You say you have extensive landscaping in that bed - If the problem is primarily poor drainage, I would think the plants would suffer (unless they are bog-type plants). Do they look OK when the smell starts in the fall? What kind of plants are they? Is the area sunny, shady, clay soil, sandy, what zone?

Do you mulch the area in summer/fall? If so, what kind of mulch?

You could also try posting on the Bog Gardens Forum.

Also try contacting the local Cooperative Extension. You might be able to get a soil sample analyzed for microbial growth, and some proposed treatments.

Good luck,
Claire

Here is a link that might be useful: Cooperative Extension System

Just a thought....you might have a small sewage leak. It may not show up until you have more precipitation in the fall and winter. The precip then mixes with the sewage and causes it to rise to the surface.

Just thought I'd throw that out there for consideration.

Kristi

My first thought was a sewage leak too. A soil test would tell you a lot. Cheryl

I built a bog garden which is full of plants that grow like weeds, hosta, pulmonaria, astilbe, sedge, tomatoes?, daylilies.

This system will act like a septic tank with the plants roots taking up the sewage (whatever it is), but it doesn't do this job in the winter so you may probably go through a fall problem. Try planting this area more densely, it will grow a LOT of plants in a small area.

Also, search the web for bog septic systems, interesting. I used rubber liner like a pond, filled it with organic matter, plumbing my shower to this system.

Again everything grows like weeds and I never bother with watering or fertilizing.

What kind of plants do you have? Some can make produce bad smelling fruit (like female ginko trees).

I bet Kimmsr has pegged it but there is the possibility of a failed septic system or a broken sewer line.
Also, does the bed have impermeable borders that turn the bed into a sort of tub that never drains? If so that could be part of the problem. For instance, one time we had leaves, etc. clogging the edge of a chain link fence and water was building up in the grass because the leaves created a little boundary that kept the water in. I pulled the leaves away and the water drained away.

I was just on a different forum (Building a Home) and people were talking about underground springs and streams. Some of these were seasonal, becoming a problem during rainy times.

Another possibility for your problem.

I think people here are running out of suggestions until they get further information on your specific conditions. It's an interesting problem and I know I would like to understand what's happening (as well as wanting to help).

Claire

What's confusing to me is the fact that the smell is so overwhelmingly bad, yet the existing planting isn't bothered by the soil condition.

Bogs per se don't really smell bad even though they're wet, and a septic condition of that magnitude should be more deleterious than just a little extra fertilizer. Just my non-expert opinion.

Claire, puzzled

When was the last time these beds had a good turning over of the soil? Could be as simple as getting the garden fork out and turning 8-10 inches of soil over.

I have a slightly different problem. We have city sewer system and lines to it are in the front of the house. The back yard was dug up to lay drainage pipes to the woods in back to stop the erosion in back yard from rain water coming off the house. Soil is clay. Many tulip poplar roots had to be removed. While the yard was dug up, the smell was really very terrible. No smell now that yard was smoothed out and grass growing. My question is: Could there be something so bad in the earth there that the vegetables from my garden are not safe to eat? I do only organic gardening. This is central NJ. I am only interested in the safety of eating my garden vegetables and fruit from fruit trees.
I realize this is a followup to another question. I am a new user and cannot figure out how to post an original question.

I have a similar problem with bad smelling soil, but it only comes AT NIGHT. So weird, and it's driving me crazy. It doesn't smell septic, but like wet moldy soil or rotting organic material. The smell fills our guest bathroom and office at night, and coincidentally, our water hose, which doesn't appear to be leaking, is built into the wall under those windows. Nothing is planted near there, but after reading other comments, maybe planting something there would be a good idea. But why does it only smell at night? We have had a lot of rain, and it never smells during the day, even when there's no breeze.

I also have sour soil! We just bought our house in November of 2015. We tore up the existing deck to replace it and install an above ground pool. The soil under the deck is appalling! Is there a chemical we can put under there? Tilling up the soil is no longer an option as we have just built a new deck. Someone that was visiting once said he smelled dead people! Please help!!!

There certainly isn't a chemical until you know what is causing it. Where is your sewer line, does it come through that area? What does it smell like? Is it very wet? Sandy, silty or clay? What color? Black, brown, tan? Do you smell it when you're not digging?

Hi did you ever figure out what the odor was.....I have the same problem.

What are your conditions AR? Same questions as above.

Purchased a new home in August moved in in December home was built in 1960 going crazy trying to figure out what the odor is that is permeating through out house. Have checked for water leaks, have had industrial hygienist out, had a basement specialist here to look at crawl space no one can figure out what the problem is. Even my new refrigerator is now picking up the unpleasant odor. Next I will be checking with a chimney specialist?? There is a fully vented chimney gas wood burning stove (wood burning stove that was made for gas or wood) in the firebox. The home is a split level, family room, bath and additional bedroom is built on a slab remainder of home is crawl space. In the family room there is a red brick interior wall next to the fireplace it appears to show signs of moisture (different colors in grout at times) particularly after heavy rain. I am having a contractor out in the next 4 weeks to make repairs to rotted wood on fascia board and capping fascia, adding new gutter soffits. The home has a new roof (2015) had two roofers out to make sure no leaks in roof....all looked good. They also verified no water was entering the home due to rotten wood on fascia. I know there is a high water table here and I have had underground drainage installed in the front of the home discharging to the street. Can't really explain the odor...in trying to research this everything points to sewer line but sewer line has been replaced a few years ago. The industrial hygienist did note the crawlspace only had R 10 insulation in the joists I will be increasing that to R 30 as well as cleaning out all the old rock wool insulation in the attics and replacing it with R 38. My most recent thoughts are 1. maybe the underground drainage system the prior owners installed in the back yard are not properly pitch. 2. maybe a pin hole leak in copper water pipe that runs through house (I did do a water test this morning-turned off all running water noted meter reading wrote down time, waited two house to see if meter moved, which it did not). Tonight I will leave one of the facets drip and see if that moves the meter reading. 3. The chimney liner is bad and allowing condensation to build???? Do you have any thoughts???

You may want to ask in plumbing section - I wouldn't be surprised if it was something not venting out sewer gas from the plumbing, possibly sump drain or something in basement that should be venting outside rather than in the house. But cant' tell from description the type of smell or where you think it's coming from, where it comes from. People who know plumbing would know the right types of quesitons to ask.

Thank you for your suggestions.

I'm thinking the same thing, there could be a blocked drain line vent (those go up to the roof, so the roofers might have dropped something down a pipe. Also make sure that all the drains have water in the S trap. Unused showers, sinks or floor drains can dry out and allow sewer gas into the house.

It sounds from your description that this is an odor in the house and not necessarily from soil outside the house. That could be one possible source, but you haven't said you smell anything when you're outside.

Why not just add insulation in the attic rather than removing and replacing?

Yes toxcrusadr Thank you, I think I need to have vents checked out. I was working in the yard the other day and soil does not have an odor as I had originally thought was coming from under weed control fabric. I did notice an area under the deck (which is about 4 foot above ground level) seems to have been built without removing the entire concrete patio that was once there. Additionally there is the area where the old steps once were and that area needs patching (a few small cracks in blocks) and painting, right now it is just bare blocks in an area this is approximately 4' x 4'. When I was in the crawl space with the home inspector I had noticed a piece of the old black wall insulation (still in good shape) was taken down right on the inside of where the old patio steps once were ...the refrigerator is above that area in the crawl space I have noticed the ice from the ice maker has picked up the odor? So as of today I will patch and paint the outside blocks (where the steps once were), put the black panel back up in the crawl space, have the vents checked and have the chimney and liner checked. Never thought I would have to go through this with a new home purchase! Have a good day...

Oh you had asked why not just add insulation....what is the attic has been there for over 60 years putting in R 38. It is rock wool and very very dirty. The insulation in the crawl space joists is only R 10, so that will be increased to R 30 since the joists are 9". I live in the Northeast and called the building inspector, he said R 30 is what to use with the 9" joists.

Odour in the ice cube maker - most refrigerators have some kind of drain towards the bottom in the back, if it gets blocked you can have water pile up and refrigerator get a bit musty. Q-tip through that hole to unblock it, and then some plain white vinegar poured down there to kill/clean what is in there. Not very much, couple tablespoons or a small shot glass worth. That should go down to an evaporation trap so might have mild vinegar odour for a short while. I doubt that's the odour in the house but doing this can't hurt, anyway.

Thanks, I will check with Lowes they just installed it a couple of months ago. I had originally replaced the one that was here when I purchased the home (Oct. 2018) because I could not get the smell out of that one.

Sounds like a plan. You didn't mention the drain traps so make sure to pour some water down any drains in that part of the house that aren't used regularly. I thought the house may have been vacant for awhile between owners and maybe there is a bathroom or sink somewhere you haven't used. Floor drains are a biggie, they hardly ever get water down them so they will dry out.