Soil in my yard (house, gardening, moving)

[christinabean]

I am just curious to know if anyone else has experienced the following:

Since moving into our home in Brightleaf, we have noticed that the soil seems to be drying up in areas and as a result, we have spots along our home where the plant/flower beds are that are just dropping 4-6 inches plus or minus. There are spots where there are somewhat deep holes underneath this dropped area.

I had forgotten about it for a little while, but then when I went to grab the mail a few days ago, I noticed one of my petunias was several inches lower into the ground then the rest. It almost looked as if someone let a hose run in that spot for too long, only we haven't. I saw it in another spot as well. We grabbed a handful of dirt out of the spot, and found a deep hole. This is not the work of gophers or rodents, of that I am sure- and these spots didn't seem to be there when we moved in.

It seems very strange because when we are gardening, the soil seems more like muddy clay, not dry at all....

Perhaps this is normal, but I am beginning to worry that we could end up with more substantial problems (foundation problems) if this continues. Am I over-reacting? Is it that I am not used to the soil around here?

Any thoughts?

[lamishra]

It's probably a spot where there was once a tree or large shrub planted and was removed. When they grind the stumps, after a while, the stump holes sink as the leftover roots decay. We have quite a few of them in our yard where we removed some trees. The soil is usually very moist and not compact. We just fill the holes as needed with topsoil and pack it down. If the hole is big, you can pack it with gravel first and then cover with topsoil.

[christinabean]

Thanks Lamishra! I think we will do just what you suggested and just fill them in with dirt/soil. My husband suggested the same. The holes are mostly up against the house.

Off to Lowes in the morning....

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by christinabean

Thanks Lamishra! I think we will do just what you suggested and just fill them in with dirt/soil. My husband suggested the same. The holes are mostly up against the house.

Off to Lowes in the morning....

Sounds like the fill put back against the home was not compacted and just loose dirt, that settled some.

When filling, try to make sure that the slope is away from the house and water will not run against the foundation wall.

[jshallen]

The clay in this area is very expansive and has the tendency to shrink during dry times. We havent had our "normal" yearly drought this year as of yet. What is happening is the clay that was back filled against the house is drying up and shrinking. We (Ram Jack) are usually really busy this time of year but the rain has slowed things a bit.