Last year, I carved out a bit of my lawn to create some beds for perenials and
annuals. With the exception of some Wave-brand petunias, none of my annuals
(mostly petunias) did especially well, despite a sunny location, fertilization
and watering. The same annuals did very well in pots and planters (in Miracle
Grow potting soil), so it's apparent to me that my problem is my planting bed
soil.

I've mulched the beds with hardwood mulch - could that be the problem
(chemicals leaking from the mulch?)? Is there any way to ammend the soil
without digging up the entire bed?

Your help will be appreciated.

Bob P.

In general, annuals do not do well in wood mulched beds. I think it's partly
that they usually have very small root balls that never expand very far into
the surrounding soil, so that soil needs to be ''real" soil, not bits of
wood, if the plant is to thrive. Perennials manage better, even if their
initial growth is slow, because they root in much deeper - and at a certain
point, the mulch becomes an asset, because they are not facing as much
competition from weeds then, and their roots stay cooler and moister.
"AuralFeast" wrote in message
...
Last year, I carved out a bit of my lawn to create some beds for perenials
and
annuals. With the exception of some Wave-brand petunias, none of my
annuals
(mostly petunias) did especially well, despite a sunny location,
fertilization
and watering. The same annuals did very well in pots and planters (in
Miracle
Grow potting soil), so it's apparent to me that my problem is my planting
bed
soil.

I've mulched the beds with hardwood mulch - could that be the problem
(chemicals leaking from the mulch?)? Is there any way to ammend the soil
without digging up the entire bed?

Your help will be appreciated.

Bob P.