This is a novice question, I know , but... I got a truckload of half manure half dirt dumped in my yard but then it rained and I realized that it is too mucky- poor drainage i guess you could say- little puddles of mud in my garden. What do I mix in to fix this or should I fix it? More dirt? Sand? Thanks PS- I am planting shrubs and perenials and annuals
Do not dig wet ground. Wait for it to dry out, if you are on a damp site this may take months. If, on the other hand you just have the problem of the amendment and/or surface soil becoming soggy in recent rains it won't take too may sunny days to make conditions suitable for working. Once the annual summer drought kicks in many local sites often become quite dry. Easiest and most efficient method is to buy soil, dump it on top and plant in that-rather than spending same (or more) money, effort on spreading amendments--with the added work of digging them in. Unless one's existing soil is terrible it is not necessary to do more than loosen the soil, plant and mulch with wood chips.
I spread it or dump it in piles then roto-till the topping into the existing. This doesn't work well if you have pre-existing problems like couch grass which will take the tilling as a signal to propagate like crazy. Ralph
