sheet mulching/sad plant help!

Hi Everyone,

I sheet mulched my backyard in the fall and my front yard about 3 months ago. I did it very simply; a layer of cardboard, a layer of straw, a layer of leaves, and a top layer of compost. This has always worked for me in the past and I have 3 other places in my yard that were done in this way in previous years. I live in Central VA and the weather has been wet to say the least and cooler than normal. I'm also in Zone 7. I transplanted basils in the front yard late April as well as direct seeded just in case. Because of tons of rain and no sun, there hasn't been much growth (or no growth) but I am also suspecting something is up with my soil. My basil leaves are a yellow tint instead of green. It's not just the basils, either. My radishes, sunflowers, strawflowers, and other plants are exhibiting the same thing in different beds. I'm growing for market and kind of stressing that I seriously messed up when sheet mulching. Like lots of sheet mulching situations, I am dealing with pressure from ants and slugs so I've been treating with diatomaceous earth when it's dry enough.

Does anyone have any guidance they can offer? I'm hoping I can turn this around and have happy plants but I'm sort of scratching my head. Thank you!

Amanda

Is the soil very soggy? Could be the plants are waterlogged. If so, one thing you might try is lifting the soil with a broad fork to aerate it, and help it dry out.