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Dead-looking plants
![[Glen]](images/921bf10fe0db2f1f253afd69a70ac659.svg)
[Glen]
Posts: 76
Plants under my watch have suffered terribly - will they recover next spring?
Leaves on rose bushes throughout summer appeared to have had chunks bitten out of them, several potato plants were chewed down to their roots, and a young acer has lost its foliage after most of its leaves dried up. All were regularly watered and no pests were spotted on them.
My garden soil is a permanently moist and impermeable reddish-brown clay that you could make bricks from. The planting hole for the acer was about 24" cubed and maybe this was insufficient. The acer was shaded by walls only, and exposed to direct sunlight for about 4 hours each day.
Will they recover, or must I scrap all and start again?
Last edited: 12 October 2016 18:16:10
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It could be that you have created a sump where your Acer is planted. If the soil is as impermeable as you say then the hole the Acer is in will just retain water and the tree will drown. Over watered plants exhibit similar symptoms to those that are thirsty i.e. drooping leaves. This doesn't address the problems experienced by your Roses and Potatoes though as these definitely sound like creature attacks.
Not too bothered about creature attacks as long as the plants survive, although I'm curious to know what could have caused very large bite shapes. I've seen lizards and these must be living on something in the grass.
The soil description is no exaggeration, and it extends for miles beyond my garden. Any ideas on how I might maintain a decent garden soil and prevent creating a sump?
Add lots of organic stuff, muck, compost. and choose plants that will thrive in heavy clay, however much you improve it clay is what you have. Acers might be best left until the soil has been improved. Roses probably don't mind
In the sticks near Peterborough
The roses sound as if they have been visited by leaf-cutter bees.
http://gardendrum.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Leaf-cutter-bee.-Photo-theangryblender-452x300.jpg
I love leafcutter bees
They're fascinating - I'm so chuffed when one chooses to visit my roses. I know the rose leaves don't look too beautiful afterwards, but when you think of the precision with which the bee cuts them, and then sometimes you can follow the bee as it carries the discs to wherever it's chosen for it's offspring ......... wonderful 
Last edited: 12 October 2016 19:28:01
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
That looks about right. I'm glad its not a slug
To achieve a measurable improvement for plants, how many cubic feet are we talking about?
I would mulch with one 50 litre bag of farmyard manure per 1.5 sq metre every autumn I would also incorporate grit and compost into the soil when preparing planting sites for shrubs etc.
Last edited: 13 October 2016 07:42:31
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
If the soil is really that bad you will find it a challenge to grow anything well. As Dove says, muck and compost and I would add lots of grit, too. You cannot add too much. In unplanted areas, mix it all in, breaking up lumps of clay. My garden gets waterlogged and I have built up the beds to improve drainage and I also plant my shrubs into little mounds for the same reason. I used to lose a lot of plants in the winter but this approach has greatly improved things. Improving drainage on clay soil can be difficult and costly but this works for me.