Flower bed help?
Question:Very rocky soil with clay about two feet down. Have mixed in both peat moss & topsoil with compost, but plants are not happy. Already existing plants too close for me to rototill. Zone 7; lots of sun. Pointers on both soil (unable to apply mulch) & possible plants that might do well?
Thanx.
Answers:
Did you bother to add either a fertilizer or minerals when you were in prep? If the plants are to close to till and unable to apply mulch, well, what the hey!
Some people spend their time and money on shopping for and purchasing plants. Where the home for the plant is going seems unimportant. How the home will be maintained is equally unimportant. Clay is not the problem nor are the plants. The problem is not planning ahead!!
Clay soils are amended with a rototilling of Sphagnum Peat Moss, a basis 10-10-10 with mineral fertilizer, and granular gypsum to a four or six inch level. Key here is that you do that BEFORE you plant. In the fall you add some Bone Meal to the surface and do the same tilling next spring!
Since you are in zone 7 do yourself, your garden, and your plants a favor. This weekend go and remove half of the plants you put in the ground a month ago or less!! Make another bed for them (this time with the proper prep) or discard. Purchase a 10-10-10 with minerals granular fertilizer and Shreeded Hardwood Mulch. Use the manuf rate for the fert. Mulch at a minimum of two to three inches. Keep the mulch three to four inches from the plant base. Water the entire garden real deep.
No plant is going to do well when it has no room for root development or growth. No plant is going to grow without nutrients and proper irrigation. No plant is going to grow without proper protection!
Sorry to be cruel, however, how would you grow in these circumstances. You have no clothing (mulch), no food (fert), no water, and given no space to sleep. This is the descript of your space. With the clay below and the rocks above you have an excellent chance or reclaiming by merely allowing the plants to feed, water, mulch and grow.
Do this and make sure the plantings have the right amount of mulch, fert, and water (1" per week applied weekly). Fert every six weeks. The Granular 10-10-10 with minerals is about $8 per 50lb bag and last a season. You can use it on your lawn as well with equal results.
Think of it as this, given time (season), space, food (fert), and school (soil reconstruction), a baby becomes a Doctor. Let your baby grow. Feed it as needed, water it as needed, and clothe it (mulch) as needed and watch it grow. Good Luck.
go to your local home depot or nusery & ask for native plants - or even their website can help you out - home depot has zones on its site and plant tips for those areas
You may have made the soil too "hot." I did that with tomatoes I kept in a pot this year. It could be a number of things, the soil, the water or lack of, the type of plants you're trying to grow.
There's a plant called the ice plant that does well in such conditions. Mexican heather is said to do well under almost any condition.
Impatiens and sun, dead. Try buying a cheap hanging basket of coleus. Break the stems off about every inch and stick in the ground, space about 2 inches apart, they will root just from the stem without any other help but water. That may be your easiest and quickest fix for this time of year.
Miracle Grow added to the topsoil should help you out some. That stuff will make just about anything grow in any condition in a short amount of time and keep the plants nurished with time released fertilizers.
Hope that helps :-)
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