Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Jan 10, 2010 9:13 pm Hi I recently planted a box hedge in our garden. It was a new garden bed, with new soil, with a few bags of organic matter, and a bag of blood and bone mixed into it. My plants were doing well for the first few days, but now some of them have started to die off. Their leaves have dried up and are becoming brittle. The strange thing is that it isn't every plant, it is only one every so often. It has been regularly watered during the recent heat in Victoria. I noticed there is a lot more bugs around at the moment (just little flying bugs). Can you help me? Thanks Re: Can you help with my hedge that is dying 2Jan 10, 2010 10:53 pm Good news is you can rule out the bugs, not many would get into a plant and kill it let alone that fast, so all good there. The most common cause of what you are seeing is planting the plants too deep. If they go into the ground deeper than they were in the pot, the stem rots and effectively ring barks the plant. Make sure soil and mulch are pulled away from the stems. Symptoms appear between 3 days to 3 weeks depending on the type and age of plant. The blood and bone into the soil may also be a cause. Great on top of the soil where water can deliver the nutrients to the roots but when the roots come into direct contact with fertilisers the hair roots that absorb the goodies including water get burnt and die off. Then the leaves can't get the stuff they need. The next thing would be the type of soil you used. It may have had high levels of organic material like manures (particularly chook poo) and that burns the roots if it is in high enough concentrations or is perhaps fresh. This why I recommend "certified" organic soils. These cost far more but pay for them selves in every other way. No smells either "organic" and certified organic are very different Re: Can you help with my hedge that is dying 3Jan 11, 2010 9:04 am Thankyou so much for your help Fu. I have moved the bark away from the stems of the plants that are still living, is there anyway to rescue the damaged ones, or am I taking a trip to our local nursery to replace them? How long should I leave the soil before introducing new plants so that I dont have the same issue? The organic matter was, well, labled organic matter on the bag, so I have no idea what it was. I brought it from Bunnings thinking it would be good. Thank you once again though Re: Can you help with my hedge that is dying 4Jan 11, 2010 10:19 am Did you also buy the plants from bunnings? I try to avoid their plants as often if you say buy 4 1 will always seem to die 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Can you help with my hedge that is dying 5Jan 11, 2010 10:24 am nah, I refuse to buy a lot of plants from Bunnings, as they tend to die I have noticed (ok, that could be my black thumb too). The plants came from a nursery in Melbourne. Re: Can you help with my hedge that is dying 6Jan 11, 2010 6:52 pm "Organic" and "certified" organic are so different they can't be compared. Organic is a term thrown around fairly willy nilly on products. With soils you get what you pay for. You are looking at weeks and weeks before I would plant in the soil using that, then again I wouldn't be using it The volumes of soil you need to do a large area can't really be adequately covered by bagged products so that is wear bulk soils will have an effect. again certified only These issues won't arise. In that companies defence they do sell a fantastic certified organic soil. The Naked Farmer It is bagged as an organic soil activator but that is waffle that makes it sound better. It actually is better too nothing else even close to it's structure in Australia So if you shop there, just get that and nothing else, it isn't needed (as far as soils go) Even a good idea to mix it with a good standard grade potting mix and you will have a fantastic soil for pots that holds water and nutrients better than most. throw in some cocopeat for good measure and you'll save a fortune on water The stems of your plants will still appear to be fine but an easy way to check is press the lower part of the stem with the base of your thumb or finger. move it across a little while pressing and see if the bark comes away. If it does, planted too deep is one cause Re: Can you help with my hedge that is dying 7Jan 11, 2010 6:53 pm april_candice The organic matter was, well, labled organic matter on the bag, so I have no idea what it was. What a great way to look at it. No one can tell. Re: Can you help with my hedge that is dying 8Jan 11, 2010 7:02 pm Is 'The Naked Farmer' the one with a little cartoon man wearing a wine barrel? If so, that is what I brought (mainly because the little man was cute (oh yeah, I am an awesome gardner, I go by looks alone)) Is there somewhere I can look up to find an certified soil place? I live in the country, and only have limited choices. Re: Can you help with my hedge that is dying 9Jan 11, 2010 7:10 pm Well if you bought the bloke in the barrel, then the soil isn't your problem You can plant into that straight away Re: Can you help with my hedge that is dying 10Jan 11, 2010 7:19 pm I mixed it in with the soil my husband brought home from the local yard. Who would know of its quality, hence I needed to add stuff to it I think the mulch around the base really was my problem. Will they recover from that? Re: Can you help with my hedge that is dying 11Jan 11, 2010 7:47 pm I would suggest not spending too much money on them and see how they go. If you end up needing newies, then you know where to get them, you have an idea where things went wrong, and the newies won't take long to catch up. 2 10985 Hey everyone Not for me or anyone I know, just generally interested. For a single allotment house, are you allowed to take the fence on both sides of your house and… 0 20889 I've just had a look at the website. The company are just building broker's. There are plenty of similar companies that basically draw your plans (they own them so you… 8 10927 |