How do I improve the quality of my soil?

I have a flower bed in front of my house that faces east. I get good early morning sun, but some of it is filtered by a big cottonwood tree. It's shade in the afternoon. I can get things to grow, but not thrive in the bed. It does not drain very well, but we don't get all that much rain, either. I have tried roses and some different shrubs, but nothing works! I would like to try hydrangeas this year, but I'm worried that they will stay small and puny. Is it the shade, drainage, or soil quality? Please help! The front of my house is naked!!!
How do I improve the quality of my soil?
Hi there!

Sounds to me like you've already identified the problems, just don't know how to fix it! Drainage keeps the plants from getting terminally wet feet. They don't like it. So....

Depending on where you are:

If you have clay under your planting area, you arent getting adequate drainage, and won't until you break it up. Lots of ways to do this. If your yard is naked, and you don't have to worry about removing plants and shrubs to do so: till in a goodly amount of pellatized gypsum to break down the clay, organic humus and peat moss to lighten, re-plenish and aerate the soil, and make sure that the tilt of the garden is away or down from the house, instead of down TO the house. If you still have some plants in there that are established, do it around them, get some of the good stuff to/around them as well, and shovel turn the good stuff into the vacant zones!

If you've had the draiinage problem long, or if it's not really the drainage problem; you probably are low on nutrients as well.

Either way, the next is just as important:

Amend the soil anyway!! The composted humus, with some composted manure, oyster shell, etc....should restore nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. For example; If the last plants were turning yellow: that's nitrogen. If they were turning brown from the outside of the leaves in, that could be a fungus OR not enough calcium. IEither way: Tilling, aerating, and ensureing that everything doesn't have wet tootsies all fo the time, before amending/feeding the dirt: will take care of that.

Your hydrangeas are going to want good drainage and acid. They can make due with only a half day of light, but they will grow a little more slowly: and if you live in a really bright hot zone (you didn't say)....they might acutually appreciate the shade. So.....if you have a compost heap, make sure you dump your coffee grounds, tea bags, and dregs of your orange juice. This will boost it's acid level. The more acid, the more change in color. If you don't have a compost heap, you can just spread the grounds around the base under the mulch around the plants.........just don't over water.

Your roses not doing well tell me that the potassium in your soil was gone. They also, really prefer a full day of sun, but I have some that have struggled through the shade of the over-hanging monstrosities in my side yard!!

As to the potassium: I usually restore this by shoving away some mulch at the bottom (and make sure they aren't buried TOO deep), putting down a couple of bananna peels, and then covering them back up with mulch. Do this a couple of times every few months and they'll be happy. Don't do banannas on your hydrangeas though.....they'll get confused. :-)



Make sure if you decide not to do the hydrangeas and go to perenniels that you get plants intended for Partial Sun/Partial Shade. It will make a HUGE difference. Coneflowers (in the sunnier parts), hostas, vinca, verbena, salvias, all do well.....lots of other fun, pretty things too....just look at the tag, or ask yoru nurseryman.



The amendments and drainage though, will help with anything you choose to plant!



Happy Gardening!!
Reply:It's probably a little bit of everything.. First.. the shade. Only certain types of plants do well in shade. Roses are not one of them! I would think that your choice of Hydrangea would be a good one. (remember that hydrangeas are kind of thirsty, particularly when it gets hot). Second, Drainage. Add materials to raise your beds to get them to drain. Compost, composted bark and sphagnum peat are all good choices to help raise the bed, increase the organic content and help regulate soil moisture. Third.. do you fertilize? Adding a controlled release fertilizer will help a great deal in plant health. Plants need to eat, too!
Reply:You need to make sure that you have good drainage or your plants will rot.A good fertilizer is very good, and don't forget to feed your plants.

If your house is mostly in the shade, then there are lots of plants that love the shade. I suggest that you go to your local garden center, they will be able to give you lots of advice.

Good luck and happy planting.
Reply:No matter where you live, there is a USDA county agricultural extension office. Through this office you can take in a soil sample and for small price, your soil will be analyzed, the necessary amendments will be listed, lead in the soil will be listed. The test is fantastic. You tell them or ask them what you can grow and based on the soil test, you will be told what to add to the soil in the way of nutrients, fertilizer, etc. This same office will also have list of publications for plants to grow in your area, plants that grow in shade, etc. etc. This offfice is invaluable. Roses are never going to make it in this environment. First rule of gardening: know your soil. Second: add amendments to the soil based on a soil test: Three: Get a list of plants that are native to your area and will grow in the condtions you have outlined.
Reply:You need to plant things that do well in shade or part sun only. I would turn over the soil and add a few large bags of organic compost.
Reply:u just need to plant things that will thrive in that area like black eye susans, glads, tulips and hostas.

its a waste doing stuff that keeps failing.

even if u amend the soil (add compost from the nursery) it really wont work right away..

I know becuase I have a patch like that in my yard. nutten grows there, so I just put in plants that will thrive in any soil
Reply:I suggest tilling compost into the area before planting your hydrangeas. That will improve the soil quality and the drainage problem. Hydrangeas should do well in partial shade. Be careful not to plant them too deeply. Mulching the planting area will help keep it from drying out. The color of the blooms of the bigleaf hydrangeas depends on the pH of the soil. Acidic soil, blue flowers. Alkaline soil, pink flowers. Neutral soil, pink or lilac flowers. Good luck!
Reply:Make or acquire some good compost and use it to make a raised bed in that area. It will be rich soil for your plants and since it's raised, there won't be a drainage issue.

You'll also want to stick with plants that grow well in shade. Hydrangeas would not be the best choice for that location, as they don't bloom well in the shade. Neither do roses. Try hostas, ferns, astilbes, or woodland plants.