Q: The previous owners of our place had some landscaping done by an amateur who used some expensive materials, but really screwed up the installation. There are four shrubs that were surrounded by what appears to be filter cloth (landscaping cloth) which was covered with large (1-2 inch) blue and pink rocks. The landscaping was done shortly before we bought our place, but that summer, quack grass had overtaken the shrub bed. I don't know if they didn't put in new topsoil and there were weeds in the soil under the filter cloth or if they put the filter cloth upside down. I have raked all the rocks out (with a fair amount of debris in them still) and removed the filter cloth. Do I need to remove the topsoil and bring some new soil in? Or can I just turn the soil over and cover it properly with filter cloth? Also, how would you clean the debris out of the rocks? I don't want grass and leaves in the new rocks when I lay them on top of the filter cloth.
A: If its all cleaned out now just turn the top soil i don't think you need new.Put down some new weed cloth.Maybe you can spread the rocks out on the pavement and hose them off before returning them to the bed.I had to do this once a few years ago and i know it isn't fun...good luck