[seanandde]

I've been a keen gardener my whole adult life so you'd think I should have got to grips with this years ago!  I suppose what prompts me to ask some questions is that I've had some (expensive) failures in my current garden of 3 years and I seem to have become expert at growing creeping buttercup    It's definitely not clay soil (having previously lived in London for many years and gardened on clay), nor is it sandy or limey (doesn't look to be anyway).  The soil is 'dark', not peaty looking and, were I to go out and dig at this time of year, it would be quite heavy, i.e. fork up in huge clumps but these are fairly easily broken down with a fork.

I can't get to grips with why some things will flourish and others just sit there, failing to grow, or disappear over winter never to be seen again - perennials, paticularly.  Lavenders, in full sun all day, fail to thrive... yet Nepeta in the same bed is doing brilliantly.  A number of perennial Phlox I planted last year have simply disappeared, as did half a dozen Heuchera - all fairly bulky plants in 2L pots when bought/planted.  Achillea planted last year - half of it already clumping up nicely... the other half, just two feet away hasn't reappeared along with Verbena bonariensis which was next to it (also planted last year nad looked beautiful) is as dead as a Dodo.  I plant/look after everything with great care, weeding, feeding, watering in summer, etc.

Is it winter wet?  Should I go back to basics and get a soil test kit?  I just can't understand why plants alongside one another with, apparently, the same requirements are 'behaving' so differently.

Sorry for the long post... any advice much appreciated

[Lardman]

Creeping buttercup - I know him so well. 

Id get some in a jar with water and take a look at what settles out. If results are patchy there could be a hard pan, localised pollution, pests or even debris.

Next time something dies, dig it out and examine the roots carefully then dig down another spades depth when you pulled it from looking for foreign bodies.

[seanandde]

Thank you   Must admit, anything dead goes straight in the bin without examination; I'll do that in future.

Strangely enough, just this morning I did the soil in a jar of water thing, having looked around on-line for clues on-line re my failures.  Took a 'typical' sample from a spot that I know I haven't added anything to.  Sat looking at it now, there's a very thin (a few mm) at the bottom which I believe is sand; by far the thickest layer above that is darker - silt?; then a very thin, just 1mm, top pale layer - clay?  I think I have those correct if I understood properly.

I'm wondering if I have just really cr@p soil which needs a lot more organic stuff dug in than I've managed so far.

[JayG]

Many plants which we previously thought of as hardy in the much milder winters we have become accustomed to were "found out" this time around. 

The severe and prolonged frosts could have done for them on their own, but waterlogged soil can also be a factor; lavender in particular needs very good drainage all year round.

Your soil doesn't actually sound too bad; might be worth getting a pH testing kit just to make sure you don't have anything too extreme, and although it's not much consolation many people in my area are now finding that some long-established shrubs and plants have not survived the exceptional winter conditions.

[seanandde]

Yes, I was perversely hoping that the last two winters had outed some "hardy" plants, rather than their demise being at my own hands.  On reflection, I think it's possibly a case of pretty much everything being planted here from scratch almost three years ago have had those two winters to contend with.  Some, which were well established about 18 months ago and looking lovely, I'm a bit sus about; lots of 'hardy' ferns, a grape vine, some shrub roses... not a sign of life as yet.  Even a well established, bog-standard Clematis montana still isn't 'doing' anything.

Bit soul destryong really, not to mention hard on the pocket

[Goosegirl]

It is strange how some same plants will do well in an area and not in other similar ones. I love Heucheras and yet they don't do well in my back garden for some reason, but thrive in the front, more exposed beds. Maybe it depends on the quality of plants you bought, when you planted them and how deep - was it in spring so they grew well or later and did they get established before winter..? Verbena bonariensis for me tends to be an annual but will set seed so watch out for that. Your soil sounds to me to be a loam - the water test will show larger particles at the bottom and gradiating to the finest at the top. A nice thick layer of dark soil sounds good to me - I'm thinking of plenty of humous there. Perhaps a Time Team excavation of the failed areas - ie - Achillea may reveal something or not. I had a small hanging basket of trailing Dianthus which got left out over winter due to illness - they have all survived much to my surprise as has a Japanese painted fern. Give it some time and see what happens. I sympathise - I really do.

[N.WalesIdealist]

Your soil sounds fine to me, at least in it's make-up.  Do a proper pH test and see what that says.  Also, what's the drainage like where you are?  Do you suffer from standing water or very quick draining soil?

Also, have a proper dig around where one of your plants has failed.  The chances are there is a localised cause of your problem, otherwise it would affect your whole plot.

[fatcat1955]

Have a walk along the road and look in your neighbours gardens, what grows in their's should be ok in yours.

[seanandde]

Thanks for the other replies, they're much appreciated.

Most of what I put in is bought/planted in Spring and early summer... thinking about it, a lot of what I plant doesn't exactly romp away which maybe suggests a general lack of fertility of the soil?  Shrubs don't seem to be a problem (thought I've planted only a few), it's more the perennials, even those you're often warned against because of their self seeding habits.. well, not in my garden!  It's not all doom and gloom.  Perennial grasses, Lupins, Evening Primrose, the Nepeta went mad and some Geums are still okay.  All stuff that's pretty hard to kill though

I think the drainage is fine; the ground is never waterlogged and neither is it too free draining, I'm fairly certain.

I'm going to ph test the soil and next step is have a dig well under a few dead things that haven't been pulled out to see what, if anything, I can find.

Many thanks

[Gandan57]

Creeping buttercups thrive in slightly acid soil. If you see a field full of buttercups it`s a good indication that it requires liming.

[mrs bouquet]

When  I was at college we were taught to do soil tests by using a very large corkscrew and taking a core of soil to about 12" and testing at different levels down.
The reason for this is because soil kits normally only take a small top layer, which may or may not have had other matters dug into it. Remember that the top layer is not much good, because the roots are much lower down.   Good luck, it sounds as if you have been given good advice by other members.   Mrs Bouquet

[seanandde]

Thank you, I'll bear that in mind when I get the ph test kit this weekend

I hadn't considered soil acidity re the creeping buttercup.  My garden is literally awash with the stuff.  I know it can be nigh on impossible to remove all the root pieces but every bit of the garden I planted up was originally dug quite deeply and what root I could see, removed but it's still an ongoing battle... left for a few months there would be virtually nothing *but* the stuff.  I'm in south east Kent so hadn't thought the soil would be acid.  Test at the weekend will be interesting.

[Goosegirl]

My soil is neutral to slightly alkaline and I have a lot of creeping B. It spreads by runners as well as seed and it's very satisfying to dig up a big root. As you seem to have such a major problem with failures, I do hope that you find the answer soon. How long have you gardened there? I can't see it being sprinklings of some chemical that has persisted. Please let us know how you go on.

[viettaclark]

Please let us know what your soil is......
It could be acid like mine which is brill for lots of things including blueberries, azaleas, camelias etc but I do tend to lose plants that aren't happy!
Worried about the verbena bonarensis now...got some plants coming soon.....