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I live in a relatively new home, many people in this new neighbourhood are having trouble growing shrubs in their backyard. We live in Manitoba Canada and I guess when they built the house much of the clay was pushed all over the yard so there may not be a lot of top soil there. Anyways the point is my lilacs are continually dying year after year and this process has been going on for 5 years. The Lilacs closer to the home have a better survival rate but I don't know what I can do to help these plants grow. Should I dig deep down around the Lilacs to put top soil down again? Or are there other solutions? Any help would be appreciated as so far nothing or no one seems to have been able to solve the problem.

2007-10-11 15:59:55 · 3 answers · asked by Krazy_Tea 2 in Home & Garden Garden & Landscape

3 answers

First have your soil tested, for all the goodies. Macro (N-P-K) and micro nutrients. And get a good idea of the clay sand silt balance. Then you can figure out what needs to be added, or if you should just go with some raised beds. Be sure to check the pH of the soil. The pH can make lots of difference.

The soil is probably compacted. It might be worth it to get a spading tiller, or a regular roto-tiller. Spading is better because it opens the soil more deeply and does not tear up the soil as much or compact it below the tines.
Or be like me and just dig it down. Double digging may be worth it to you. But lilacs (at least mine) have rather shallow roots.

Try one of those big spading forks. They have two handles and the tines go down like 18". Open the soil well.
A regular size spading fork would do it well enough too.

Turn in some compost.

Make sure you are not watering too much. You prob'ly have drainage problems if the soil is so heavy. Let the surface dry out before watering again.

Maybe some liquid kelp or humic acid would be helpful. They both add to the soil, and humic acid opens the pores. Gypsum (CaSo4) also open up clay soils. But, watch the pH, as these will make it more acidic.

And maybe you should check on what variety of lilac you are getting. Or try getting more info from where you buy them.. Or just get them from another place. Some varieties and species don't want to be so cold.

2007-10-11 22:00:19 · answer #1 · answered by bahbdorje 6 · 0 0

It very well could be that your soil is too heavy and one way to fix that is to amend your soil with things like:
Sand
composted manure
compost
leaf litter
grass clippings

I had heavy clay soil when I purchased my home, but just after amending it the first Autumn, I saw a dramatic difference the following Spring. Your best option would be to remove the dying lilacs and rent a tiller to loosen and mix all the amendments into a fine texture. After you've amended the soil then cover it with straw and water well. This will start it cooking (composting). After last freeze of Spring, remove the straw or work it into the soil and plant your new plants.
Now, having said all that, I have a slight suspicion that maybe your soil is contaminated with something especially since you said that your neighbors are having similar problems. Clay soil really isn't enough to kill off plant after plant so you might consider taking a sample of soil to you local agricultural society.

Good Luck

2007-10-11 23:47:53 · answer #2 · answered by Sptfyr 7 · 0 1

Soil test time... I'd also dig down several feet and see what's down there. It's not uncommon for builders to shove a bunch of construction debris into an area and then grade over it, throw some sod on top and sell the house...

Some of that stuff can be pretty nasty.

2007-10-12 21:15:12 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

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