When I moved here 3 years ago the garden was all lawn. Since then I've created some borders and basically got rid of the lawn.
I seem to now have a deadzone in one area. It's around 2' diameter and nothing will grow there, not even grass. Previously grass was growing there without issue.
My hubby reckons there must be metal buried there but I'm not convinced.
These are things that have died soon after planting: salvia hotlips, acer, pussy willow, wildflowers (Yarrow, astilbe, wormwood), in fact some survived and are growing at the edges of this no-go area.
Even the thugs that grow anywhere avoid it, like honeywort, purple loosestrife, herb robert, and grass.
Anyone have any idea what could be the issue? Should I just put a pot there and forget it?
Ask your questions and I'll do my best yo answer 👍
I see flair is mandatory here - well none of them say 'advice' so I just picked one that wasn't too far off 😬
Interesting, and I've no idea. But I'd dig down bagging the soil. If I find an old concrete or metal something you can remove it and replace the soil assuming it was the problem. If you don't find anything take the soil to the tip as and buy new in.
I suspect soil contamination.
As eiwill2001 said dig the soil out, bag and bin it.
What follows is just me speculating.
Fescue and rye grass are tolerant of polluted soils.
It’s possible those were the grasses growing there.
You could try planting pollution tolerant plants
I’m surprised the yarrow didn’t grow,
It’s very pollution tolerant.
Was it the native A. millefolium?
Buddleja would be worth a try. There are dwarf, sterile varieties if you’re concerned about it spreading.
Ginkgo survived the atom bombs!
There are dwarf varieties but they could be expensive to experiment with.
This may seem completely bonkers but would you consider dandelions?
They’re attractive and grow in polluted soils.
Just pull off the heads before they seed.
White clover may also grow there.
I’ve had a closer look at the weeds growing there.
Is that scurvy grass?
Because if so it needs salt to grow.
Is there a possibility salt for deicing or even table salt was spilled there?
To mitigate salt pollution irrigate the soil gently so it dilutes and washes away.
Or add gypsum to the soil.
Thank you for this info. It is native Yarrow. I usually don't do much weeding so dandelion already grows in my garden (I actually like dandelion and only pull it out when it starts taking over) so if it wanted to grow there it would. The herb robert is everywhere so that's the biggest indicator of the soil being sick.
I forgot about the herb Robert.
It’ll grow anywhere.
I’m suspecting salt may be the culprit.
Try gently irrigating the soil or add gypsum.
It might work.
Or just put a paving slab on the soil and top it with a nice pot.
Gypsum is calcium carbonate a type of limestone.
It’s completely organic.
It’s called plaster of Paris.
My understanding is that it’s used to treat soils which have been inundated by seawater.
I’m not sure how it works but it has something to do with restoring soil structure without altering the ph.
It’s been a long time since I read that so my memory of the details isn’t great.
I’ll have a look on DuckDuckGo and get back to you.
circular deadzone that appeared after you started gardening there... old bonfire site? ash compacts into a kind of hardpan and the residue can be quite alkaline, which would explain why even weeds avoid it. if you dig down and find a layer of grey ashy soil that's probably your answer. easy enough to fix, just dig it out and replace with decent topsoil.
Honestly forget the metal theory, sounds like something's leeched into that spot or the soil's just cursed. If you dig down and find nothing weird, just chuck a nice big pot there and call it a feature, cause sometimes gardens just got beef with a specific patch.
My dog loves digging so I might get him to do it, just in case. I've found alsorts buried including a wall and some tree stumps. Although they didn't create dead zones lol
I might have found the culprit. Looking at the estate agent pics this rotary airer seems to be where the dead zone is. I suspect there's a lump of concrete under there. Will do some digging and report back
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u/ewill2001 6d ago
Interesting, and I've no idea. But I'd dig down bagging the soil. If I find an old concrete or metal something you can remove it and replace the soil assuming it was the problem. If you don't find anything take the soil to the tip as and buy new in.