Excavated soil on a slope must be planted now

9 years ago

Hello, this is my very first time posting here at Houzz. My family and I have just built a home in the North County area of San Diego, Ca. (Exactly on the border of Zone 20/21, according to our sunset western gardener book). We must plant the slope in front of our home in order to pass our final home inspection so we can move in to our home.

We plan to do as much, if not all, of the landscaping ourselves but need some advice on how to start. The slope was recently excavated. Our soil is mostly decomposed granite with a small amount of clay mixed in here and there. I am afraid that if I plant now everything will die because of the excavated soil.

How do we prepare the soil for planting? Do we bring in top soil? There is an organic mushroom farm close to us that sells soil we used in a garden and it was great. Would something else work better in this case?

We have actually considered doing a quick planting of ice plant just to pass inspection and then ripping it out so we can do our more permanent landscaping when we have time to really prepare the soil. There is a lot of ice plant on the property that we could transplant. We would rather do it right the first time and not waste our time with the ice plant but don't want to kill beautiful plants by rushing into something that the ground isn't ready for.

We plan to use at least 75% native plants for a very drought tolerant landscape. California wild lilac, manzanita, yarrow etc. With areas of succulents and rocks.

I will attach photos tomorrow when the sun is out.

Sorry for the long question! I want to provide as many details as possible and as you can probably tell, we are feeling pretty lost :o) We would be so grateful for some advice!

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Comments (9)

apple_pie_order
9 years ago
Check with your local building permit office to see what kind of landscaping they find acceptable. There are often lists of guidelines, including native plants, available as handouts. There may be additional restrictions due to the drought.
Shelley
Original Author
9 years ago
According to the inspector, we are allowed to plant ice plant &/or fire resistant plants as we are in a high fire danger zone. My main concern is the soil. I do think I need to start with topsoil but since this is a rush job, I want to make sure how quickly we can plant in top soil after it is laid. Does the top soil need to sit and adjust for awhile before we can plant in it? Do we need to work the top soil into the excavated dirt at all? I worry that the plants won't root down deep enough if they don't like the soil under the top soil. Is that a legitimate concern?

We only have about two weeks to get this all done :o)
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emmarene9
9 years ago
At first I thought you were worried about erosion because you mention the slope. Then you talked about soil amendments. You say your soil is decomposed granite and some clay. Was there a different composition before the excavation?

You already know that ice plant can root in the soil that is present.

I would plant ice plant so you can move into your house. Congratulations on your new home.
Shelley
Original Author
9 years ago
I'm actually also worried about erosion control. I guess I am worried about everything! Ahhhh! :o)
Thank you, we are excited about our new home! It's actually a ranch house that my grandfather built almost 50 years ago and we have built on to the existing house (added four bedrooms, three bathrooms, large kitchen, craft room, great room etc.) My parents live next door (it's like a large duplex out in the country where my husband and I can raise our three children) It's really wonderful and we feel so lucky to get to have done this. It took us over 3.5 years!
Kathy Yata
9 years ago
Contact a native plant nursery and they can walk you through this. Drought tolerant natives aren't used to a lot of organic matter and need good drainage plus autumn is exactly when they need to go into the ground. On the face of it sounds like planting the appropriate plants on your slope is fine as it's low in organics and is fast draining. Unless you have a planting plan there's no point in buying up a bunch of assorted natives in the first place. I suspect either the nursery will make up a plan and sell you lots of plants because your slope is fine or they will make up a plan and tell you what to do for each plant whether to plant it now with ammended soil or do something to the spot and plant later.
raineycarole
9 years ago
Ice plant. Quick, easy, drought resistant.
Shelley
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you, that is great advice. There are some local nurseries here that specialize in native plants so I will make a trip there. I have studied a great deal and know what plants I can use/want to use (mostly native but all drought tolerant and all can do well on a slope). I have a general idea of how to lay them out but, as you said, hopefully the nursery will help me lay out a final plan. I guess my main concern really was the soil. Decomposed granite is great for the kind of planting I want to do but I think I was just worried that dirt being dug up to the surface would be too full of minerals and whatnot that could kill new plants. I read that on a blog.
emmarene9
9 years ago
You could post on the California Forum. A lot of So Cal people are active and could talk to you more about your slope. They may want to see a picture.

One of the good things I hear about natives is they do not need soil amending or fertilizer.
Shelley
Original Author
9 years ago
That's great! Thank you, emmarene!