[stb]

A landscape guy told me that I shouldn't put topsoil or wood chips or anything on top of decomposed granite. I don't know if he meant (and he is long gone) that it would just get messy, the DG would come to the top or that something weird would happen or what?

We have some low areas that we were going to fill with leftover DG and then add topsoil for 4-6" and then plant. Is there any reason why we shouldn't do this?

[Mau]

Originally Posted by stb

A landscape guy told me that I shouldn't put topsoil or wood chips or anything on top of decomposed granite. I don't know if he meant (and he is long gone) that it would just get messy, the DG would come to the top or that something weird would happen or what?

We have some low areas that we were going to fill with leftover DG and then add topsoil for 4-6" and then plant. Is there any reason why we shouldn't do this?

Well, it's not going to float to the surface and it won't get messy. But I'm not a big fan of layering different soil types though.

What are you going to plant? Some plants might not like a thick layer of DG after they work themselves down through 6" of top soil.

How many cu. yds. of DG and soil are you talking about?

Why not just mix the DG and top soil with a roto-tiller? Depending on your ratios, a DG and top soil mix would be fine for almost everything.

When I'm planting cactus or succulents I mix DG, sand and our native clay. I've had great success with that mix.

[stb]

Thanks, Mau. We've got such a mess (thank you former landscape guy) with a couple of inches of DG across the yard, path width, for a path we don't intend to make. I guess I'll rake that out and then when I put the soil on top I can mix in. I don't want to til the ground but I want to add some height in some areas so I can mix in there. That's what I did with the front yard - mixed DG with the clay we pulled from the new driveway excavatio. I'll be doing all California native plants.

I've got a deep area right outside the backdoor that needs raising and I was going to use some of the bluestone for a small patio. I guess I'll lay the DG, put the bluestone down and then mix topsoil with the DG for in-between so I can plant. I hate the look of this color DG so I really don't want to look at it. :-)

[Mau]

Originally Posted by stb

Thanks, Mau. We've got such a mess (thank you former landscape guy) with a couple of inches of DG across the yard, path width, for a path we don't intend to make. I guess I'll rake that out and then when I put the soil on top I can mix in. I don't want to til the ground but I want to add some height in some areas so I can mix in there. That's what I did with the front yard - mixed DG with the clay we pulled from the new driveway excavatio. I'll be doing all California native plants.

I've got a deep area right outside the backdoor that needs raising and I was going to use some of the bluestone for a small patio. I guess I'll lay the DG, put the bluestone down and then mix topsoil with the DG for in-between so I can plant. I hate the look of this color DG so I really don't want to look at it.

Your California natives will love a soil/DG mix. I wasn't specific enough when I said 'roto-till'. I don't mean to till your yard, but use it to throughly mix the DG and soil. I have a small mini-tiller that I use to mix compost into the soil I've removed from my planting holes and then use that mix for backfill. My tiller is a Honda but it's the same size as the Mantis that Home Depot rents.