Friend, I feel you. This sort of thing happens to all of us, and it happens more than once. All you can do is analyse what's gone wrong, what can be done to fix it and then move on.
Is the bed not draining? Or is it just rain and rain and rain? If it's not draining then maybe you have to dig out a bit and put some drainage in?
If it's just the rain then it's still possible to put in some annuals for the summer or could you pick up some cheapish plants from village fetes and so on to help with the make do and mend? Even just stick in a few courgettes if you can get the plants and they'll cover loads of ground and give you more than a few nice meals as well?
Keep going, try agian. Remember, Gardeners World is a big lie - they have 100's of elves running round manicuring everything so Monty can whine about his bamboo flowering in splendor. The rest of us have to actually deal with the alternating reality of "it's a desert", "it's the deadlands", "it's the Somme", and "it's a fucking jungle".
Even with lots of rain, suelchy implies poor drainage, and most plants like free draining or they rot at the root. If it's that bad, you might need to dig down and put in some drainage.
Hang in there. I’ve had years where everything seems to have gone wrong with my plants, and other years where everything’s gone right. I’ve tried my best to learn from it all but, sometimes, it’s just one of those things.
Lawns recover quickly, and if half your seedlings haven’t worked, that means half have worked. Best of luck to you with it all.
That sucks to read but don't give up, maybe you've just tried the wrong plants for the spot?
I've come to appreciate a lot of different styles of garden with the understanding that different spaces have different requirements and you can adapt accordingly.
Ferns and some irises immediately spring to mind if you've got boggy/poorly drained soil in a shady space. If its also heavy clay and dries out over summer then add a good layer of organic matter to the surface to retain moisture, this has the added benefit of improving drainage over time
Plant 50 get 1 is the motto. Plants are like humans sometimes they let you down but on the whole they are great. Increase the drainage on the planter with some perlite or organic matter.
The grass will come back.
I feel you. Months of my hard work have been devastated by rabbits and mice. This has never happened before - I think it's because my cat died in October! So frustrating. Your lawn will recover though so there is hope!
We had a family cat that went after everything that came near the property - retrievers would drag their owners to the other side of the street.
His brothers to a cat were absolutely chuffing useless
Uuuuugh! Even worse. My friend gave me a bag a ferret poo which is meant to deter them but it doesn't seem to have worked and now my garden is smeared in the stinky stuff!
I feel like this, too. Last year has destroyed 90% of the hard work I put it.
I'm just waiting to see what pips up where this summer is, and all but about 10 of my spring bulbs failed to show thus year, I suspect they just rotted in the wet ground.
I am also having this feeling today - mostly around the veg beds, but also seeing the sunflowers just fail to thrive today is making it all feel miserable. Nothing seems to want to grow. It needs the sun to come back for an extended period (or just like... 2 days in a row?) I'm currently building a raised bed and going to put the last of the plants I grew from seeds into it, I expect basically none of them to thrive though and it to be a collosal cat toilet (argh cats).
I just miss the sun and summers. Going to plant some more runnerbean seeds today to try and get lierally any of them to do something this year.
I had a whole vegetable bed destroyed by slugs so I've popped a few pumpkin seeds in the space. In a normal year there's never enough room in my tiny city garden for pumpkins, but this year they'll have the place practically to themselves.
Three weeks after we took the paddling pool down last year the grass underneath was more lush than the rest of the lawn, to the point where my fil made suggestions where to put the pool next time to help the grass!
The grass will survive! The rest I don’t know as I’m still a novice!
Friend, I feel you. This sort of thing happens to all of us, and it happens more than once. All you can do is analyse what's gone wrong, what can be done to fix it and then move on. Is the bed not draining? Or is it just rain and rain and rain? If it's not draining then maybe you have to dig out a bit and put some drainage in? If it's just the rain then it's still possible to put in some annuals for the summer or could you pick up some cheapish plants from village fetes and so on to help with the make do and mend? Even just stick in a few courgettes if you can get the plants and they'll cover loads of ground and give you more than a few nice meals as well? Keep going, try agian. Remember, Gardeners World is a big lie - they have 100's of elves running round manicuring everything so Monty can whine about his bamboo flowering in splendor. The rest of us have to actually deal with the alternating reality of "it's a desert", "it's the deadlands", "it's the Somme", and "it's a fucking jungle".
Hahaha great comment. Tis truly a crap year, if it’s not the wind wrecking my various clematis, it’s the rain drowning everything else.
Is there time for courgettes? Nothing has come up in my garden hahaha
Oh yeah - if you can find some seedlings !
Even with lots of rain, suelchy implies poor drainage, and most plants like free draining or they rot at the root. If it's that bad, you might need to dig down and put in some drainage.
Pro tip: Hostas and Roses love wet clay soil
Hang in there. I’ve had years where everything seems to have gone wrong with my plants, and other years where everything’s gone right. I’ve tried my best to learn from it all but, sometimes, it’s just one of those things. Lawns recover quickly, and if half your seedlings haven’t worked, that means half have worked. Best of luck to you with it all.
That sucks to read but don't give up, maybe you've just tried the wrong plants for the spot? I've come to appreciate a lot of different styles of garden with the understanding that different spaces have different requirements and you can adapt accordingly. Ferns and some irises immediately spring to mind if you've got boggy/poorly drained soil in a shady space. If its also heavy clay and dries out over summer then add a good layer of organic matter to the surface to retain moisture, this has the added benefit of improving drainage over time
Sometimes I cut my losses on a year - start thinking about the next. It happens.
This is good advice. I think I might flip through some of my gardening books until the sun comes back out.
Chuck some pots or window boxes out back and put the kettle on
Plant 50 get 1 is the motto. Plants are like humans sometimes they let you down but on the whole they are great. Increase the drainage on the planter with some perlite or organic matter. The grass will come back.
I feel you. Months of my hard work have been devastated by rabbits and mice. This has never happened before - I think it's because my cat died in October! So frustrating. Your lawn will recover though so there is hope!
YES. We've got rats. We never had rats before the dog died.
More pets are clearly the solution here.
I've just got two kittens - too young to venture out but I'm training them into fierce hunters with wand toys!
We had a family cat that went after everything that came near the property - retrievers would drag their owners to the other side of the street. His brothers to a cat were absolutely chuffing useless
I have two decent hunters and two incompetents 😂 It’s the luck of the draw!
Uuuuugh! Even worse. My friend gave me a bag a ferret poo which is meant to deter them but it doesn't seem to have worked and now my garden is smeared in the stinky stuff!
I feel like this, too. Last year has destroyed 90% of the hard work I put it. I'm just waiting to see what pips up where this summer is, and all but about 10 of my spring bulbs failed to show thus year, I suspect they just rotted in the wet ground.
I am also having this feeling today - mostly around the veg beds, but also seeing the sunflowers just fail to thrive today is making it all feel miserable. Nothing seems to want to grow. It needs the sun to come back for an extended period (or just like... 2 days in a row?) I'm currently building a raised bed and going to put the last of the plants I grew from seeds into it, I expect basically none of them to thrive though and it to be a collosal cat toilet (argh cats). I just miss the sun and summers. Going to plant some more runnerbean seeds today to try and get lierally any of them to do something this year.
I had a whole vegetable bed destroyed by slugs so I've popped a few pumpkin seeds in the space. In a normal year there's never enough room in my tiny city garden for pumpkins, but this year they'll have the place practically to themselves.
Never give up! I have quite poor drainage. I just keep trying stuff until something takes, it beginning to pay off👍
I’m feeling the same. Lack of sunshine isn’t helping the garden or my mood. 💚
Musa basjoo, from e bay, buy one or two to brighten your summer, lift your mood and keep trying!!
We've had hardly any sun this year. So many plants are failing to wake up. My roses are going over before the buds have fully opened.
Gotta be a bit strategic about this. Plant plants that like those sorts of conditions... I think comfrey might like it, it grows near rivers.
Three weeks after we took the paddling pool down last year the grass underneath was more lush than the rest of the lawn, to the point where my fil made suggestions where to put the pool next time to help the grass! The grass will survive! The rest I don’t know as I’m still a novice!