Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Apr 15, 2011 7:46 pm I have been in my new house for a month now and about 3 weeks ago paid a landscaper to landscape my property. I love it. The only problem is that some of my lilly pillies are dying and I don't know why. I don't think I am over/under watering them as the dying ones have living bushes right beside them. One thing I was disappointed with the Landscaper is that (when he knew I was a virgin green thumb) how each individual plant requires eg. water, fertilizer etc. Here is a couple of my dying lilly pillies: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Some close up of the leaves: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ My living lilly pillies: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This one has a couple of brown leaves on it: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The landscaper is nice enough to replace the dying lilly pillies, but can anybody give me some pointers not to kill the next lot? how much water do they need? Thanks Re: What am I doing wrong??? 2Apr 15, 2011 8:04 pm Unfortunately just because a landscaper did it doesn't mean it was done right. Over here in the west we are desperately trying to re educate the landscapers who cut corners like anything. Not only that the industry is rife with cowboys. Your not doing anything wrong. Regular readers will know my thoughts and opinions on that. Fertilisers, well the create more problems than they solve. adding them when planting is just asking for trouble yet how many do it? Heaps. I can go into this more tomorrow perhaps... gotta run Re: What am I doing wrong??? 3Apr 15, 2011 9:56 pm Firstly, if they offer to replace the plants - yes! but that's it! Don't get the to add anything else unless it's listed below. To elaborate a bit for Fu, you need to feed the soil!! Get some seasol and molasses! These mixed into water will help all the microbes in the soil and improve the structure and the health of the soil, this in turn will then improve the health of the plant - you do NOT need fertilisers when you feed the soil like this! With the seasol also cover the leaves of the plant when watering - they will love it! As for molasses - search that and Fu's username for advice on here. It looks like that there is mulch added, some good mulch to use at this time of year for NSW, SA and VIC is pea straw, lucern or sugar cane mulch - it will compost down quite quickly and feed the soil, then before summer use some tree mulch (thicker mulch) but never coloured tan bark etc. Don't worry about replacing it though if there is already a kind of mulch there '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: What am I doing wrong??? 4Apr 16, 2011 8:27 am Thanks guys. The landscaper didn't use normal soil in preparation, he only uses potty mix. Also the mulch is Tea Tree mulch. Lisanne, If the soil is potty mix, can I still use your concoction of molasses and seasol? What do you think of tea tree mulch? Question about watering? How often? I live in Brisbane Qld. Scootergirl Re: What am I doing wrong??? 5Apr 17, 2011 2:25 pm I wondered if the affected plants caught a disease, like Phytophthora wilt before you got them. This is the nursery blurb, The worst disease you can have in your native garden is the root-rot fungal disease Phytophthora. This disease is carried in the soil, and is most commonly spread in nursery plants grown in unhygienic conditions. It is a very serious disease since it kills the roots of plants. Plants infected with Phytophthora wilt and die from lack of water even in wet conditions, since the roots can no longer function. Phytophthora is most active in the hot humid summer months, and infected plants can wilt and die very quickly, literally overnight. It looks like your plants have just turned their toes up overnight. These are supposed to be very hardy plants. Your dead leaves pictures show no fungus, mildew, or pests. Contact the landscaper. Re: What am I doing wrong??? 6Apr 20, 2011 11:32 pm Using potting mix in the soil is just crazy. Potting mixes are designed specifically for containers. Clowns in lab coats and handling test tubes with very thick glasses go to extraordinary lengths to make sure that is works. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ In the ground it works arse about. One very poor garden practice. It would never be taught in a TAFE! Composts for soils and potting mixes for pots. The plants may have been planted too deep also? Soil is the single most important thing. I sure hope he dug the stuff through the entire beds through the existing soil to a depth of 300mm. I suspect it may have been dig a hole, chuck in some potting mix and fertiliser though by the look. I'd never do that to anyone unless they killed my dog. Re: What am I doing wrong??? 7Apr 20, 2011 11:38 pm Oh and plants are only ever going to be as good as the soil is Hardy means diddley squat. Hardy where? So many tags say "hardy" but that is a term very open to interpretation If that were my garden, I'd rip out all the plants, chuck them on the lawn. Then get a heap of compost spongolite or perlite, zeolite and chuck over the entire garden bed area. Then grab the spade or a mattock and start turning it thrub the entire structure of the soil to 300mm deep. That's the spade depth. Dig the mulch in too. Then replant the plants, mulch heavily with tree lopper mulch to 100mm thick. That mulch isn't even 2cm thick. A bed of the straw under the tree lopper mulch wouldn't go astray either. Plants will go a bit crap but then come good They will still pull up easy enough, they are a bit crook by the look. Just grab the base and pull up. Re: What am I doing wrong??? 8May 02, 2011 8:17 pm Hey Fu, with your last post on here I currently have lucerne. Would you recommend laying garden pebbles over the top? Obviously bark will provide more nutrients to the soil for healthier plants. I am stuck between mulch and pebbles. Re: What am I doing wrong??? 9May 02, 2011 8:30 pm No. Mulch is the way forward. The type of mulch though is the critical thing. Not all mulches are beneficial and some tell you they are on the bag. "Rough course and made up of irregular particles shapes and sizes" Is the bench mark for an effective mulch. The very best is what you get from your local tree lopping mob. From an Arborist is better still. Hose it in and it won't blow around. Same with straws. Pebbles are what amount to high maintenance and expensive gardens (contrary to what many think), the mulch mentioned above is the real winner Bark is different again Re: What am I doing wrong??? 10May 02, 2011 8:39 pm Eucalyptus mulch or a recycled tree mulch be the best? Better still organic mulch? Sorry I meant mulch when referring to bark but they are different things right? I really want a garden striving with healthy plants. Thanks Fu. Re: What am I doing wrong??? 11May 02, 2011 10:06 pm I'll get a pic of what I used the other day on my garden too. Re: What am I doing wrong??? 12May 02, 2011 10:09 pm Sounds good Fu. Every nursery I look at calls their product something different to the other mob, slight visual variations. Makes it so hard. Re: What am I doing wrong??? 15May 03, 2011 10:06 am Don't worry about it Dollar... This is how I am learning how to change my brown thumb to green. The DIY project can be broken into two major steps. Planning and Design and Construction. Both of these steps are as important as one another to ensure you give… 0 5170 Hi group, have some damage to the door frame and skirting board. It's a side door to the laundry area. Only has a security door. I had a termite inspection (note drill… 0 5054 0 2020 |