gardening question on poorly transplanted shrubs and trees

Cafe Society
1

It’s spring and working on the garden. Figured out that the landscapers on our new construction 18 months ago took us to the cleaners. Soil here in the pacific northwest sucks and much of our topsoil was scrapped off during leveling. It’s pretty rocky.

Well, the wonderful landscaping crew put in a lot of mulch. And for many of the shrubs and trees, didn’t actually dig into the rocky soil, but instead just mounded up the mulch around the plant straight from the planter. Sigh. Buyer beware.

Anyhoo, what to do about it?

  1. I’m pulling the plants/shrubs and trees out, digging out the hole and replanting
  2. For some that look like they are doing okay, I’ve just been pounding in deep holes using a piece of rebar. Thinking/hoping that the roots will then be able to grow down into soil and no need for a replanting. Will this work or do I need to dig stuff up?
  3. What to do about some bigger trees that were transplanted (a maple about 10’ tall), some hedge trees, etc but not real sure if a real hole was dug
  4. any other advice?

thanks in advance

2

Sorry to hear of your problems. A couple questions…

Was the landscaping crew hired by you? Can you discuss this issue with them.

If the landscapers were part of the General Contractor’s subs, can you contact the contractor?

Thanks to the internet, bad news travels fast. If either of these businesses are still around, they may want to correct the situation.