What's wrong with my Garden!!!!!!

Question

We live in Germany, and everywhere I go I see all these beautiful gardens with hibiscus, roses, and all these other fabulous looking plants. So I decided to start my first little garden. The spot I'm working on was an old abandoned attempt at a garden. Everything I plant dies. The only thengs that seem to be doing well are the lavender and the geraniums. I put in some fresh soil and started using "miracle grow". It looks a little less sad now. I put a hydrangea in yesterday and it's already half dead. Meanwhile, the lady in the next stairwell over has a beautiful garden with huge lush plants. Did anyone else have this much trouble with their first garden?

Answer 1

When putting the soil in , mix up some menure in with it. Plants love that.  it could be a pest, bugs that is killing your plants. Take a few of the dieing leaves and put them in a sack, take them to your local green house and have them look at them. It could be many things. over watering, under watering, disease, pest. something in the soil.

Answer 2

gardens take time - be sure you amend the soil with good additives (check the PH levels if you can) every spring - when you plant woody type plants remember they need a lot of watering to start out. - I had so much fun figuring out what my garden liked and didnt like - it is a labor of love and a work in process! I live in the Midwest in the US - Zone 4 so sometimes things freeze over the winter.

Answer 3

could be that you have full sun in your garden. Some plants prefer sun while others part sun/ shade.  

Answer 4

Well, lavender loves sun, while many hydrangeas can't handle full sun and do better in partial shade.  If the roots seemed tightly bumched in the pot when you planted it, then the hydrangea needs extra care because it was also root-bound, which you find a lot this time of year - the plants have been on sale since spring but the nrusery hopes you will buy them before they need to be re-potted, so they leave them in the pots that are too small for too long and so there are roots, but they are too tight to get the moisture like they should.  I would be sure to move the hydranea to an area with some afternoon shade, mix some decayed leaves in the soil when you plant it, and then put mulch around it and keep it well watered.  Hydrangeas like less sun and more water than lavender does.

Also neither one is really fond of acid soils, so you could check the Ph of your soil and be sure it is around 5.5 to 6.5 or add materials to change it a little.  That would be one reason an existing garden would fail.  So check your soil and try to find plants that like the kind of area you can provide in your yard - it makes it much easier.  And try to buy plants in spring in the northern hemisphere - they are more expensive then, but they need room for their roots and they need time to set their roots before winter comes or deep freezes can kill them.

Answer 5

I would ask that neighbour not only how she does it, but if she is aware of anything the previous tenants did to cause the soil in your garden to not be any good. Maybe they used something that was harmful to it.

Answer 6

Yes, i think you learn as you go along really. Some plants love sun, others shade. Why dont you look to see what your neighbour is growing a try some of the same, but in your own design