I recently planted a new garden, and now my columbine leaves are turning purple. The azalea leaves are turning red, and the annuals aren't growing. They get plenty of water and sun....what could be wrong? Do I need to throw some sort of fertilizer on top? eep! Any suggestions that don't require digging them all up and remixing the soil are appreciated!

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001

Answers

Susan, where do you live? I wouldn't fertilize until you have a better handle on what's going on ... too much fertilizer can stress plants a lot. In my area azaleas and columbines need shade, which is why I asked where you live.

If it's not too hot (and the red leaves don't really sound like a heat issue), then it really could be a soil issue. Did you do anything to the dirt before you planted them?

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001

I live in Philadelphia. The only thing done to the soil before I moved in was building a house---we dug out a bunch of stones before I shoved the plants in. I did a sun chart for a few days before we planted, so I'm pretty sure the amount of sun is okay (although I'm a new gardener, and I might not be quite up to speed on good-morning- sun versus bad-afternoon-sun). I'm just wondering if the construction crap could have affected the soil somehow (the grass seed they threw down there is growing fine). I was quite lazy, and didn't necessarily dig the hole really big and include peat moss or whatever (it's my Survival of the Fittest theory of gardening....). As I'm typing this all out I'm coming up with several things that could be going wrong!

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001