Let me point out that because you are preparing an entire area for this hedge, that it's great to add amendments. If you are planting hole-by-hole, it better to plant in whatever happens to be there. (We preach on this sometimes.) Even if the soil is clay (like mine).

I wouldn't add any other amendments at this time. The roots will take off in a normal fashion, getting a good head start before the warm weather hits us in the spring. I'd advise against fertilization this first year, too. Let the plants establish themselves at a normal pace, rather than being pushed artificially to grow.

What a great bunch of work! Congratulations on a job well done!

If you are amending narrow strips you may produce the same unproductive effects on water movement into and out of the planting area as when amending individual planting holes. Unless your soil is terrible the trees and shrubs especially are highly likely to establish and grow well without amendments. Due to the problems that can be created by amending small planting areas the growth of newly installed subjects is often stunted until it roots into the native soil beyond the amended area, at which point it picks right up. What does that tell you?

Generally mulching is the best way to supply permanent plantings of large-growing specimens with organic material. Fertilizer should be applied when indicated by a soil test. If a soil is deficient there is no benefit from withholding fertilizer because a planting is new. Starving plants do not establish quickly.

Yeah, just stick the shrubs in the native soil, then spread whatever organic material you've got over the top.

I have read this, and I believe all of you. Problem: The soil in the front yard is really, really compacted. This is a new house, and naturally the developers took off all the good dirt, top soil, and left the hard as a brick clay underneath. I cannot tell you how much harder that makes gardening. I could ring their necks.

I want the roots to be able to penetrate the soil. Nellie R. will probably take just about anything.

Bear with me here: We planted 10 southern magnolias around the perimeter of our property (east side). The magnolias toward the backyard (where the soil is good) have grown far larger, more leaves, much bigger trunk than the magnolias nearer the front yard in the compacted soil. All these trees were the same size when we planted them. Planted exactly the same way, even the same day.

What am I supposed to do: Dig up 8 ft. of compacted soil around the struggling magnolias and amend it, hope they catch up to the others.

What do I do here. I'm all ears! So you see, it's NOT really "native soil." It's good top soil removed with compacted clay left behind.
Thanks Michele

Bless your heart, I have been there! We moved in to a newly built home three and a half years ago and the situation you are describing is virtually identical to mine. I did it both ways. Some areas, I dug, tilled, and amended with bags of composted manure,hauled-in organic mix, and anything else I could get my hands on. Other areas, I dug holes, mixed in some manure and planted back into the holes. Here's the pros and cons I have experienced. In shrub borders where I just dug holes, mixed in about half a bag of manure and planted, the shrubs were a little slow off the starting block, but are doing fine now, and already need pruning. However, they are on a slope, so the water drains well, and I have added 4 to 6 inches of organic mulch around them each and every year. In areas where you will be gardening perennials, annuals, etc., you absolutely do want to till and amend the entire area. Otherwise, you will be fighting that sticky nasty stuff everytime you want to add a single plant. The biggest thing I want to warn you about is the issue of drainage. I lost an entire border of dogwoods, because I didn't set them high enough. If you don't improve the drainage of an entire area, rainwater will settle into your holes and drown your plants, especially if you have a wet winter. So...plant dogwoods, camellias, azaleas, gardenias, and probably more HIGH in the hole. That way, they can get the benefit of the water, but still breathe. Just mound soil up around their roots. They will settle some, their roots will break into the native soil around the hole and will be fine before you know it. On the flip side, make sure that you pay proper attention to supplemental watering in our hot dry summers. It takes two years for new shrubs and trees to be well established, longer if you start with really small plants.

I have found that nature is your helper as time goes on. Even though you lost your topsoil and what was left is compacted into nasty sticky clay, if you will keep the area mulched with good organic material, top dress your beds in very early spring or late fall before adding your mulch, the wonders of earthworms and soil organisms will help you over time and your plantings will find the good stuff and grow. Relax and don't kill yourself. Take it an area at a time, enjoy the process, and before you know it, you'll have the garden of your dreams.