My house was built two years ago on land that was essentially a vacant lot
for 15 years. The soil is really poor quality - hard-packed clay with
little pebbles mixed in that I can barely break up with a shovel. I haven't
been successful at getting a lawn to take consistent root, so I've decided
to have most of the front lawn area replaced with a series of
interconnecting planting beds around the fence line to minimize the grassy
area. The landscaper is going to rototill the soil down about 18 inches and
add some stuff to improve the quality and make it easier to work. He says
there are two basic options: Replace the soil with a high-quality topsoil,
or till in amendments to the existing soil. I prefer leaf compost for the
organic benefits, but he recommends gypsum instead because he says the
gypsum will start to break down the clay pretty much immediately and add
some acid to the soil. It's a big area - the lawn is probably 30x50 - and
he's going to cut in perimeter beds around the border about 8 feet wide, so
cost is a factor in my decision. What do you all think of either of these
options? Any other ideas would be appreciated as well.

Rhonda
Richmond, VA
USDA Zone 7



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Basic human psychology is one of my subroutines.