Why is Everything I Plant in My Garden Soil Dying?

Jim in Plain Township asks,  ‘garden soil that’s grown things for several years, can it deteriorate to the point that nothing will grow in it? In fact, things planted in it die within about 30 days.’

Oh, wow. I mean if it depleted a hundred percent of the nutrients out of the soil, I guess that could happen. It sounds like there might be something else going on in that area in that soil. So my question to you is how close is that to the lawn?

One of the things that can happen, and I’m not saying this is what happened, but I’m going to give you all the information. Sometimes when people are putting down the broad-leafed weed killers to kill dandelion and clovers, ground ivy, if the wind is blowing when that application is made and it drifts over into a flower bed, that annual and perennial in your flower bed is a broad-leafed weed to that chemical. It does not know the difference, it will not only kill the stuff in the yard. It’ll kill the stuff in the flower bed.

So you have to be really careful, especially if you’re using a powdered weed killer. When you’re using a rotary spreader it can overthrow beyond where you want it to be, or if the wind’s blowing and you’re using a liquid it can drift. And so you have to be really careful. Generally that doesn’t sterilize the soil or anything. Things will come back, but you’ve got to be very careful, if there’s someone treating your yard, bring it up and mention it to them.

You should be able to replant that area. I would introduce some fresh compost to that soil. Just the soil by itself should not create what happened to you.

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