"John McGaw" wrote in message
. ..
Manelli Family wrote:

wrote in message
oups.com...
My yard, which was never in great form, is a complete disaster with
this extended dry hot weather. I'm in Nashville, TN, Zone 7, clay
soil with cruddy subdivision fill dirt over it, and the other areas
limestone with cruddy subdivision fill dirt. Azaleas do poorly for
me, even when not stressed by so much dry, and I've given up on most
of my azaleas.

Azaleas are not native to TN. They do much better near the coast east.
They need a damp acid soil to thrive. TN has a dry alkaline soil. It
takes a lot of work to keep them alive in TN. They're not worth the
effort and expense.

snip...


I wouldn't generalize too much about TN soil. It is a pretty large state
and there are a lot of different conditions. For example one need only
walk through some areas in GSMNP where the trail is a tunnel through
massive rhododendrons for miles on end to estimate how well rhodies and
azaleas grow. My soil locally is relatively acidic. Dry is another
matter -- this year we are _very_ dry but that is not an entirely normal
state of affairs.

Yes,... perhaps in the mountains in the Eastern part of the state.
Nashville is as you know the in the middle of the state. Our soil in this
region is dry heavy sticky gladeville clay, and alkaline. It's not very
fertile. It's sits over limestone. Rhodies and Azaleas suffer from
chlorosis here and desiccation in the summer. If you want these mountain
plants to grow and thrive here you have to add sulfur, sand, compost and
peat moss to the heavy clay soil to make it permeable and acidic... and
water, water and water some more. It's not worth the effort here in middle
TN. I have one old azalia left and when it goes that's it.


--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com