Poor Soil

[SueBee]

We bought a house a year and a half ago. I've been trying to get my garden going, but I'm having trouble. Nothing blooms, my cone flowers turned to mush and died :crazy:. My plants are having a hard time. My seedlings are very slow to grow, but I have some great tomatos :grin:. I'm thinking poor soil, the soil is like clay and high in acid. Is compost the answer? I'm thinking about applying the compost in the fall, and again in the spring. Any thoughts/advise?

[IntrepidMeredith]

Yep. Heaping gobs of compost mixed into the top foot of soil, and maybe some limestone to bring down the acidity faster than the compost will do alone. Take a soil sample to your local county extension agent (check the blue pages in the phone book) for analysis too. They'll be able to tell you if there are any other specific nutrient imbalances and what to do to fix them if there are. Good luck and good gardening!

[KimmSr]

Post deleted by IntrepidMeredith

[HeyJ]

I've been reading up on composting established beds and had seen that you don't need to till it in, just top-dress, making sure you're a few inches from your plants main stems!

Also, if you dump your coffee grounds around your plants, and on top of the compost, the earth worms will come up for a "buzz" from the caffeine and pull the nutrients back down into your soil or clay, thereby incorporating the compost into the soil themselves. They prefer the caffeinated version, but not particular about the brand!