Pink Diamond problem.....!

17 years ago

I must be the ONLY person here who is having problems with Pink Diamond! I would very much value your advice.

My poor PD was planted over a year ago in a partly sunny location where a tree stump was, on the edge of a small cliff (of my ravine). I had that ground and so the area was full of that ground stuff. Also, it's surrounded by some other trees too so maybe that's why... despite my effort to amend the soil, by adding peat moss and garden soil, something is sucking up the water fast there. So poor PD is wilting intermittently, and I have to supplement it with some deep watering quite often during dry weather (like once or twice a week). As a result, its growth has been quite stunted. To add more insult to the injury, those darn Bambi also gave it an early spring "pruning" too...!!!!!!! Sigh...

Is it just that the location has too much competition for water, or is it that the ground up wood is causing a problem, or is it anything else that is causing this insatiable appetite for water, hence intermittent wilting?

Is there anything else that I can do to amend the soil? Or am I better off moving that poor PD? If you advice that I should move it, please tell me what I should plant there instead!!! :-)

Thanks in advance for your help.

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Comments (4)

luis_pr
17 years ago
The angle, close to a small cliff, can make gravity drain the water more than you would like it to and act as if you had sandy soil, where people have to water 50% more. I am not sure if this would help compensate fully but you could try water absorbing polymers and other materials. An organic minded store once recommended shale rocks that absorb and later release water (or at least I think it was shale rocks). I can call them to confirm if you are interested so you can locate a source closer to your home.

Keep them well mulched, maybe even past the drip line. and do watch out for competition from other plants as that certainly could also force you to water more often.

I wish I could think of a way to know for sure where all the water is ending up. Are any of the competing plants shallow rooted?
madeyna
17 years ago
Do you have a little mound of soil on the down side of the plant to hold the water in long enough for it to absorb into the soil?
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ostrich
Original Author
17 years ago
Hi luis and madeyna,

Thank you so much for your input. I think that I will look into the water absorbing polymers. luis, I don't think that the other competing trees have a shallow root system. I will certainly mulch it well though - so far I have got lots of wood chips over the area but perhaps I really need much more organic matters that will decompose there. madeyna, I will create that little mound of soil on the side too! :-)

Thanks again for your help!
tthomas19
17 years ago
Just a thought... I've had several trees removed and the stumps ground... while the "sawdust" is decomposing it sucks all the nitrogen out of the soil.... so maybe it's puny because it needs a bit of fertilizer? I usually wait a year before planting anything in the same space... even after turning in peat, compost, new soil, etc... I just give it some time to break down... then it is FABULOUS soil!