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Why are my plants dying?!
franny71
Posts: 3
I am very much a novice gardener. We moved into our house a year ago which has a lovely big garden with mainly trees and spring bulbs. I have dug a new South facing bed and over the last few weeks have planted some new shrubs and a few bulbs. 2 Euphorbia (Silver Edge and Ascot Rainbow) are looking very dry and droopy. 3 Campanula died completely and a Hebe looks like it's struggling. I dug in manure, compost and bone meal and added fertiliser. Soil is clay and alkaline. What am I doing wrong and can my plants be saved? Also, squirrels have dug up my bulbs :-(
Last edited: 04 April 2017 19:17:46
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Hi Franny
We've had a dry spring in most of the UK - have the plants had sufficient watering?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks Lantana.
Yes, I've watered probably every other day! which I think is probably enough? I dug some manure into the bed when I was preparing it. I put some bone meal in the planting holes, filled around with compost and added some fertiliser around base once planted. Maybe over-kill?
Young new plants don't need extra fertiliser on planting. Probably burning the roots, you could try putting them in pots until the ground had settled down a bit and some rain washed the nutrients through.
I don't fertilise my garden, chicken pellets will put structure in your soil enabling it to make its own nutrients. theres so much talking of extra feeds in the soil, most a marketing con.
Did you fill the planting holes with just compost or compost mixed with the soil? If you filled in with purely compost, it may be that you've created a sump. i.e the water is sitting in the planting hole making the roots too wet! This also causes drooping as the roots need air too! It might be worth digging out one of the plants just to check.
Don't panic or get downhearted though. This is how we all learn!!!
Thanks Marygold, that could certainly be the answer. Digging the holes in the first place was really hard as the ground is very stony and I did fill with mainly compost. I'll dig one up and take a look at the roots. As you say, it's a learning process ?