More often than not when I see an area of the garden that is under-performing, or one plant, in a long row of plants limping along, I discover it's a water issue. Case in point, my Solidago. They are quite impressive and it's lovely to see them flush with yellow blooms, but one was so puny and sad looking. Then I watched as the rains came and all the water from the sidewalk flowed into one area of the garden. Voila! As a quick experiment I dug a trench along the walk and soon the soil was able to release some of the water and the plants perked up. This also solved the mystery of the Rudbeckia Maxima and Russian Sage that were most displeased with their location. Watching where the water ran off the generous patio space to one area of the garden solved the mystery of the underperforming plants once again.