okay, I had 7 yards of material delivered to my home for a raised herb garden. The nursery told me it would be perfect for what I want to do. It consists of compost, sand and chicken manure.

NOTHING wants to grow...

I am ready to pack it in and till it all into the REAL dirt thats underneath.

Should I???

Hi ambersmum, and welcome! I think we need more information before advising. Where are you (generally, climate-wise)? Are you transplanting plants that have already started and they die off, or starting directly from seed and they don't germinate? What has the weather been like? What herbs are you trying to grow? Have you grown these same herbs before in different soil and it worked great, or is the whole thing a brand-new adventure?

Welcome to our little piece of dirt here and sorry about your luck. Did they say if the chicken manure was composted or fresh? It really needs to be well composted or it will burn your plants.

Hi Liz1,
Im in zone 7b and the weather has been really wet until July came, now it's in the 70-80's and beautiful.
I started seed indoors under lights and also bought plants from the nursery and direct seeded some.
I have Basil that is still only 2 or four leaves. Cilantro bolted... Dill just coming up and now stopped. Fennel is doing the best though still small compared to some in a different garden bed and the list goes on...
The most confusing issue is, I bought Cuban Oregano from the nursery and planted some in the strawberry pot by my front door and the rest in the garden. Well the strawberry pot is going gangbusters while the garden is looking exactly the same as the day I planted them.
Any suggestions welcome and thanks.

oh2fly,
I didn't think to ask that, I'll call tomorrow and find out. Thanks for bringing that up.

That experiment with the pot is a clue as to your soil's condition. I hate to advise this, but you may need a good soil test to see what is so funky about it.

Thanks, AM. Hopefully now the herb mavens will pop in with their great advice. Cilantro bolts when it gets too hot, so that may not be due to the soil conditions as much as the weather. Otherwise, I wonder if there's some other factor like lack of water or it simply hasn't been in there long enough?

Some things do better on transplant and others on direct seed (dill and cilantro, for example). Some Mediterranian herbs supposedly do better in poor soil, so that could be a factor too. Not enough of an herb expert myself to share personal experience about which ones. Hopefully someone else is.

oh2fly,
I had one of those one shot freebies on hand for the soil test and I couldn't tell if it was yellow (acid) or not. Too much bark in this soil and I couldn't get it right so I just may have to get a real test done.

Liz 1,
Thanks for helping me get the right info up. I've never done a forum before and I really need some advice now on what I should do.

This is one of the major problems with buying any soil, you have no real idea what you are getting. I would start by contacting the local office of your Washington State University USDA Cooperative Extension Service ( http://ext.wsu.edu/locations/countyMap.html ) about having a good, reliable soil test done and also dig in with these simple soils tests,
1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer you soil will smell.

5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.
to see what you really have and what you need to do to make that soil into something that is good and healthy that will grow strong and healthy plants.

Hi Kimm1,
I certainly appreciate all the good information that you included, I will be trying all of this before I decide to till it all under. Stay tuned...

Chicken manure is very high in nitrogen and needs to be well composted. Liz may be right – it could be too rich for most herbs. You may have to be patient and just wait for everything to age a bit more. It takes time to build a really healthy soil, but I bet your results next year will be much better. You could till it, but then you'd be disturbing the soil structure and organisms that are helping to turn all that good organic material into a healthy soil for you. Have patience!

I'd say it's definitely the manure (chicken heat). But whadda I know... Few herbs do well in ultra rich mixes. 7 yards, eh. wow... You might consider getting a yard or two of sifted (get more junk out) topsoil and adding it to the mix.

My herb garden has less than wonderful soil. Mostly all I add is peatmoss. I'm having puter problems and haven't process any pictures from this summer, but I'm going to try to insert a couple here to show you what I mean. Here goes...

nahhh, no pics. oh, well. You might want to settle for good container growing this year and ready your plot for 2009 step spring planting.

I believe all of you are right! I will keep working with it.

Thank you so much for all the good advice.

Hey how do you add photo's?

My hubby and I have problems when we plant in pure compost. It doesn't hold enough water, and everything dies. we mix it with the first few inches of topsoil already in our garden, and everything grows great.

mindwing