too much nitrogen in the soil

We recently bought a house (an arts and crafts bungalow built in 1910) that
sits on a very small city lot.  The seller put down sod in the entire front
yard (after clearing out all of the ivy and blackberry bushes that his mom
loved and the neighbors hated) and fertilized with a ton of nitrogen.  Last
summer I took out most of the sod for perennial beds, but I noticed that
almost nothing bloomed.  I'm sure its the nitrogen, because all of the
plants are downright huge and very green (the front of the house is mostly
full sun).  I could have won an award for the size of my tomato plants, but
only about 3 tomatoes.

Any suggestions how to 'equalize' the soil?  I would really like to see
some flowers this year, and the herb garden I have planned probably won't
be the same with all of that nitrogen in the soil.  Oh, and I should
probably state that my soil is mostly clay and a bit alkaline.  Not very
good drainage, but it could be a lot worse and I think it shouldn't be too
hard to fix with lots of compost and some gypsum.

Julie Trulson
San Jose, CA (San Francisco bay area)
USDA zone 9, sunset zone 15 (I think)


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