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We are in the middle of a huge landscaping project here. End of the season (Minnesota) of course, so we are in the crunch in terms of materials available.
We tore out a steep driveway with high retaining walls to create a level backyard with wide garden beds above short retaining walls. When the project began, the original excavator/landscaper said he could save my amended topsoil (all organic) and that we would need no additional soil. Now he's bailed on the project and the new excavator/landscaper has saved very little topsoil (and it's not his fault, the site is narrow and the soil above walls with tons of Class 5 behind the walls mixed in). The beds now have to be filled in with soil brought to the site. I had silty loam, everything grew like mad and am really upset about losing that in my beds.
When they bring in this stuff does it have any structure, any microorganisms, any life? I need to plant tulips as soon as there are beds, I have 100s I dug out of the old garden, should I water in with compost tea or something to get the process going?
The landscape architect, the landscaper, all say they can bring me what ever kind of soil I want but are landscape mixes any good? and what should I be looking for to be as much like my soil as possible? Most mixes have topsoil, sand, milled or coarse peat. Some have wood bark and compost. I especially don't want soil that retains too much water--I have perennializing tulips and other bulbs, yuccas, heathers, other plants that grow here that don't grow in other gardens--so peat seems a bad idea to me, but WDIK?
To add insult to injury now they want to just mix the topsoil they saved into the substrate because they have to bring in fill, and they're bringing "good" soil in anyway so why have the inconvenience of working around it? Arrrgh. I feel like I started out with one deal and I'm ending up with something else entirely. But that's just venting.
Appreciate any advice and experience, thanks, Laurie
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