"Joanne" wrote in message
...
My friend's garden is fairly large, wide borders around the sides, with
many
trees and shrubs in the borders.

The problem is with the soil in the borders. You can't get a garden fork
or
a spade into the soil at all. It's absolutely impossible to plant bulbs
or
even the smallest perennial. The soil is rock hard and full of shallow
(but
thin) roots, which I presume are from the trees or shrubs. The soil is so
bad that several spades and forks have been broken trying to dig into it.

My friend wants flowering perennials and bulbs in the borders, but when
she
does manage to hack a hole and plant something, it soon dies.

I suggested adding more soil on top, but the borders are already built up
about a foot or so, so that's not a practical solution.

So the question is -- if it's impossible to dig into the soil to improve
it,
then what's the solution?

Thanks.

Nothing grows well in the shade. If the trees are a good size they will be
taking all the available nutrients and water, and new plants will have a
really hard time of it. And unless they are deciduous, bulbs will almost
certainly not do well.
Assuming removal of (some of) the existing trees and shrubs is out of the
question, the answer may be to put the new plants in containers and site
them where there is space for them.

Steve