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Search Results for:
Soil
1 . The dirt in my flower garden seems bad. My plants do not thrive in that certain flower bed at all. My roses suffer and of course everything else I have planted.
Without the results of a soil test, it's difficult to know what might be lacking in your garden soil. That would be a good starting point: have a soil test done through your local cooperative extensio...
2 . I have created an area to grow some plants and I ripped up some sod to do this. However, I am still seeing grass grow through the mulch I have laid down. Is there a way to make sure the grass does not grow but does not kill my hydrangeas?
Hi, Thanks for writing. Unfortunately there's not really an easy way to get rid of the grass other than to pull it by hand. Or you could remove the mulch, spread 8-sheet-thick newspaper over the gr...
3 . My daughter moved to N. Texas, first home, about 10 years old. How do you deal with and improve the clay soil. The downpour rains leave a mucky flooded mess over 80% of the yard for 2-3 days. Often repeats during thunderstorm season. The area between homes is along the fence is slightly lower so the rain pools there and sits, draining slowly, its not a stream running off just a lake. The deep ditches along the street fill partially, again not rushing, drains at a trickle. thanks, Wanda
Hi Well without seeing the property I can only tell you that the only way to improve soil is with lots of organic matter, compost, rotted manure, leaf mold and/or new soil. However, this property mig...
4 . My new yard in north central Arizona is hard clay and very alkaline. Altitude is 4000 ft. (Prescott Valley). I believe that puts me generally in zone 9B. How best can I improve my "soil"? (Besides using blasting caps?)
Hi Well I can't recommend blasting caps, but I'm sure it's very frustrating to have such hard soil. In your region, it's not easy to loosen up that soil and, in fact, it might be easier to have some ...
5 . I have recently purchased a new doublewide. there is an area with a concrete walkway leading to the house. has heavy drainage when rainy. What is the best foundation planting for this area. Also gets sun until 2pm each day faces the east. I live in North Mississippi.
This sounds like it might be a candidate for a rain garden. Plants that are adapted to these periodically wet situations include: hibiscus, canna, obedient plant, yellow flag or Louisiana iris, cardin...
6 . How do I clear out/ kill all the grass and weeds to start gardening. I have tried to do so before and then when I get my garden planted the weeds and grass grow back and take over. I wanted to know how to fix this problem.
Hi Well the best way to keep the weeds from coming back is to mulch your garden heavily. Plus, if weeds have been allowed to set seed in the past, it may take a year or two to really get them knocked...
7 . I live in N.E. Ga. the ground is very clayish here, what are good plants to plant under my cherry tree shady areas,can get very dry too,we have lots of humming birds in summer,I saw more butterflies this year,than ever before.Need shady area plants, any suggestions.
If you go to the advanced search option of our Plant Encyclopedia, and check off shade, drought tolerant, and your Hardiness Zone, you'll get a list of plants adapted to that situation. You can find i...
8 . I live in zone 7. I have just moved to a house that has lots of plants and trees, but it is overgrown because the former owner had Alzheimer's for ten years. I want to pull out most of his plants and replant the strongest of them. The soil is extremely hard and needs amendments. What treatment do I give it so I can replant the yard next spring? I am thinking till, adding amendments, cover with paper, mulch OR till, adding amendments and mulch, and I can plant this fall. HELP!!!
I know that the "lasagna" method that uses newspaper is popular in the South. And it's not bad, if that's what you want to do, especially if you don't have a tiller. Personally, I just like to add...
9 . We are building a new home and have a basement entrance that has banks too steep to mow. We need advice on what to plant or spread (mulch?) that will prevent the ground from washing away. We live in a zone 5 area.
If the area is too steep to mow, it may need more than just groundcover plantings to prevent erosion. Consider a retaining wall or walls to terrace the slope. You can search for groundcovers adapted t...
10 . i have a patch of ground in my garden 8ftx5ft what veg could i grow , and when would i need to prepare it for next year,complete amateur
You can grow almost anything in an 8X5 foot patch of land. Exceptions would be sprawling vines such as pumpkins and squash, or sweet corn, which needs to be planted in a large block for pollination. I...
11 . We have a water treatment sewer system. It has 3 sprinklers in our yard. When the tank fills, clean water is released thru sprinklers. Area around these sprinklers stays damp. There is clay under the grass & the water never really gets absorbed well. There is now something growing there other than our pretty grass. My husband thinks its dollar week. Regardless, it is very ugly & that area of the yard is becoming a bog. How can we make the yard absorb the water better & get our grass back?
You seem to have pinpointed the problem on your own. Dollarweed is notorious for invading wet areas and the key to control is to dry out the site. I wouldn't pin my hopes on getting your soil to a...
12 . I want to grow,various plants indoors,what is the best thing,to use in a "soil-free"potting mix ?( I have good lighting,but I think,I need a better mix),just a little instructions,would be great . Thank you Tony ...
Hi Tony, Thanks for writing. Any high-quality brand-name commercial potting mix should do. If you'd like to mix your own, the best mix is to use mainly peat moss, and mix in sand, perlite, or verim...
13 . what can i use make soil drain better because i used a mixture of potting soil, worm castings, perlite, and lime mixture. it made soil hard, can i use soap? if so what ratio? or is there another solution? also my leaves are turning yellow and my plants are root bound. i don't want to kill my plants, is there a way to fix this?
Hi You can't use soap to improve soil. The only thing that will improve soil and drainage is to keep adding as much organic matter as you can. Compost, rotted manure, fresh soil, leaf mold--anything ...
14 . I have just recently pulled all of my annuals out of my small flowerbeds. Is there any need to fertilize or add anything to the soil to make it more fertile next spring? I live in NJ and I plant annuals every year.
You need not add fertilizer now, but if you have compost or other organic matter, it could be added now. You could also wait until next spring.
15 . I have recently moved into a unit..the previous owner place black plastic everywhere and covered it with bark chips. I have removed most of the bark and all of the plastic. I am now left with soil that is packed as hard as concrete Can you please tell me the easiest and best way to breakthis soil up?
Hi Well the best way is to add several inches of compost, rotted manure, fresh soil, or other organic matter over the top of your soil and then till it all in. You may need to rent a rear-tine tiller...
Soil
1 . The dirt in my flower garden seems bad. My plants do not thrive in that certain flower bed at all. My roses suffer and of course everything else I have planted.
Without the results of a soil test, it's difficult to know what might be lacking in your garden soil. That would be a good starting point: have a soil test done through your local cooperative extensio...
2 . I have created an area to grow some plants and I ripped up some sod to do this. However, I am still seeing grass grow through the mulch I have laid down. Is there a way to make sure the grass does not grow but does not kill my hydrangeas?
Hi, Thanks for writing. Unfortunately there's not really an easy way to get rid of the grass other than to pull it by hand. Or you could remove the mulch, spread 8-sheet-thick newspaper over the gr...
3 . My daughter moved to N. Texas, first home, about 10 years old. How do you deal with and improve the clay soil. The downpour rains leave a mucky flooded mess over 80% of the yard for 2-3 days. Often repeats during thunderstorm season. The area between homes is along the fence is slightly lower so the rain pools there and sits, draining slowly, its not a stream running off just a lake. The deep ditches along the street fill partially, again not rushing, drains at a trickle. thanks, Wanda
Hi Well without seeing the property I can only tell you that the only way to improve soil is with lots of organic matter, compost, rotted manure, leaf mold and/or new soil. However, this property mig...
4 . My new yard in north central Arizona is hard clay and very alkaline. Altitude is 4000 ft. (Prescott Valley). I believe that puts me generally in zone 9B. How best can I improve my "soil"? (Besides using blasting caps?)
Hi Well I can't recommend blasting caps, but I'm sure it's very frustrating to have such hard soil. In your region, it's not easy to loosen up that soil and, in fact, it might be easier to have some ...
5 . I have recently purchased a new doublewide. there is an area with a concrete walkway leading to the house. has heavy drainage when rainy. What is the best foundation planting for this area. Also gets sun until 2pm each day faces the east. I live in North Mississippi.
This sounds like it might be a candidate for a rain garden. Plants that are adapted to these periodically wet situations include: hibiscus, canna, obedient plant, yellow flag or Louisiana iris, cardin...
6 . How do I clear out/ kill all the grass and weeds to start gardening. I have tried to do so before and then when I get my garden planted the weeds and grass grow back and take over. I wanted to know how to fix this problem.
Hi Well the best way to keep the weeds from coming back is to mulch your garden heavily. Plus, if weeds have been allowed to set seed in the past, it may take a year or two to really get them knocked...
7 . I live in N.E. Ga. the ground is very clayish here, what are good plants to plant under my cherry tree shady areas,can get very dry too,we have lots of humming birds in summer,I saw more butterflies this year,than ever before.Need shady area plants, any suggestions.
If you go to the advanced search option of our Plant Encyclopedia, and check off shade, drought tolerant, and your Hardiness Zone, you'll get a list of plants adapted to that situation. You can find i...
8 . I live in zone 7. I have just moved to a house that has lots of plants and trees, but it is overgrown because the former owner had Alzheimer's for ten years. I want to pull out most of his plants and replant the strongest of them. The soil is extremely hard and needs amendments. What treatment do I give it so I can replant the yard next spring? I am thinking till, adding amendments, cover with paper, mulch OR till, adding amendments and mulch, and I can plant this fall. HELP!!!
I know that the "lasagna" method that uses newspaper is popular in the South. And it's not bad, if that's what you want to do, especially if you don't have a tiller. Personally, I just like to add...
9 . We are building a new home and have a basement entrance that has banks too steep to mow. We need advice on what to plant or spread (mulch?) that will prevent the ground from washing away. We live in a zone 5 area.
If the area is too steep to mow, it may need more than just groundcover plantings to prevent erosion. Consider a retaining wall or walls to terrace the slope. You can search for groundcovers adapted t...
10 . i have a patch of ground in my garden 8ftx5ft what veg could i grow , and when would i need to prepare it for next year,complete amateur
You can grow almost anything in an 8X5 foot patch of land. Exceptions would be sprawling vines such as pumpkins and squash, or sweet corn, which needs to be planted in a large block for pollination. I...
11 . We have a water treatment sewer system. It has 3 sprinklers in our yard. When the tank fills, clean water is released thru sprinklers. Area around these sprinklers stays damp. There is clay under the grass & the water never really gets absorbed well. There is now something growing there other than our pretty grass. My husband thinks its dollar week. Regardless, it is very ugly & that area of the yard is becoming a bog. How can we make the yard absorb the water better & get our grass back?
You seem to have pinpointed the problem on your own. Dollarweed is notorious for invading wet areas and the key to control is to dry out the site. I wouldn't pin my hopes on getting your soil to a...
12 . I want to grow,various plants indoors,what is the best thing,to use in a "soil-free"potting mix ?( I have good lighting,but I think,I need a better mix),just a little instructions,would be great . Thank you Tony ...
Hi Tony, Thanks for writing. Any high-quality brand-name commercial potting mix should do. If you'd like to mix your own, the best mix is to use mainly peat moss, and mix in sand, perlite, or verim...
13 . what can i use make soil drain better because i used a mixture of potting soil, worm castings, perlite, and lime mixture. it made soil hard, can i use soap? if so what ratio? or is there another solution? also my leaves are turning yellow and my plants are root bound. i don't want to kill my plants, is there a way to fix this?
Hi You can't use soap to improve soil. The only thing that will improve soil and drainage is to keep adding as much organic matter as you can. Compost, rotted manure, fresh soil, leaf mold--anything ...
14 . I have just recently pulled all of my annuals out of my small flowerbeds. Is there any need to fertilize or add anything to the soil to make it more fertile next spring? I live in NJ and I plant annuals every year.
You need not add fertilizer now, but if you have compost or other organic matter, it could be added now. You could also wait until next spring.
15 . I have recently moved into a unit..the previous owner place black plastic everywhere and covered it with bark chips. I have removed most of the bark and all of the plastic. I am now left with soil that is packed as hard as concrete Can you please tell me the easiest and best way to breakthis soil up?
Hi Well the best way is to add several inches of compost, rotted manure, fresh soil, or other organic matter over the top of your soil and then till it all in. You may need to rent a rear-tine tiller...
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