We are moving to a place in the country that backs up to a beautiful pond. The challenge? The property sits close to a state road. VERY BUSY w/traffic (trucks etc...) and the sounds that come with it. Still we see potential and thought of putting in a naturalized woodsy garden in the front and along the side of the house to attract birds (I'd rather hear birdsong than trucks) and also shelter from the site and sounds of traffic. The plan was to layer bushes and trees that are of the shallow root varieties since there is a well in the front yard and we don't want invasives heading for the basement. Also thought of moving some of the larger stones that are on the back property to make a low stacked stone section at the road to help cut down on sound from tires. The other challenging aspect is the gravely yard.

Right now there are viburnum along one side punctuated w/a not so happy pine. Near the pine I planted oakwood hydrangea which I'm hoping will be a happy rambling cover from the side view of the road. This seems to be the only section of the frontyard w/out gravel.

Also I have brought in one young sweetspire that is brilliant orange and red at the moment...haven't decided where to plant it yet as I've heard it can potentially take off well and multiply and if we want to maintain the bright fall colors, it needs a sunny spot. There is a good sized maple in the front also.

THE CHALLENGE: We eagerly brought out some little seedlings the birds had planted on our old property. Plunged the shovels in and found that there is only 1 or 2 inches of soil under the grass...the rest is...gravel. Gravel coated dirt but mostly gravel.

We considered trying to shovel out as much as possible and replace it w/dirt but that seems unrealistic w/me and a shovel doing the work considering it covers most of the front yard. Next thought is to bring in some yards of dirt to mound up BUT: 1. Won't that kill the maple? How far from the maple's roots would I need to encircle to protect the roots and keep the new dirt away?and

2. How deep would we need to go w/soil in order to provide enough base for healthy bushes and trees to establish their root systems before hitting the gravel? 3.What kind of dirt is normally available from earth hauling places and what should I ask for? topsoil? AND 4. For the sake of keeping it woodsy, and green even in winter, we're thinking we'd need to put in some kind of evergreens amongst the deciduous naturalized hedge we want to put in to create a layered effect. Something that looks like it "just grew that way in a woodsy way" Wanting to do it in the least expensive way we can and yet have it come in looking lush, informal and like a planned by God natural habitat. What bushes/trees would you recommend that are shallow rooted enough that they would not threaten the well, basement or, once we get to the side and backyard area, the septic field?

Thanks this is my first post! Flower51