shrubs and climbers

hi.. im am new to site have posted already in new member section .. question if anyone can help is i have two genista maderensis in my back border they are both in the same border and both planted between small conifers ... one is romping on.. the other though growing is nowhere near the size ..any ideas why this should be .. because i also have same problem with chocolate vines three of them that i have planted against a fence this border is sloping running down from back of garden to the house,,, the two top vines are not doing to well but the bottom one is fine?? had the same problem with honey suckle that i kept for two years but took out to replace with the chocolate vines ,... thought they would do better ... wrong!!! any ideas gratefully recieved thanks sharon.

 

Is it a steep slope? If so then the plants at the top will be more exposed which will affect growing conditions. Also as water runs downhill the ones at the top will not get as much water as the ones at hte bottom especially if it levels out near the house. We have this problem in our garden which is quite steeply sloping.

 

Hi Shaz, although I am 'into' exotics I am not familiar with the habits of either of these. But I do know that my own garden slopes slightly and the plants at the bottom tended to do better than those at the top. I don't think it's just a matter of how much water they are getting but leaching of nutrients over the years. What happens is that the water absorbs the trace elements and runs away with them. I solved my problem by digging in some well rotted manure, although I suspect something like chicken pellets would be equally effective. Only problem is that I have to repeat the exercise every 3 or 4 years.

 

thanks for replies ... yes its a fair slope .. i did think about the water aspect of it ... but not nutrients so will have a go at putting something back into the soil ... i will do the same with the maderensis in the back border though this is not sloping ,.. just two of the same plants one growing quickly the other not ... but we will see ... thank you again...sharon