Wow, I'd have been willing to say evil gases or something...no idea ;)

I doubt the poor cat buried 7 years ago is causing any trouble........his impact is long gone except for perhaps some additional calcium in the area. And excess Ca is not known to cause toxicity. What exactly is wrong is difficult to say without any sort of soil test. I would be inclined to work in a decent amount of good compost and see what happens. Compost is known to have very beneficial effects with regards to the remediation of any contaminates in the soil as well as helping to curb or counteract a number of soil pathogens.

But..these are potted plants, unless their root system is extended down into the rubble, I wouldn't think a contaminant could have much effect.

Or at least that's how I read it.

No, I don't think it is a contaminant...but I do think there may well be a problem with either aeration or drainage. I made this bed (over an existing one) in 2011 (poor old Loki was buried before I had a chance to plant it up)...but I have cycled through a few plants and this, and one other very small area by the gate, have been persistently problematic. I lose soil through the weep holes (the bed is made of concrete blocks and timber coping) so top up the beds with spent compost, random seedling fails...and no longer have much of an idea of the soil composition.

I have a whole heap of obscuring pots, which chop and change a lot...so it has been easy to overlook the general debility of this bit of earth...but am not inclined to do the head in sand method (cos I foolishly looked at too many pics of much better gardens than mine and fell prey to guilt and shame).

Hoping my resolve remains...and is not ambushed by my usual skills for displacement and prevarication (World Cup, need to sew new dog bed, general toil, the weather etc etc).

• I once had installed a non preserved wooden barrier to prevent soil from a flowerbed slumping under a cement stairs. Several years later, the wood had rotted away and the adjacent plants were stunted and dying. Upon digging them up, the entire soil area was powder white with what looked and very much smelled like mushroom spawn. Over the years, all plants had continued to die in this area. I then undertook several large digging attempts to remove all this spore contaminated soil, as the dang stuff would simply come back if any speck of it had remained! I finally did succeed, though later had the same problem on the other side of the house. Odd thing being, whatever it was, it seemed to prefer the soil being on the dry side, keeping it deeply watered very much helped to remedy the situation. Oh, I later did find a dead cat under the steps, but not after enduring a rather stinky summer, lol, lol.

Right, taking GG's advice, my first job will be to dig out some of the really glorious allotment compost once I have removed the top growth of fat hen, potatoes (those peelings!) and lepsidium. Hauling it home to the garden might be tricky (still in non-driving mode in our household) but either a wheelbarrow or my ancient bike trailer should do it.

So, that's as far as I have got (ie.thinking and planning) with no let up in the gorgeous weather...but I have 2 football free days till the semi-finals (Yay).

I double dig my raised bed and add nutrients every once and awhile. I did some green manure and dug that in a couple of years ago. Things get tired. Humous breaks down, especially in hot areas like mine.

Old cats and dogs are like a warm blanket and hot chocolate aren't they? Truly comforting. Anyway, Rouge, hope you plant a whole bunch of tiger lilies, to commemorate a lovely, stripey companion.