"Petesin" wh@tthe**** wrote in message
...
I have only just this year decided to try growing some plants. Didn't
really know what I was doing and now I think I need some help!

The garden beds are new (never had gardens there before) I dug up the
existing soil added horse manure and more soil from a big hole I dug
behind
the shed to raise it up a little. Got the soil tested and I was told to
add
sulphur (found that interesting as around here we have a big red and white
stack that pumps sulphur into the air all day long). I added the sulphur
and
the resulting tests seemed to show it did the trick.

I went and bought myself some plants from the local nursery that seemed to
match the shade/sun exposure for my gardens and planted them along with
some
"5 in 1". He said it was good stuff and would help them along nicely.

I put in a basic watering system that gives them plenty of water (very
little watering restrictions here) and let them go. The results were very
poor. I lost one and the others didn't grow much at all. Some of the
leaves
were turning yellow but I was willing to give them the benifit of the
doubt
as it was coming into autumn and I thought their growing season was taking
a
break. During winter I dug in some blood and bone and watered them with
'trace elements' and they started to pick up a bit. Now spring has sprung
and the geisha's have started to come good after a light pruning but the
leaves on the gardenias and 'sweet love' out the back are starting to turn
yellow again and the leaves on the other plants seem to be browning off
too.

2 weeks ago while fertilising the lawn with grow force 303 I decided to
throw some around the base of the plants too. Was this a mistake? It's
only since then that the plants have started to turn on me.

Whats 303? Organic lawn fertiliser or granulated synthetic stuff? If the
latter you may have burnt the plant a little with something too strong for
it, especially if it high in nitrogen. Don't know for sure, only a guess.

The advice about getting advice from locals who grow it is good advice. If
you can't get this a suggestion is try gently digging in or mulching some
good backyard compost around the plant. Find a local who makes compost and
has a good garden and see if you can get some. This again is only a guess,
it may do nothing however compost is good stuff and quite beneficial.

rob