First the visual, then the question.
I have a shady bed outside my kitchen window in between a glorious Katsura tree and yet another blasted sweet gum. There is an old lilac and a 25 year old azalea in the bed. I have primula, ferns, bleeding heart, trandescantia, columbine, forget me nots and lilies of the valley growing there also. I allow some violets to grow under the lilac (they ARE the NJ state flower). I had Solomon's Seal, lupine and monkshood before the deer population increased and would fill in with impatiens for more summer color. Nice view while I'm washing dishes. :-)
The lilies of the valley were here when I bought the house 20 years ago. They always did well. They jumped the rock edging I put in and I always had enough to share. I noticed a slight thinning and reduction of flowers for the past 2-3 years. I was just out weeding and found gaps between the formerly dense planting. I have not seen any sick or dying plants, but there are definitely less of them than there used to be. The only guess I can make is that the shallow greedy roots of the sweet gum are robbing them of moisture and nutrients. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas on what may be the cause, and cure, for my failing lilies of the valley?
advice please!
LadyCleo, do you think there might have been some herbicide drift that might have thinned them? Do they show decline first or just not come up?
It's weird they were there for 20 years and all of a sudden they are gone.
Cleo, If the roots of the tree have invaded the lily of the valley, there's probably not too much you can do about it except move them. The heatwave and the lack of water over this summer may have affected them. Usually they are seen as pretty invasive but they do appreciate quite a bit of water. I don't know if they need to be divided as they are rhizomes like cannas and iris. I know that iris sure will get a hole in the middle of them when they haven't been divided enough. Are the patches you have dug up to share in better shape than the ones you have let be?
I'm betting that they need to be divided.
And I grow violets under both my black walnut and my birch trees. Not too much else will grow in those places and they are perfect for them.