deansplit wrote:
....
- I did notice that after heavy rain, puddles appeared/it gets
waterlogged – the soil is 4" over shail, could this be a factor? I also
noticed dark (almost black soil when digging it up which I think
coincided with a pond smell – not sure if this is the soil the gardener
added of if it's bad soil? And I also noticed quite a few (every other
shovel load) of inch and half long caterpillar type creatures but no
legs ie. like a large maggot, some were brown, some crimson red, red
ones were like a cocoon!

4" over shale on a west facing slope is probably
not quite enough, especially if you are getting
winds from the coast.

you might need more topsoil, your drainage
situation doesn't sound great either, but i
dunno what you want to do about breaking through
or trenching something like shale. that sounds
like a major expense. the more topsoil you
bring in the better the soil will be at holding
moisture and distributing it if you get a heavy
rain. but overall, even after adding another
several inches of topsoil i don't think you gain
as much as you might need. also depends upon
the amount of clay and organic material in the
topsoil as to what it will hold for moisture and
what it will support for plant growth.

bugs are a good sign your soil supports life.
if you don't notice bare patches appearing in
the middle of otherwise healthy grass i would
not worry.

the swamp smell should not be at the surface
or within a few inches of the grass roots. down
deeper it would be normal in waterlogged soils
with some organic matter. a sign that better
drainage is needed...

in the old days, people would scrape out the
bottom of ditches and ponds to use that black
muck in gardens. it's good soil additive for
gardens, but has to be done a few weeks before
planting.


songbird