Hi,

I moved into a new house last year and had my garden landscaped and fully planted, I am trying to maintain it myself but my plants are starting to die off and I have no idea why, over the last two weeks I have lost 4 plants and two trees, the leaves on the plants are turning yelllow and dropping off, the buds on the trees are shrivelling up turning brown and dying.

On digging up both sides one part of the garden seems to have excess water which I suspect is part of the problem, we did have drainage put in but it doesn't seem to have eliminated the issue, this area is beside the house near a huge fir tree which is approx 60 feet high.

I have done some soil testing and the soil is clay alkaline and nitrogen depleted but thats all I know and know I'm stuck!

It is very distressing to see everything dying before my eyes and I would welcome any advice anyone can give me.

Thanks

On Tue, 13 Jun 2006 20:08:47 +0000, KBellamy
wrote:


Hi,

I moved into a new house last year and had my garden landscaped and
fully planted, I am trying to maintain it myself but my plants are
starting to die off and I have no idea why, over the last two weeks I
have lost 4 plants and two trees, the leaves on the plants are turning
yelllow and dropping off, the buds on the trees are shrivelling up
turning brown and dying.

On digging up both sides one part of the garden seems to have excess
water which I suspect is part of the problem, we did have drainage put
in but it doesn't seem to have eliminated the issue, this area is
beside the house near a huge fir tree which is approx 60 feet high.

I have done some soil testing and the soil is clay alkaline and
nitrogen depleted but thats all I know and know I'm stuck!

It is very distressing to see everything dying before my eyes and I
would welcome any advice anyone can give me.

Thanks

Could you get your contractor to come back and have a look and
possibly propose some solution? I'm assuming this was an expensive
operation and these losses must be distressing. Some after-sale
service wouldn't be unreasonable. We must hope that the chosen plants
were actually suitable for the ground conditions in the first place.
I have an open mind about some 'Landscape Gardeners'. One lives near
me and is always busy grasscutting, rotovating, laying patios, fencing
and the like. He admired my dahlias in the front garden and confessed
that he'd never been able to get them to grow. Well, growing dahlias
is hardly rocket science! In fact, as long as you keep them fed and
watered, it's quite hard for them not to grow.

what kind of trees? which plants died?

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

On Tue, 13 Jun 2006 22:13:45 +0100, Jupiter
wrote:

I have an open mind about some 'Landscape Gardeners'. One lives near
me and is always busy grasscutting, rotovating, laying patios, fencing
and the like. He admired my dahlias in the front garden and confessed
that he'd never been able to get them to grow. Well, growing dahlias
is hardly rocket science! In fact, as long as you keep them fed and
watered, it's quite hard for them not to grow.

Well mine are growing and I just gave them plenty of manure, stuck them
in the ground and have kept them watered. There are green shoots
powering their way through the ground. The more complicated bits come
later but so far, so good.
--
Paul C

Jupiter writes
On Tue, 13 Jun 2006 20:08:47 +0000, KBellamy
wrote:


Could you get your contractor to come back and have a look and
possibly propose some solution? I'm assuming this was an expensive
operation and these losses must be distressing. Some after-sale
service wouldn't be unreasonable. We must hope that the chosen plants
were actually suitable for the ground conditions in the first place.
I have an open mind about some 'Landscape Gardeners'. One lives near
me and is always busy grasscutting, rotovating, laying patios, fencing
and the like. He admired my dahlias in the front garden and confessed
that he'd never been able to get them to grow. Well, growing dahlias
is hardly rocket science! In fact, as long as you keep them fed and
watered, it's quite hard for them not to grow.

Jupiter's advice is sensible. Meanwhile, it'd help us if we knew which
plants were dying - can you post a picture somewhere and give us a link?
I can see you're posting from gardenbanter, and they allow you to post
pics.

It's quite possible that the deaths are because they weren't sensible
plants for the location. But we need a better clue as to what the plants
are to know that.
--
Kay

Could be any number of reasons. Are the plants that are dying ones that you hve planted or where they there before you moved in? If the former most likely is that what you have planted is not compatible with the conditions in yr garden (sun/shade, wet/free draining soil, alkaline/acid etc) in which case it's worth investigating in some garden books to help you choose the right plant for each location.
If they are plants that were there before you moved in then it must be something you have done or not done (?) e.g. maybe the previous owners watered regularly and 'cos you did not in the recent warm spell they are suffering!

On 13/6/06 21:08, in article , "KBellamy"
wrote:

Hi,

I moved into a new house last year and had my garden landscaped and
fully planted, I am trying to maintain it myself but my plants are
starting to die off and I have no idea why, over the last two weeks I
have lost 4 plants and two trees, the leaves on the plants are turning
yelllow and dropping off, the buds on the trees are shrivelling up
turning brown and dying.

I think that the advice to get the contractor back and ask for an
explanation form him, is a very good piece of advice indeed.

On digging up both sides one part of the garden seems to have excess
water which I suspect is part of the problem, we did have drainage put
in but it doesn't seem to have eliminated the issue, this area is
beside the house near a huge fir tree which is approx 60 feet high.

I have done some soil testing and the soil is clay alkaline and
nitrogen depleted but thats all I know and know I'm stuck!

Before planting anything your contractor should have researched the type of
soil you have and any underlying problems such as e.g. drainage.

It is very distressing to see everything dying before my eyes and I
would welcome any advice anyone can give me.

It must be horrible for you. But I do think your only recourse is to get
the people you paid good money to to tell you what they did to ensure they
gave you the right plants for the right location AND that they prepared the
home those plants were going into, correctly.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(email address on website)

"KBellamy" wrote in message
...

Hi,

I moved into a new house last year and had my garden landscaped and
fully planted, I am trying to maintain it myself but my plants are
starting to die off and I have no idea why, over the last two weeks I
have lost 4 plants and two trees, the leaves on the plants are turning
yelllow and dropping off, the buds on the trees are shrivelling up
turning brown and dying.

On digging up both sides one part of the garden seems to have excess
water which I suspect is part of the problem, we did have drainage put
in but it doesn't seem to have eliminated the issue, this area is
beside the house near a huge fir tree which is approx 60 feet high.

I have done some soil testing and the soil is clay alkaline and
nitrogen depleted but thats all I know and know I'm stuck!

It is very distressing to see everything dying before my eyes and I
would welcome any advice anyone can give me.

Thanks


--
KBellamy

I agree with the comments of the other contributors.
If you have an alkaline soil then the chances are that the dying plants are
probably "acid loving " plants. The 60 feet high tree may be responsible for
creating very dry soil.
Treat your garden as a long term project. I am certain that this time next
year you will have everything you desire.

The message
from "Rupert \(W.Yorkshire\)" contains these words:

Treat your garden as a long term project. I am certain that this time next
year you will have everything you desire.

Geddaway; whoever heard of a gardener who had everything they desired
by "this time next year"?

Janet ( desirous of a small drop of rain tonight, 12 square metres of
old paving, and the immediate departure of all scale insects from the
lemon tree)

--
Isle of Arran Open Gardens weekend 21,22,23 July 2006
5 UKP three-day adult ticket (funds go to island charities) buys entry
to 26 private gardens

Call them, tell them what’s happening. Then see what happens, if nothing, try naming and shaming!!!!! You can also go to your trading standards office…

If they put in drainage and knew what they were doing you should not have surplus water, nor should you have a very dry garden. It sounds like you employed some hat & spur wearing varmits.

I’m always amazed at how few garden design and landscaping companies don’t supply aftercare documentation. Why not it’s not difficult?!

KittenHouse writes

KBellamy Wrote:
Hi,


It is very distressing to see everything dying before my eyes and I
would welcome any advice anyone can give me.

Thanks

Could be any number of reasons. Are the plants that are dying ones that
you hve planted or where they there before you moved in? If the former
most likely is that what you have planted is not compatible with the
conditions in yr garden (sun/shade, wet/free draining soil,
alkaline/acid etc) in which case it's worth investigating in some
garden books to help you choose the right plant for each location.
If they are plants that were there before you moved in then it must be
something you have done or not done (?) e.g. maybe the previous owners
watered regularly and 'cos you did not in the recent warm spell they
are suffering!


If you read the original post, it suggests these are all plants put in
by the landscaping company.

--
Kay

KBellamy wrote:
I moved into a new house last year and had my garden landscaped and
fully planted,

(snip)

Get back in touch with the Landscapers who have planted your garden.
You ought to have had, as part of your contract, a snagging timescale,
be it 3 months or 6 months review. As planners/architects we usually
give 6 months. It sounds to me that you have some serious drainage
problems but perhaps that some of your planting has had a shock and
therefore they need to be replaced. I am very sorry for you to have to
witness all this, which certainly could have been avoided. Also it
takes years and years to create a garden )

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Rupert \(W.Yorkshire\)" contains these words:

Treat your garden as a long term project. I am certain that this time
next
year you will have everything you desire.

Geddaway; whoever heard of a gardener who had everything they desired
by "this time next year"?

Janet

--
Isle of Arran Open Gardens weekend 21,22,23 July 2006
5 UKP three-day adult ticket (funds go to island charities) buys entry
to 26 private gardens

OK -If Titchmarsh et al and those people at Chelsea can do it in a day--then
365 days should be long enough for anyone:-)

"K" wrote in message
...
KittenHouse writes

KBellamy Wrote:
Hi,


It is very distressing to see everything dying before my eyes and I
would welcome any advice anyone can give me.

Thanks

Could be any number of reasons. Are the plants that are dying ones that
you hve planted or where they there before you moved in? If the former
most likely is that what you have planted is not compatible with the
conditions in yr garden (sun/shade, wet/free draining soil,
alkaline/acid etc) in which case it's worth investigating in some
garden books to help you choose the right plant for each location.
If they are plants that were there before you moved in then it must be
something you have done or not done (?) e.g. maybe the previous owners
watered regularly and 'cos you did not in the recent warm spell they
are suffering!


If you read the original post, it suggests these are all plants put in by
the landscaping company.

That may be the root of the problem!

Alan


--
Kay