Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: Spring flowering shrubs/trees, 0 by Pistil

Pistil wrote:
Hi Sequoia- I tried putting a sandy mix in a big hole when I planted some-but in the wet clay this can then merely fill up like a mini pond during the rainy season. It does not seem to help shrubs either. How do I know this? I tried it. After a rain the water was attracted to my mini pond and the shrubs drowned. However I have now tried something else based on some advice from Growin several years ago- last fall I planted some Eremurus in a pile of sand mixed with Pro-Mix HP potting soil (HP for high porosity). They all survived the winter! Long term this won't work on a large scale, it would take too much sand and backbreaking labor.