How to maintain my sandy garden

[NumeroUno]

Hi All

I need advice on how to improve my fruit trees, roses, marigold, passion fruit and jasmine plants. These were planted in April with manure and topped with mulch.and flourished slowly. I am an amateur gardener looking to learn more and welcome any advice!

Currently, the fruit trees are growing but still look the same. The plants and roses are not doing well and got yellow leaves in parts and not much growth of flowers.  The marigolds look almost dead!

Do i top up the soil with something, e.g. top soil or compost or manure or seaweed solution.  Was told we only need to top up with manure once a year? What's required to maintain them?

The plants are watered every alternate day.

Any product recommendations at bunnings? TIA

[MitchellMc]

Hi @NumeroUno,

You have got a whole spectrum of different plants there that most likely they will need individually tailored advice for their care and afflictions. It would be helpful if you could supply pictures of the plants which are having the most difficulty so our members can get a better understanding of what might be going on. Also, can you please let us know what amount of sun each plant is receiving throughout the day.

I wouldn't expect a whole heap of growth in the same year of planting. A certain amount of stress and damage is caused when a plant is re-potted or planted in the ground. They need time to recover from this.

What type of manure did you use and in what quantity? If the plants initially flourished slowly and have tapered off now perhaps the manure needs to be re-applied. There are rose and citrus fertilisers which are specifically tailored to suit these plants needs.

We look forward to hearing more information about the plants and seeing some images of the issues. I'd be happy to mention some of our experts once we get a better idea of what is going on.

Mitchell

[NumeroUno]

Hi @MitchellMc 

Appreciate your help.

I have attached pictures of the plants and an approximate number of hours of full sun each plant is receiving.

When planting, sheep manure was used and mulch applied over the top. About 2 shovels of manure was used per fruit tree. And less for the plants. 

 

   

 

 

 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @NumeroUno,

I don't think I fully appreciated the level of sandy soil you were dealing with there. There appears to be little to no organic matter in the sand and if this is the case the plants would be relying solely on the manure for sustenance. I'm thinking a dose of PowerFeed 2L Hose On Liquid Fertiliser - 2 Pack every 2-3 weeks and a top-up of manure would be a great start to providing adequate nutrients.

You should find this step-by-step tutorial helpful: How to improve sandy soil. 

Let me mention they very knowledgeable @Noelle and @Adam_W to see what their thoughts are on growing in extremely sandy soil.

Mitchell