[Diddy Gardener]

Hi, I have a border in my garden along which runs a 10 foot high beech hedge. Lots of things will grow in it but lots of things won't (or disappear after the first year)...lupins, foxgloves etc.

Now I guess the hedge is nicking all the nutrients and moisture from the soil, but how can I fix this? Come the autumn I can dig in...whatever, but at the moment this isn't possible as I'm in the process of putting my annuals in.

So, two questions: is there a 'quick fix' just now so that I have a lovely show of annuals and summer-flowering herbaceous and, what's best to dig in in the autumn? I have access to a fair few bags of peat (been sitting  in someone's barn for a few years), and could probably get hold of a pile of manure.

Any and all suggestions welcome please 

[mumofstig]

Everything (including the hedge) will enjoy more organic matter being dug in, but in my last garden the only way I could get a decent border was to lay a soaker hose underneath a mulch.

That way the plants had some water to use, otherwise, the hedges strip every last drop of moisture from the soil.

[Goosegirl]

What things are able to grow in your border? I have a large sycamore tree at one end of my garden and have grown foxgloves in the dry shade ok. If you dig, you may find the beech roots impede your progress so do what you can then add more organic matter on top - mushroom compost is cheap and great.