Gardens in TN and different dirt/clay (Home Depot, live)

[mbmouse]

Thanks for all your great tips and advice. I knew I could count on my city-data friends.
Yes, I added sandy dirt to any of the beds and turned them over real good first, but I am going to add the fruit tree steaks and see if that helps along with scratching in some coffee grounds (adds nitrogen organically as not to over fertilize with what I already put in according to another gardening web site)
I'll take some pictures of the beds today then lets all see how all your advice works in a month.
I am also making a "bird sanctuary" type thing in my back yard today ( my memorial day project hehehhe) with lots of different levels, feeders, bird bath and plants and such and a place to put my tomatoes in pots there too. I'll let you know how that goes.

[SPLIT]

M.M. : Hang in there, and keep learning. We visited lots of smart ladies this season, and found new tricks after 30 years.
The birds will love water bath in evening with this weather. 7pm is show time down here, lots of trees for them to perch and SING.
I am sort of a OVER _waterer, and was concerned with some of the Chlorine from our town supply. Lots of other good hints in prior posts. ROOT BOUND- if trans-planting from store and roots are TIGHT in Circle, must pull away from circle before going into the ground, or they never spread out.
This was a tough spring with that late freeze maybe 6 weeks ago, really stunted Creepe Mrytle , everything back except Peonie,(Which like the cold snap), double check other flower plants, if Full sun or need shade for our region. We had a plant in ground 10 days, sick, re-read TAG, on bottom said FULL SUN, only in Northern climates.!
My neighbor uses liquid Miracle Gro only 3 times week, nice flowers. Can over-water, and over Fert. Just keep experimenting, fun and healthy, both exercise and mind to get your fingers dirty. Smaller leaves and smaller Straw good to mix into soil. [/IMG]

[alleycat]

Is the problem in a large area, or a relatively small one? I know you said it was affecting all sorts of plants, so I assumed this was over a fairly large area.

If it's a smaller area, there are some other possibilities.

[mbmouse]

It is my entire yard, front and back. Raised beds and ground level planters.
I looked really close today and noticed some yellowing happening at the base leaves so I am still leaning towords nitrogen deficiency. Going to add some coffee grounds to a few plants and see what happens.

[alleycat]

That's . . . odd.

I'm going to have to scratch my head a bit about this. If it was forty years ago, I might suspect you got an overspray from the utilites companies (they used to air spray the civilian equivalent of Agent Orange; but they don't do that anymore).

I don't think it's your soil nutrients now. A deficiency in minerals just wouldn't be that consistent to effect the plants in your yard that way. I'm thinking something has gotten into your soil that shouldn't be there.

Hmmmm . . .

[hiknapster]

And she is no where near Oak Ridge!

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

And she is no where near Oak Ridge!

That would be a clue . . . is she glowing?

;-)

[hiknapster]

LauraC may be glowing. Heck, I may be glowing, but not MBMouse. Well, maybe she is, what do we REALLY know? But I doubt it has anything to do with her soil!

[mbmouse]

ROFL!!!
Nope, I don't see any glow when I look in the mirror nor do I see any glow on the rest of the family, so I think we are good there. hehehehehhe
Here is a pic of the bed I have put in at ground level, new last year, turned up everything, added the top soil and keep scratching away to loosen up the soil on a regular basis (that is why you see some orange popping through, dug deeper in some spots that seemed to be very thick.)
The hostas (this is a variety of hosta that is for full sun in zone 7 according to the package the bulbs came in) and Peonies are now 2 year old bulbs and the boxwoods are two years old. The yellow in the back 2 corners are monkey grass, they are sopposed to be that color. To give everyone an idea of height the little gnome is only 9 inches or so tall.
[IMG][/IMG]
This is the raised bed that has a floral liner about 4 feet deep that was put in many many years ago and many years of top soil and mulch added.
[IMG][/IMG]

Just for giggles, this is our new project we are working on in the back yard...kind of a bird sanctuary, a place with several feeding spots, a bird bath and plants will go all over for them to hide in. The pots at the bottom are now where my 1 tomato plant and 1 pepper plant are going to be. To the left is the asparagus that is now in it's second year. Yes, I know, I have to finish weeding and this is just the beginning of the work in process. LOL!
I figure until I can get this "stunted" issue taken care of, everything that I put in for color will be off this crazy ground! LOL!
[IMG][/IMG]

[Tek_Freek]

???????????????? What is the soil PH? What I'm seeing doesn't match with what I'm reading....