Nothing will thrive in my no dig bed

I made a no dig bed about 4 months ago and once I could finally get down past the old layer of turf, placed a few healthy plants to see how they did.
Nothing seems to be thriving in it at all.
I planted some strong young hollyhocks I grew from seed and they are one by one just wilting away.
Even a strong green healthy lavender is fading fast.
I’m watering and feeding the plants as per individual needs but I have no idea what to try next.
Soil is dry and sandy with stones but I have dug in lots of manure and compost prior to planting
Any advice please?

 

A photo might help and also knowing whereabouts you are in the country. All helps give better informed replies.

Re the preparation I’m not sure what you mean by a no dig bed given you have dug in manure and compost?

lavenders like poor, free draining soil so the manure plus compost and turf (if left in situ below the mulch etc as you would for a no dig bed) might be too rich for them?

My hollyhocks have sat and sulked all year and are not much bigger now than they were in April (mine were grown from seed last year). The leaves are starting to fade and die back as that’s what they do overwinter. I suspect for mine it’s been the erratic weather so hoping they will shoot up and flower next year so yours may be the same.

 

I am a bit confused, you say " once I get past the old turf" , do you mean you put the turf on top of the bed, or are you planting deeply so you are going through the bottom? Either way I don't think this will work very well. If it's the latter you need to make the compost layer much deeper so you only plant into that. Did you firm the compost by lightly treading it down? I know it seems counterintuitive , but if you just put loose soil or compost down you either need to tread it or wait a month ( and hope there is rain) to settle the soil/ compost, if you don't their will be too big air pockets in it and the roots won't be able to draw water or food. If you haven't already done so check out Charles Dowding, one of his may videos shows how to make a bed from scratch.

 

I've found in the past, hollyhocks and lavender don't like a lot of rich compost and manure...they should grow just fine on sandy/stony soil. That could be the cause of some wilting.
Also, personal preference would be NOT to tread in anything you put on it. I take the no dig policy on these types of beds also means don't compact them!

 

How long have you owned the turf ?
Lawns in some ownership get treated with persisting weedkillers such as mcpa and clopyralid which would be harmful to (almost any) broadleaf plant.
Although typically they may degrade in 56-130 days, delay may be seen in the absence of soil microbes which would eventually degrade them or where excessive use of such chemicals has occured. It is also possible that it was introduced with manure where its provanance is untraceable. In such a case, degradation only commences when mixed with soil containing such microbes .

 

I think from these replies, I haven’t made the original layer of compost anywhere near deep enough.
So basically I laid cardboard then compost over turf then waited around 2 months.
I have then lightly dug in some manure which it sounds may have been a mistake also.
The soil under the area is dry and stony and I can now reach this layer but am still finding large clumps of dead turf.
I’m not sure how to rectify my situation

 

Perhaps if you give us more information regarding the plot, we can assist you further.

 

I am in Manchester in the north of the UK. We are built over an old quarry of some kind so our overall soil is sandy and full of stones.
I created the plot as described in my post above this one and I have added a picture or two
Thank you all for your patience

 

I think you've hit the nail on the head, the compost isn't deep enough. The grass underneath won't have really died and certainly won't have composted down yet either so it will be forming a barrier under the compost.

It can work if for each plant you dig a big planting hole, remove the turf and mix compost up with the earth underneath. I've done that before. Then make sure the new plants are watered.

 

I would suggest that you dig just a few holes to understand the soil profile; for shrubs/herbaceous you need a minimum of 25cm of reasonably freedraining soil ,with added organic matter. It may not require added fertiliser, rather more organic mulch each year. Stones are not a problem per se , just frustrating when you wish to dig to plant! I think your plants may not be tight enough when planted, which not not allow root/soil interchange.
Seeing what appears to be a pond, did you dig that in, how was the soil structure, if previously worked as quarry then you may have any manner of issues to overcome but nothing is unsurmountable with a bit of work. Good luck.

 

Thank you for some excellent advice!!
I have a good idea how to move forward and what I’ve been doing wrong!

yes it is a pond, we dug it out manually and the soil was very sandy, almost all sand in places (kind of pockets of it) , loads of stones and just dry & dusty looking.

 

Just to add to what other have said, rather than digging odd holes and removing a bits of the turf, for such a small bed would think it would be better to rake off all the good top soil/compost to expose the old turf, then slice it off with a spade and then stack it somewhere, grass side down.
Take a good 30mm + of soil with / from below the turf.

Then rake back the top soil, adding a bit more to compensate for the turf removed and then plant away.

Leave the stacked turf alone untill next spring, then it should have started to self compost and leave you with some nice Loam to spread back onto your new beds.

 

I'm inclined to agree with what @ricky101 has said re the turf removal. It would be different if it was a huge space, but when it's smaller, and you're getting your pond etc established, it pays just to do the thing properly from the start, and will save time in the end.
You'll probably find any plants you put in will thrive, whereas if any of them failed after using the 'hole digging and turf removal' method, you won't really know the reason for the failure.

I don't find my turf breaks down readily at all, but that's largely because it's solid clay. I use it for the bottom of large pots which have things like sweet peas in them, and is ideal for that. Good for water retention. It's also useful for building up pond shelves, so that might be helpful for your pond if you still have any work to do there, as long as you get a solid enough clump of it

 

Thanks so much for the advice guys I think I might dig it all over as suggested

 

I thought I’d update you all on my progress. I can totally see now where I went wrong.
So I’ve dug every bit of the turf layer out and down under it a few inches and it’s honestly like new soil.
I have several different plants in it now and they all seem to be doing well.
Thank you all so much