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Square Foot Gardening

depth of soil

14 years ago

My soil is nothing but roots from an old live oak tree and several shrubs. I can only get a shovel in about 3 inches. I want to plant azaelas. How much soil do I have to add to the existing bad soil to plant them. I have both large and small azaelas. What does the depth of a garden have to be?

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Comments (2)

weekendhomestead
14 years ago
diana3,

I have never planted azaelas. But I have planted in soil that has lots of roots. For me the best tool for the job of root cutting is the mattock.

Regarding the roots. You say it is an old live oak tree. IIRC, these trees can be hundreds of years old. If the tree is still alive you probably don't want to damage the root system. If the tree is dead, then the roots will be additional organic matter for your soil.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wikipedia Link for Mattock
jolj
14 years ago
You should go to the azaela forum.
But they are not a deep rooted plant, you can plant them shallow(on top of the ground) if you keep them watered.

Here is a link that might be useful: azalea forum
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