I'm about to plant shrubs in front of my new build. The builder brought in topsoil for the bed, to a depth of about 10". Underneath that soil is, kind of hard to describe, it's like a layer of hard, rocky sand. It does drain well (designed to do so to keep water flowing under the foundation). But it's rocky and hard to dig through. Many medium-size rocks embedded (3-6" diameter).

Not compacted in the way clay soil can get compacted, but I am concerned about it as I'm not sure the roots will be able to penetrate.

Should I ask the builder to dig down to a deeper depth? Or do you think these shrubs will be happy in this situation?

Biggest shrubs are:

- Berri Magic holly, about 6' height, 5' spread

- Dwarf mugo pine, about 4' height & spread

- Baptisia Periwinkle Popsicle, 4'6" height, 3'6" spread

I'm in zone 5b and the bed is on the northeast side of the house, partial sun, just fyi.