Schoolhouse, why would you skim off the sod? It's the best dirt on the lot! Just dig it in and let it decay. The old English gardeners used to pile sod up and let it decay for six months, then use it for premium potting soil. If spacewaya skims the sod off, he/she has nothing left but silly putty! Aulani, the gypsum treatment only works well on soils that are saline (salty). It's questionable everywhere else. Especially since we don't know where spacewaya lives, or what the soil conditions are. Spacewaya, why don't you Google "gypsum clay"? There is a lot of information out there. If your soil is already rich in Calcium, you could really screw it up with gypsum. Spacewaya, about your plant problems: you're not telling us anything about your garden. What is your soil mix? How much sun and water are your plants getting? Have you adjusted your pH? Is it really hot or cold where you live? We've got a complete information vacuum! By the looks of things, I would guess that your mix is heavy with bark, and you've got severe Nitrogen starvation, and probably need a good shot of dolomite lime. It might be too late to save this year's crop, but you can learn a lot by experimenting, and then apply what you've learned next year. I've been gardening since the dawn of time, and I have always used sand to lighten clay soil. I've done it successfully in New Jersey, Oregon, California, and Washington state. If you want to learn about it, Google "soil triangle". The only time sand doesn't work is if you have a very unusual kind of clay, of if your soil is nearly pure clay, the kind that you can't dent with a pickax. If you want to try it, buy a 2-cubic-foot bag of coarse sand, spread it over a 2 foot by 2 foot area, and mix it in really well, like with a tiller. If you like the result, you're ready to tackle the whole garden area. I usually cover the entire area with at least 1 inch of sand, and then till. It takes some experimenting to find the right amount. That's why I recommend trying the small area first. Don't be discouraged by all the stories about turning your soil into concrete. Just try it in a small area. You'll find out for yourself if it's going to work. People have been using sand to amend clay for thousands of years, and all of a sudden it's bad. Landscapers use it, artificial soil mixes have it, sandy loam is full of sand, and it's the best gardening soil on Earth, but sand is evil, right? Give me a break.

Transplanting in hot sunny weather is always iffy because the act of transplanting itself greatly stresses the plant, and on top of that the sun is beating it up. Your plant also may have only recently showed up where you bought it and could have been in shadier locale not much before you bought it. I put in some filbert trees really late this year and one wilted back to nothing in a hot spell. It is growing back from the roots now. Scott

Even the wild ones here are doing that. This includes many growing on a riverbank close to me. My London plane still is green though. We have been getting alot of rain lately, about 1 and 1/2 months straight. Having rain at least every 3-4 days. June was our last dry spell, and only 2 weeks in June.

Hi High, Ive been trying to get back here! I still say your plants look perfectly healthy to me! And from everything I read the day I researched aster yellows, I dont see anything about your plants that would make me think they have it. 99.9% of your buds and flowers look just fine, and its possible that the problem you have with those couple flowers was caused by an insect munching on the bud as it was beginning to form or something like that. And it might not even be insectsit might just be nature! Things happen when youre dealing with green growin things that we cant always explain. I always have a few weird looking flowers on my echinacea, but as long as the foliage and the overall plant looks ok, I just figure thats the way of the world. If I were going to recommend one more thing to actually do, Id go back to my original recommendation and say to lay the hose at the base of just one plant, set it on just barely a trickle, and leave it lay there for an hour. Im still guessing that your particular clay is pretty impermeable, and the water just isnt getting down as deep as it needs to. To be really effective, the water needs to be getting into the soil thats below the deepest roots. Once you get the really deep soil wet, itll last a long time and your regular surface watering should be sufficient. By trying it on just one plant, youll be able to compare it to the others that werent "treated," and youll be able to see how much difference there is. But even if you decide to not do that, your plants really do look good! You need to stop worrying and start enjoying them, or youre going to find theyre done blooming and youve never really just stood there and admired them. If the couple distorted blooms prevent you from just enjoying them, cut them off. Its time to start enjoying your success, Skybird :-)