I must admit with complete humility, my success rate with flowers has been less than 60% this season.

When I started in November my soil was typical for the Dallas area. A mix of sand, heavy clay and everything in between. Not ideal, but very workable.

Then it happened, BAM! A major sewer line break running through the center of my yard. After the repair was completed, the plumping company took the gloppy sewage mess and mixed it into the clay.  This created large areas of concrete-like patches of earth throughout the yard. I was extremely frustrated.

Next came the rain. To say it rained a lot is an understatement. The record rainfall helped compact the clay soil even further.

Flowers planted near the sewer repair typically died over time. At first I chalked it up to the wet ground, but that was just a symptom of a bigger issue.

When I dug holes for my flowers I noticed the soil was thick with clay. The clay content might have been as high as 95%. This is where I messed up. I amended only the soil in the newly dug holes. Unfortunately I didn’t think long term. Most roots can’t break through heavy clay. So you’re stuck with flowers that remain small, weak and unable to thrive. It was an expensive lesson. Soil quality matters – A LOT, and that includes the entire flower bed, not just where you dig.

Now, I’m digging with a purpose. First up, the flower bed against the deck. It’s in bad shape.  I started to notice the bed didn’t dry out like other areas of my yard. The clay was creating a barrier between the surface soil and the ground below. Basically I’m dealing with a layer referred to as “hardpan”.  Joy.

To start, I’ve removed all the existing flowers. I’m currently working to break up the clay and amend the entire flowerbed with peat, humus, composite and other various organic material. Improving the bed will be a slow process and I figure I won’t plant anything new until next Spring. The plan for the balance of this year is to till, amend and let the materials settle. Repeating the process every few months. Hopefully this will give me a jump-start for next Spring.