wrote in message
oups.com...
My yard, which was never in great form, is a complete disaster with
this extended dry hot weather. I'm in Nashville, TN, Zone 7, clay
soil with cruddy subdivision fill dirt over it, and the other areas
limestone with cruddy subdivision fill dirt. Azaleas do poorly for
me, even when not stressed by so much dry, and I've given up on most
of my azaleas.

Azaleas are not native to TN. They do much better near the coast east. They
need a damp acid soil to thrive. TN has a dry alkaline soil. It takes a
lot of work to keep them alive in TN. They're not worth the effort and
expense.

For a partly shady area, (foundation planting), who's
got suggestions for something that is more likely to survive abuse,
like something a bit more native?

I have various hollies doing well in partial shade. If your soil is really
poor you'll have to amend it if you want anything to do well.

Next and last question - I have some oakleaf hydrangeas by the side of
the house (even shadier area) that are always abused from lack of
water (much more inconvient location to water), so they are scraggly
and poorly filled out. I want to keep them however, as they look so
nice when doing well. When should I prune them to encourage a bushier
growth? If it started to rain soon, would it be awful to prune them
then, because we will have lots more warm weather to follow?

Are you fertilizing these plants? Soil amendment would also work wonders.
Also, use soaker hoses.


Thanks.