Garden

[ItsAidan]

Hi everyone! I am a complete novice to gardening so please go easy on me. My question is: my house faces south and I'd like to plant hydrangeas in my front garden bed. So would that be considered partial sun or full sun? I do not have a tree in front of my house ( anymore ) so there is no real shade of any sort. I'm so confused and my local HD people don't really know either. Also, can you recommend a nice pink hydrangea that would thrive in this setting? TIA!

[ennui1]

If there's no shade, it's full sun.

Aren't hydrangeas the ones that change colors depending on their soil?

[terrier3]

You need to get the kind of hydrangeas that change color based on the acidity of the soil. You buy fertilizer (either pink or blue bags) and scratch it into the soil around the plant. I like blue hydrangeas, so I add the nutrients about 3x each season.

Some hydrangeas prefer partial shade - but look on the labels - they will state what requirements that particular plant has.

May I suggest "Endless Summer" hydrangeas? They are easy to grow - flowers are on old stems and new ones...they are much easier to grow than older varieties.

[ahoymate]

http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/hydrangea-shrubs-spring.html#

[JustJazzmom]

Terrier I have to disagree with you-- that 'Endless Summer' does well with morning sun and PM shade and it does rebloom on either new or current season's wood or the wood from the previous year-- no worries about possibly removing the flower buds if you prune this in the late fall.

Now if you are set on hydrangeas-- you need Hydrangea paniculata which are sun tolerant (full sun). Some can be shaped as small trees like Paniculata 'Limelight' or a newer hybrid called 'Little Lime'. There is also been around forever-- 'Pee Gee' Hydrangea paniculata.

The flower heads are elongated and not mop heads or lace cap in shape on these particular hydrangeas.

Now ItsAidan, you are in luck-- there are new cultivars of pink flowering hydrangeas that tolerate full sun and are not dependent on the pH of the soil to turn pink or blue. As a general rule-- blue flowering hydrangeas are in acidic soil and need sulfur or aluminum sulfate to become 'bluer' over time. Alkalinic soils have a lot of lime in them and turn the flowers pink or almost red in color depending on the cultivar. If you want pink flowering hydrangeas in acidic soils, the lime has to be applied over the course of every 6 months for a few years and be sure to put the lime at least 4-6 inches deep into the soiluntil the pH is reached (usually a pH of 7 and up counts as an alkalinic soil). You will see the flowers over the years that you are adjusting the pH turn from a blue to a blue/pink to finally a pink. If you start to see the flowers becoming 'bluer' again, get the soil pH tested and adjust accordingly the lime levels. White flowering hydrangeas DO NOT CHANGE color except as they start to fade in the late summer--to the pinky brown colors that they have in late summer.

New cultivars that tolerate sun and are pink in color:

Hydrangea paniculata 'Pinky Winky'

Hydrangea paniculata 'Pink Diamond'

Hydrangea paniculata 'Vanilla Strawberry' as Skylands mentioned above

Look at this online company too for purchasing hydrangeas -- look at the Peegees section for sun loving hydrangeas and the name of the company is Wilkerson Mill Gardens in GA.

[JustJazzmom]

Be sure to amend the bed with compost before planting any plants there-- especially if the area was previously overgrown and old shrubs were removed. Make sure to get a baseline pH level of the soil to see if you need to amend with lime or sulfur (if planting other shrubs that maybe like more alkalinic or acidic conditions to grow.

Evergreens which tolerate full sun (by this I mean a combination of at least 6 hours of sun in that area) prefer acidic soils. If the soil is alkalinic, then you will need to add sulfur or aluminum sulfate to decrease the pH. To put it simply, if the pH is incorrect and you plant an acid loving plant in alkalinic soil, the plant will have difficulty accessing the fertilizer you put down around it, no matter how much fertilizer you add to the soil.

Try and mix it up in that area with shrubs AND perennials. Try to aim at having plants not all bloom at one time of the year-- (like springtime and then have nothing for summer or fall flowering). Look in local nurseries for their sun loving perennials or shrubs. I used in the past bulbs (planted in the fall) for spring color and to add interest to the area, until shrubs started to grow. The most important question you need to ask the nursery person (and I don't mean at the big box stores like Walmart, Home Depot or Lowe's) how tall and how wide upon maturity will the plant I am buying become?

Try to buy at local nurseries because they will have plant products that have already acclimated and hardened off to your home environment. Contact your local extension service for their advice on plant selections too. Their advice is free to the public and you contact your county office after you click on your particular state link.

Plant a tree or two on that Southern exposure, your energy bills will go down over the years because the tree(s) will provide shade in the summer and extra sunlight in the winter months and you will be able to cut down on heating and A/C bills.

Do not buy invasive plants to your particular state. Norway maple is considered invasive in my state of NY and probably elsewhere. Running bamboo is another invasive here and local laws are now outlawing everywhere the sale of running bamboo because of the difficulty of removal once they start spreading their runners all over the place.

[ItsAidan]

Ladies, thank you so very much for your wonderful and thoughtful replies. I'm on the hunt now for limelight and strawberry vanilla variety. I'll check my local nurseries first and if not found there I'll order online. I was just concerned about shipping in warmer weather. We had our front beds cleaned out two years ago and nothing grew in that time except some weak dandelions. We finally got rid of the bulbs! Now, they are ready and so am I. Our tree was cut down by the city, it had been killed by a beetle disease. It always made a mess when it rained. I'm looking at possibly a smaller tree to replace it, but I'm now limited on space since the tree was stumped. Keep any advice coming, I'm loving it!!

[ItsAidan]

Ladies, thank you so very much for your wonderful and thoughtful replies. I'm on the hunt now for limelight and strawberry vanilla variety. I'll check my local nurseries first and if not found there I'll order online. I was just concerned about shipping in warmer weather. We had out front beds cleaned out two years ago and nothing grew in that time except some weak dandelions. We finally got rid of the bulbs! Now, they are ready and so am I. Our tree was cut down by the city, it had been killed by a beetle disease. I always made a mess when it rained. I'm looking at possible a smaller tree to replace it, but I'm now limited on space since the tree was stumped. Keep any advice coming, I'm loving it!!

[JustJazzmom]

Google the term 'wire friendly trees' for lists of trees 20' or less for your property that will not take over the entire area.

Our Extension's wire friendly tree list with Latin and common names.