We had a small amount of motor oil that was spilled on a portion of our garden. It then rained and spread to a handful of plants. I've removed the plants that have been damaged and can see where the oil moved up to. My question is, is the whole garden ruined? Should I be removing all the plants and removing the soil?
If those are vegetable plants, then yes remove and discard them. You may be able to salvage others. You can use dry kitty litter or check your auto parts store for oil absorbant litter. LIghtly spread that over the area and allow it to absorb as much of the oil as possible. Rake up and remove the litter, dig down and see if the oil has penetrated more deeply. At that point, I would recommend you dig it up, discard and add new non-contaminated soil to the area. Mix the new soil in and around those plants that were affected, that should help them recover.
I have too much phosphorus in my soil, which is depleting the iron. How can I remedy this?
You can try a little nitrogen to balance the phosphorus. You can also plant some blooming annuals in that soil. They need lots of phosphorus to bloom and will help to use up the phosphorus in the soil.
I need to improve the moisture level in my soil. It drys out too fast.
Would suggest the addition of organic material such as compost. This can be purchased if you cannot make your own - also mulching helps hold in moisture with dramatic results.
I am not much of gardener (sad but true). My graden has been barren and soil compacted. I have bought strips of lawn grass. How do I plant them in and prepare the soil? Should I leave the strips intact and just place them or should I loosen them and plant them in the ground? I am going to put compost into the soil first. Please help.
These articles should help: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/lawn-care/lgen/installing-sod-instructions.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/improving-compacted-soil.htm
I put the cart before the horse and planted several (3 dozen) perennials before we planned to bring in topsoil for the groundcover areas. Do I need to lift the plants to be at the same grade as the new topsoil grade? Is there an easier solution?
If you will only be adding an inch or 2 to the area with the topsoil, you can leave the plants in the ground and just fill in around them. If you will be adding more than that, I would recommend that you lift the plants and replant them after the topsoil is down.
Do I need to treat the soil where a vine with sooty canker has been removed before I plant something else?
Because sooty canker is a fungus, we would recommend that you either treat the soil with a fungicide or let the area rest for a year before you plant something else there.
My soil for some reason stores water and I don’t know how to resolve that issue. My most expensive two plants died. When they were taken out, there was puddle of water under the plants. We changed spots and got another two plants. I do not even water them. It has been a month now and it rained a lot. I dug by the plants and again found water under them. If I don’t get the water out those two new expensive plants will die too. Please help resolve this issue.
It sounds like you may have a high water table where you live, which you will not be able to correct. You may want to consider gardening in raised beds. This will allow you to lift the plants out of the waterlogged soil and grow them in well draining soil. Raised beds can be build from rocks or wood and can look very stylish in the landscape.