Hydrangea What soil?
 

Hi all,

I am new here and fairly new to gardening.

I wonder if anyone can tell me what compost to use for the beautiful
Hydrangea I bought from Lidl's this morning. I plan to put into a
large half barrel.

I have not had much success with Hydrangea before.

--
Evelyn

www.ushad.co.uk
My aim in life is to be as good as my dogs think I am.

Hydrangea What soil?
 

I wonder if anyone can tell me what compost to use for the beautiful
Hydrangea I bought from Lidl's this morning.

Anything well drained should do. Much as I hate Hydrangeas myself, they do
seem pretty robust.

Oh, what colour flowers do you want?

Hydrangeas are like litmus paper in reverse - Acid soil = blue flowers,
alkali soil = pink flowers, neutral soil = white/cream flowers. Although
our solitary Hydrangea is pink despite neautral soil.

Al.

Hydrangea What soil?
 

On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:52:58 +0100, Evelyn Usher wrote:


I wonder if anyone can tell me what compost to use for the beautiful
Hydrangea I bought from Lidl's this morning. I plan to put into a large
half barrel.


What colour do you want it to be?

Hydrangea What soil?
 

Well they were so beautiful,



I bought three one white one blue and one lilac. Can I not plant two
of them in the same barrel then?

--
Evelyn

www.ushad.co.uk
My aim in life is to be as good as my dogs think I am.

Hi, Evelyn, Down here in Cornwall we grow lots of Hydrangeas very successfully, you don't say what type or colour it is but if you want blue flowers, then add alluminium sulphate to the soil, this can also be done by burying anything alluminium in the soil in the tub, a very good source is to add lots of alluminium roofing felt nails, which you can buy very cheaply. If you want bright pink flowers then make the soil alkaline, this can be done by adding calcium in any form, ie. beach sand, egg shells, cushed oyster shell,
limestone chippings etc. Also remember that if you prune in the winter, you will be removing the flowers for the comming year as they are already present in the terminal buds, the best way to prune is to remove 1/5th of the bush down to six inches (so in effect the whole bush is pruned every 5 years)
Best wishes Lannerman.

Hydrangea What soil?
 

I forget to mention I have a pink lilac and blue one to plant.

--
Evelyn

www.ushad.co.uk
My aim in life is to be as good as my dogs think I am.

Hydrangea What soil?
 

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
| On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:52:58 +0100, Evelyn Usher
| wrote:
|
| Hi all,
|
| I am new here and fairly new to gardening.
|
| I wonder if anyone can tell me what compost to use for the beautiful
| Hydrangea I bought from Lidl's this morning. I plan to put into a
| large half barrel.
|
| I have not had much success with Hydrangea before.
|
| In addition to what has already been said, they like to be kept well
| watered. And if you ever get them big enough to need pruning, remember
| that they flower on old wood, so if you cut them right down in autumn
| or spring, you won't get any flowers that year. The trick is to cut
| back between a third and a half of the number of branches, leaving the
| remainder to flower before removing them later in the year.

I'm not sure that's correct. I say that because I had no idea that you
shouldn't prune them hard and that is exactly what I did in the spring, very
hard down to about 8 inches. Every single bush is loaded with flower buds
on every stem and it looks like I'll be getting more flowers than I ever
have.

Hydrangea What soil?
 

Thanks Chris,

I am going to plant them this morning and I shall take your advice.

--
Evelyn

www.ushad.co.uk
My aim in life is to be as good as my dogs think I am.

Hydrangea What soil?
 

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:31:08 +0100, "Angela" wrote:
"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
. ..
| On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:52:58 +0100, Evelyn Usher
| wrote:
|
| Hi all,
|
| I am new here and fairly new to gardening.
|
| I wonder if anyone can tell me what compost to use for the beautiful
| Hydrangea I bought from Lidl's this morning. I plan to put into a
| large half barrel.
|
| I have not had much success with Hydrangea before.
|
| In addition to what has already been said, they like to be kept well
| watered. And if you ever get them big enough to need pruning, remember
| that they flower on old wood, so if you cut them right down in autumn
| or spring, you won't get any flowers that year. The trick is to cut
| back between a third and a half of the number of branches, leaving the
| remainder to flower before removing them later in the year.

I'm not sure that's correct. I say that because I had no idea that you
shouldn't prune them hard and that is exactly what I did in the spring,
very
hard down to about 8 inches. Every single bush is loaded with flower buds
on every stem and it looks like I'll be getting more flowers than I ever
have.


It's my experience, and the advice generally given on this NG. They
flower on old wood, although I can't explain your experience!

--
Chris
Gardening in West Cornwall overlooking the sea.
Mild, but very exposed to salt gales
E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net


Oddly enough, I have had Angela's experience with Hydrangea Mme. E.
Mouliere. Although I know the rules, I cut this plant back hard because I
needed to move it. It stayed where it was (as it happens), but flowered
better than I'd previously known it, albeit a few weeks later than usual. A
very pleasant surprise.

Spider