Stop using the miracle grow! Fertilize twice a year only! You have weak growth, now susceptible to pest attack as it is weak and easy prey. Huge mistake! Newly planted trees should not be fertilized until the 2nd year. Or give a super light dose in the spring. Granular like tree tone should be used. Synthetic fertilizers like miracle grow are great for potted culture, but in ground plants organic is a better method. Even in potted culture one should never give full strength, about 1/2 to 1/4 dose every watering, depending on how often you water. Organic in ground is better because it slowly releases as bacteria make nutrients available, and doesn't over feed the plant. Your plants BTW need full sun, like all day. Some of the discoloration could be from lack of sun. But feeding it every other week, will weaken the plants too. You don't even have to fertilize trees, but if you want to, fertilize in the spring before bud break. And in the fall after leaf fall. Light amount of organic granules only. Spread under the mulch. Usually one cup for every inch of diameter. If less than one inch, one cup, around the drip zone. See what directions say on Tree Tone or whatever "tree" fertilizer you choose. Tree fertilizer only! This post was edited by Drew51 on Mon, Sep 30, 13 at 23:34

Fertilizing a perennial when it's looking stressed-out is normally not recommended since the plant is distressed for a reason that could be unrelated to what fertilizer may help correct. There may be a number of other reasons the plant appears to be suffering that are unrelated to soil conditions. Healthy soil + the appropriate amount of sun/shade/water generally are more important than fertilizer. I don't fertilize my established perennial beds. The perennials I grow are sited in their optimal growing locations and for the most part allowed to thrive on their own. All my astilbes are situated in either full or part shade and allowed to pretty much survive as best they can given the amount of rain that falls in any given season. Some years they fry, other years they thrive, but they always survive to return the following season. At least in my zone, they appear to be virtually indestructible. One final observation--all my astilbes have grown to barely half their usual size this season, along with my bleeding hearts, while my normally-medium-sized hostas are double their usual size. It's been my experience that gardening is consistently not consistent from one year to the next.

Wow, it's a small world (or internet in this case). I don't keep up with the conifer forum as well as I do some of the other forums, so I didn't realize this thread was a spin off of another one, but it's still a good idea to have the link to the above article as a reference for any future searches. I agree with Ken, that frequent replanting would go a long way towards solving the issues relating to soil decomposition, except for four things. First, even if you change your soil every other year, most soils will still have some drainage deterioration towards the end of the two year period. Second, if you use your old soil and mix it back in as many people do, that has the potential to cause problems. Third, it's good for everyone to understand how drainage works so that they are better able to decide what ingredients are best for particular plants or circumstances. Different species have different moisture and drainage requirements, and different circumstances (climate, amount of supplemental watering available, etc) require adjustment. Fourth, and maybe most importantly, many people (we know who we are) won't replant frequently enough even though this would be best. As for drainage, as it applies to container culture, being vastly different from drainage, as it applies to in-ground plantings, I'm not so sure. The physics is the same! Only the variable, or circumstances, change. A true understanding of one is a true understanding of both.

M M The soil I see doesn't look well draining. But I am looking at photos only. Unfortunately, bagged soil sold as specially blended for cacti and succulents is often not as well draining as it should be. Few specks of perlite will not do anything. I do not use soil, but many ppl do and they mix in at least 50% of coarse perlite, and often even more. Here is photo of the mix I use:You don't need to use same mix, but make sure one you use - for all succulents - drains fast and well. I have only few haworthias and gasterias. They are all - as are all of my succulents - potted in very gritty mix (in my case without any soil). Haworthias get dark colors if in full sun for many hours, and I keep them in spot that gets sun until about noon. Haws with more 'juicy' leaves like yours burn even easier. But any succulents need to be acclimatized to outdoors sun, that is much stronger than sunlight thru the typical window. Few of the haws and gasterias I have: I don't have any really fancy haworthias - few ppl here grow them and posted many photos.HERE IS current thread (#8) - if you look thru it, you'll see the mix used. And great looking haws :) You should keep them on the balcony - outside is better than indoors. Perhaps create some shading by putting taller plants in front - it will create dappled or partial shade that would be probably much better for haws.