?

QuestionQUESTION: Hello, I just found this site, how wonderful of you to do this! Thank you. I moved to an area 2 years ago that has mostly clay. East TN, grow zone 7. I have had a problem with my plants being stunt

bed renovation

QuestionQUESTION: Hello James, I have a large overgrown bed (60抶9? next to a farmhouse that I would like to renovate, but my initial problem has to do with clearing the old bed. There are some peo

heavy soil.

QuestionHi, What is the easiest/best way to lighten heavy soil? ours has some clay below, but the useable part is about 10 thick and is HEAVY. Thanks Dave AnswerHi Dave, When its dry enough to work, spread 6

removal of motor oil from soil

Questionwe planted two trees in same location, were dying, moved and lived...we dug 6 x 6 squre and a little over 1 1/2 ft of soil out on the spot..has some oil streaks in upper portion of soil dug..how can we remov

My vegetable garden is dying

QuestionI planted my vegetable garden and put some limestone granduales around the plants, 3 days later everything looks dead. What can I do to save my garden? Ive been giving it plenty of water.

grass in clay soil

QuestionYikes! I just read your answer to Debbie about grass not growing in low areas with clay soil. You said the worst thing you can do is put loose soil on top of hard soil. When we moved in 2 years ago, th

Amount of soil needed

QuestionIm building a flower bed in front of my house and would like to know how many 40lbs bags of top soil to use. The total area of the bed is 204sq ft and I would like to have a depth of 7 inches. I will be plan

How much soil will I need?

QuestionCould you tell me how much soil I will need? I have 2 raised beds that are 4x4ft in size and 8 deep. Also 2 - 4x8 ft. also 8 deep. Right now there is about 1/2 ft. of straw and 1/2 ft of co

falling hill

QuestionHi, Ive been reading your advice on dealing w/clay, my question is we have a large hill behind our home that we disturbed while building our home it has since collapsed several times. We are in the pro

erosion control & soil health

QuestionHelp! My backyard is at the top of a city hill & is eroding into my neighbors yards. It is a very shady yard with 4 big Maple trees & a huge pine. We are also having a recurring problem in that grass seems t

ph levels

QuestionHELLO, HOW ARE YOU? I WANTED TO KNOW , IF MY SOIL PH LEVELS ARE BETWEEN 6.3-6.8, WILL WATERING WITH MY TAP WATER THAT IS 8.4 RAISE MY PH LEVELS IN MY SOIL? IF THE PH LEVELS IN THE SOIL IS RAISED CAN I

Worms in acid soils?

QuestionThe soil of my land is of old volcanic origin, in some places rather reddish brown, in others just brown, is poor, acid and well draining, sometimes it can get quiet dry, but with plenty of organic matter, m