Simon Tomlinson wrote:
I am an enthusiastic amateur, filling lots of pots and some borders
with easy plants each year. Last year I planted Dianthus for the
first time. I love the flowers and was looking forward to them
coming back each year. Of the 6 plants I put in the front garden,
none have come back this year, not a trace.

What did I do wrong? The soil is quite sandy and poor, but I dig
left over compost in regularly and this has helped other bedding.

Any ideas?

Kate

There, my friend, lies your problem. You have sandy soil, which is acid, and
Dianthus (if memory serves, not grown them for a while) need alkaline.

Adding (ordinary) compost won't change the pH of the soil (not to a vast
degree, anyway). You need to add lime, or compost containing lime, to
correct the pH. I would also recommend picking up a pH testing kit, which
can be bought in most garden centres for a pound or two.

Take a lump of soil and mix it with distilled or deionised water (*not* tap
water as that tends to be slightly alkaline and will give a false result).
Leave it to settle and then test the liquid. This should give you a fairly
accurate measurement.

You're now probably thinking "where can I find distilled or deionised
water?" Can't help you there (someone else might be able to though). I
haven't tested the soil where I am (South Bucks, but sand) for a while and,
the last time I did, I persuaded the lab tech at my old school (who was the
lab tech when I was there) to give me a bottle. She did - she filled an old
2L soda bottle - I'm sure I must have some left somewhere at the back of the
shed.

Anyway, the upshot of it is, you need to significantly raise the pH.

Sarah

P.S. The information above should be checked with a knowledgeable source, as
the correspondent knows absolutely nothing about gardening other than what
she's learnt from watching /Gardener's World/.


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In memory of MS MVP Alex Nichol: http://www.dts-l.org/