I think you are actually doing fine. Just keep adding compost & leaf mold. Forget chemical fertilizer. You will be fine. Be patient.

I use aged horse manure that has a lot of horse bedding (fine wood chip), compost and leaf mold in my garden. In fall, I pile shredded leaves all over the beds and look what I have:

My garden this June

You're doing fine. Don't worry.
Relax and be patient.
:-D

Thanks, pitimpinai. I'll keep working at it. Your yard is wonderful!

brer, could it be that the plants that are not doing well, are acting that way not necessarily because of the soil itself, but because they don't do well in that situation? For instance, maybe the soil is too damp for them, or too dry, or maybe there's too much sun, or not enough...?

If we had more info on the siting of the bed and the plants in it, we could help more. In the meantime, I wouldn't rip out the whole bed. I think you just need to move the plants that aren't doing well, and find more of the kind of plants that do well in that site. Oh, and also, I'll second pitimpinai's suggestion to just keep doing what you are doing - add compost.

Are you using an organic, degradable mulch? That will help the soil too.

Good luck!
:)
Dee

brer - I am way colder then zone 7 but what you can do is plant flowers that do well in poor soil. I have THICK HEAVY clay and found certain flowers to GREAT in it.

Just work with what you have and do as you are doing. Mulch and add dirt here an there and see what works and what does not.

For ME, gardening is an adventure. Having a amazing garden is nice but GETTING there is the fun part. Would it be fun if you could go to a store and just buy one? Naa - It's the journey of watching something grow from nothing.

brer, depending on where you live (all I see is zone 7), it's possible that the problem is your plant selection and not you. There are many MANY plants that do fabulously well further north that will pout, and downright die in our climate. For instance, echinaceas are absolutely nothing special here. They bloom one time beautifully, then begin to mold, droop, and generally look ratty for the rest of the summer. Any rebloom is pitiful looking and you wish they hadn't bothered. Ditto for shasta daisies. They're great for about three weeks in the spring. Then, you might as well cut them down. Don't even get me started on bearded irises or hostas. Do you see? All of these are in the Top Ten List of Easiest Perennials to grow. But NOT for the south! It took me years to figure this out. I was ready to give up gardening until I found some neighbors who informed me that I was beating myself over the head trying to grow campanulas, and their kin. :)

From what you tell us, you are doing perfectly good soil work. (Basically, you're doing lasagna gardening in stages). There shouldn't be any need whatsoever to start over. If you want to beef up your soil, try to add more chopped leaves to your beds in the fall instead of pinestraw, since leaves are more nutritious. Then next year, mulch with grass clippings or compost. In other words, give your soil a more varied diet. Add a good sprinkle of cotttonseed meal around your plants in the spring and again at mid summer. Our growing season here is six and half to seven months long, as opposed to three up north. It's my experience that plants need more nutrition here even with excellent soil, if you really want them to do their best.

And then, of course, you have to learn to turn off your inner critic, at least sometimes. I'm one of those people who take people through my gardens pointing out every flaw because that's what I see. I'm trying to realize that this is NATURE. A certain amount of "imperfection" is what makes it look NATURAL.

Go outside tomorrow early morning when the light is soft and just walk around (no weeders or gloves allowed). Force yourself to listen to the birdsong, really see the color, form and texture in your garden, and rejoice in all you DO have..... I bet you'll find your garden is alot better than you thought. :)