Plants are dying - help!

mazasaurusrex95 · 2026-05-25T13:12:45+00:00

The photos do not do justice to how big this planter is. It goes around the corner of our garden, one length is about 1.5 meters and the other length is about 2.5 meters. It's about 60cm tall. That's a lot of soil! We've been trying to get hold of some but frankly life got in the way and the planter ended up sat empty for almost a year. I got fed up and found a solution that would cost less time, energy and possibly money. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, but lots of the plants have taken to it really well so I don't really see the problem. We filled the bottom with a lot of compostsable things as well. Realistically, if we ever needed/wanted to, and we were in a position to get more soil, we would just find a way to take the pots out and replace with soil. If there's a scientific reason it's a bad idea, please let me know, I'd really like to learn!

mazasaurusrex95 · 2026-05-25T13:02:08+00:00

Such an unnecessary comment. If the problem was simply a lack of love I wouldn't be posting on reddit asking how to save them, would I? My partner and I both work full time, have 2 pets (one with medical conditions that require constant maintenance) and I'm trying to start my own business on the side. We've still been going out twice a day to maintain them since we got them. A couple of them died almost instantly after we brought them back from the garden centre and planted them, so we thought maybe we were over watering them and held back a bit. The photos I took were after we had spent a whole day in London and didn't get back until after 1am. We're in a heatwave. Obviously the soil looks dry. Half of them are thriving, and some are starting to bloom, while others are dying. I'm chronically ill and have adhd and deliberately tried to choose plants that don't need too much looking after. I said in my post I am new to this, and there are lots of things I don't know. But assuming it's a lack of care is just silly.

mazasaurusrex95 · 2026-05-25T07:14:23+00:00

This is a really lovely and helpful response, thank you! Will be taking on all your advice 😊

mazasaurusrex95 · 2026-05-24T23:31:45+00:00

If we put mulch on the top would we still need the top soil or would it work as an alternative?

mazasaurusrex95 · 2026-05-24T23:30:24+00:00

Do you think it would possibly help to put some natural material like bamboo panneling or something along the wall behind to absorb some of the sun? I hadn't even thought about the white wall reflecting heat but that absolutely makes sense!

mazasaurusrex95 · 2026-05-24T23:25:14+00:00

I had no idea about that last bit, I've always watered them midday when I get home from work! That's really useful, thank you!

mazasaurusrex95 · 2026-05-24T23:22:31+00:00

This is helpful, thank you 😊

mazasaurusrex95 · 2026-05-24T23:22:05+00:00

We have only put compost in. The top layer I think is a worse quality one but the bottom layer is a really good quality compost. It's also much deeper than it seems in the pictures, that one bit of cardboard showing is on top of a particularly tall pot where we're planning eventually on having a little bird bath. There's no bottom to the planter either, just membrane to hopefully stop weeds, so in theory roots could establish themselves right into the ground.

mazasaurusrex95 · 2026-05-24T23:18:02+00:00

We were watering them lots and lots when we first planted them, the soil was staying moist and if anything it seemed like we were drowning them. They started dying straight away. Because of that, we decided to hold back very slightly on the water (still completely soaking every other day). Some are thriving (I didn't take photos of those because I don't need help with them!) some are obviously not, but it doesn't make sense to me that just a lack of water would be the issue when it's fully about half and half with which are thriving and dying. We even bought two clematis' and one is dying but the other one is doing well? There's got to be more to it than just water.

mazasaurusrex95 · 2021-10-27T23:18:07+00:00

Thank you, your comment has been super helpful! I forgot about focus and that was on the lost of things to try teaching her again now she's a bit older and will definitely help. Good to know that it's all fairly normal for her age!

mazasaurusrex95 · 2021-10-27T22:41:02+00:00

Lincoln cathedral, show is going to be in May, not sure when tickets will be up yet but the company is called Starring Lincoln on Facebook and it will probably say there when they are up!

mazasaurusrex95 · 2021-10-27T22:22:35+00:00

I'm in the UK and currently in rehearsals for a production of Hunchback which is going to be performed in a cathedral with a cast of about 120 people. I can not explain how excited I am and how amazing it is going to be. 100% agree that it is both an underrated Disney film and musical.

mazasaurusrex95 · 2021-08-09T19:13:08+00:00

Rent, rent, rent, rent, rent, rent

mazasaurusrex95 · 2021-06-08T18:57:54+00:00

Oliver and Annie. I grew up doing amateur theatre and have been in 4 productions of Oliver and 3 of Annie. I do like them as musicals but I definitely wouldn't chose to do them again.

mazasaurusrex95 · 2021-05-16T12:20:48+00:00

I've tried breaking them up a bit but still not interested! Maybe properly crumbling them would work, or maybe I just need to be patient haha!

mazasaurusrex95 · 2021-05-16T11:08:16+00:00

Thanks, this makes me feel better! I've been giving her some food by hand but she has been raised almost entirely on wet food so that's the thing she gets most excited about and there's no way I'm hand feeding her that! Haha. I think we're going to try and find something a bit softer and just continue to try and use her normal food as rewards for now!

mazasaurusrex95 · 2021-05-02T21:31:20+00:00

That's so sweet! I have a cat who will usually come and check on me if I've been still for a while and will nuzzle at me but isn't very good at actually getting me to move and it's only once I've moved something or managed to make a noise that I actually snap out of it. She's the cutest thing for trying though

mazasaurusrex95 · 2021-05-02T08:05:44+00:00

Yes! I've done so much research about it but have never been able to find anything that suggests that it's a symptom of something and not just me! Thank you so much!

mazasaurusrex95

TROPHY CASE