So I bought some hardy fuchsias, and now that I'm home, I'm thinking, I should thought longer before buying them. I have cement for soil. I know I'm going to have to amend the soil, but I'm wondering with what? Is rotted wood chips good enough? I'm worried about blending in too rich a mulch as it might activate growth when the plant needs to think about hibernating. If I start amending the soil now, but don't plant until the fall, will that be enough time for the mulch to not be to rich?

Or would it be better if I wintered this fuchsia over inside and planted them outside, after the soil had time to adjust to the amendments?

Suggestions?

I wish I could answer your question, but I have no experience with the kind of soil you're describing. I hope someone else comes along to respond with a more helpful comment. If not, you can always ask about the preferable amendments in the Pacific Northwest Forum.

https://garden.org/forums/view...

Trying to amend hard pack clay is impossible. I tried to amend the soil and it would just turn back into the same hard pack by the next season. I ended up buying top soil or mushroom compost by the dump truck load. And built up the soil over the clay about 6 to 8" . Then planted tons of plants. That was 20 years ago and the garden is 21/2 acres. It worked well for my garden .
Good luck.