What kind of fertilizer should i use , my soil is hard & dry ny flowers don't do very well?

my flowers don't do so well, Just need to know the best fertilizer to use to help the soil....... i love in Pennsylvania..

What kind of fertilizer should i use , my soil is hard %26amp; dry ny flowers don't do very well?
break the soil up and add some peat moss and a bag of mushroom manure...the moss will help the soil retain water
Reply:If your soil is hard and dry you might not need fertilizer, but some organic matter instead (which will add nutrients at the same time) most garden or home stores sell bags of "humus" (decaying plant matter). The next best thing will be "peat moss" and then "top soil". The peat moss is also humus but only one type of type of plant matter. The top soil will have a fair amount of humus in it but also some plain old dirt...which you seem to have plenty of.
Reply:Peat moss (which is not a fertilizer) and dehydrated manure or compost. If possible, till this in deeply (4 to 6 inches).





Greensand is also useful, but it seems expensive.





Regular sand can sometimes help, but if you have clayey soil and simply add sand, you often wind up with a worse mixture that gets almost like concrete.





I would say of all of the above, based on your description of your situation, adding some peat moss will definitely help and is the first thing you should do. Peat moss is not a fertilizer, and plants will not grow in plain peat moss, but it does condition the soil, aerates it, and improves its water capacity.





Finally, when the above is done, you can mix in some Espoma plant tone, which is an organic fertilizer.

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