@chelle
Yes, you are right about what I need.
>>>>before I began I called the gentleman that gravels our driveways and asked for advice. He suggested using what's called "dirty fill" and explained that as dump trucks get loaded at the loading yard there's almost always some that spills over the top -this conglomeration of yard dirt, quarry dust and varying sizes of stone are periodically scraped into a pile and sold as dirty fill.
Before I go down the mountain, I plan to contact our Road Department for what is called "waste cinder" to see if I can get it cheaper. For the smaller areas, I had planned to use lava rock mixed in with the soil I use for back fill. A geologist friend who I had up here to help me fix a drainage problem with the slope suggested that I use cinder/lava rock to mix with the clay because it is more porous and would capture some of the nutrients I add to the top of soil better as they moved through the soil when I watered.
I have already checked with the companies that sell various types of landscape materials up here and they all sell it by the ton. I am certain I don't need a ton of rocks ...
I want the back fill area to look and feel very much like the consistency of the rest of the soil in that bed. I plan to just leave it there all summer and next winter with a top layer of mulch. The Road Department may also have some material they use to chip seal many of the roads up here that they consider to be waste material, too. I am trying to correct one of my novice mistakes where I accidentally created that low spot.
I am going to follow
@Leftwood, Rick's suggestion to mound it up and give it time to settle, before I do any planting in that bed.
>>>>best plants we have are growing there! Hilarious! (Roses, too Big Grin .)
Yes, the roses truly like this kind of "soil" in that it has wonderful drainage and the clay holds the moisture for them. I was quite surprised that they would do so well in soil that was more dense rock than soil. In a way, it's kind of like planting in a peculation pond. Of course, it is nutrient poor, but I have found that it is easier to correct the nutrient needs of plants than it is to correct drainage.
>>>>bagged stone, but it doesn't go very far for the cost/aching back-work ratio.
It doesn't matter where I get the stones ... everything has to be hauled up to the house pad level. After I fix this mistake, I am going to try to find plants that like the soil I have and quit trying to plant things where I have to haul heavy stuff up from the street level.
Thank you for the suggestions ....
Smiles,
Lyn
