Yes, I think we all have, Faye. It just goes with the territory. The mulch should help, but sometimes when the rain is really coming down, there's not a whole lot you can do. Cheryl

Faye where did you get the 8 yrds of soil ? What did you plant ? Where did you shop for the plants ? I am really at a standstill here in Opelika...any suggestions would be most appreciated. I want to SEE your pics !!! Hurry...Caroline

Caroline, I ordered the dirt from Froggy Bottom here in Montgomery. I was very pleased with the dirt. It had lots of organic stuff in it like mushroom compost and finely shredded bark.

I ordered plants from everywhere, ebay, bluestone, Santa Rosa. Just where ever I could find what I wanted. I also got some at Southern Homes and Gardens here in Montgomery.

I have planted perennials like Monarda, Hibiscus, Amsonia, Knock out roses, Black-eyed susans, Salvia May Night, Coneflowers, geraniums,and shasta daisy. I divided my daylilies, Lambs ear and iris. I am still waiting on some Monte Negra lilies, Bluebeard and some grasses to be delivered.

I stripped my existing beds and just started over. They were begining to get kind of overgrown.

I will take pictures when I get my mulch spread but most of the plants are very small right now. Not much to look at.

faye

Oh gosh Faye....all your hard work doubled because of the rain, however, I'd take the rain over blistering heat and drought any day especially when you are trying to get new plants established.

Just stick the plants back in their respective spots and cover the roots well then put down your mulch. They should be fine.

You did so much planning for your new and re-do beds that I'm sure they will be beautiful. I'm anxiously awaiting pictures.
Vikki

Thank you for the list of plants Faye. I am sorry for all your hardwork and now having to redo it !! I know Patricia had said Froggy Bottoms is good but I don't think they come this far. I tried 2 different sources in Columbus/Phenix City and was not happy. It smelled like compost and had a great black color but one shipment was full of small rocks. When I called them they gave me a small discount on the next load...I think it should have been free since as time has passed I can see more and more small ricks coming through. Oh well ...live and learn.

Faye, I think your plants will be fine, especially once you get the mulch over the area. I hope you are getting a break from the rain! You gals in the south have sure had it hard this summer, a long drought and now too much rain. Hang in there!

Diana

Oh, how I wish you could send your extra rain to us parched and dry folks here in N.E. Ga!! I'm so anxious to get back to really gardening, instead of just trying to keep things alive.

Vikki it wasn't that we have gotten so much but that it all fell within about 30 minutes. I got about 2" in one 30 minute rain. It just came down so hard.

We still need more to get out of the drought.

I am going to scrape up as much as I can and put back in the beds and add mulch. Hopefully the plants were not damaged too much.

faye, Yes it happened to me 2-3 times this year. I have a new front yard and had recently added fresh top soil. It's in slight slope and yes, the soil got washed all the way to the sidewalk. Rocks don't help much because the water simply worked around and underneath it creating gauges in the soft soil. This and even pushed some rocks off. I had to buy more earth to replace those that were lost.

I had to do some preventive meassures and found that mulch didn't work as well. It too got washed off since the soil beneath it is soft and water will always follow the path of least resistance. So I took black cottony landscape fabric (the type that will decompose over time) and covered the affected areas and pegged the cloth in place. Second. I made the bed uneven - to slow down the flow of water, by making litte ditches or canals. Last, I used a lot of annuals with fibrous roots and something that grows fast and deep - like sunflowers, cosmos, corianders. Anything that grew fast. I had several young perennials but these weren't enough to stall the water flow. As well, I started to groundcover the areas with creeping thyme and oregano. These help to grab onto the soil. Then when it came to start removing the annuals, I simply cut off the tops leaving the root system in place. So far this has been very successful - enough that the perennials have grown larger and are now able to soften the strong water flow.

Ianna

Ianna,
Thanks for the advice. It also makes me feel better that someone else has suffered the same disapointment. I have ordered some groundcovers like creeping jenny and lamium that should help when they get going good.

faye