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Post by Cherry on Aug 6, 2013 7:53:57 GMT
I pruned this Hydrangea last season following advice from Fractal, and it did so much good that the four flowers are huge, but they have weighed down every part of the plant and now that we have had rain, it is completely flat. The branches are not strong enough to hold up the flowers. This could be better in a pot where it would display a weeping habit. Has anyone else had this bother? My soil seems rich and on the slightly acid side of neutral where this is planted.
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Post by peony on Aug 6, 2013 13:13:52 GMT
I pruned this Hydrangea last season following advice from Fractal, and it did so much good that the four flowers are huge, but they have weighed down every part of the plant and now that we have had rain, it is completely flat. The branches are not strong enough to hold up the flowers. This could be better in a pot where it would display a weeping habit. Has anyone else had this bother? My soil seems rich and on the slightly acid side of neutral where this is planted. I have one Hydrangea paniculata which I keep in a pot so that I can water it with hydrangea colourant to keep the flowers blue. Its been in the pot for several years and has huge flowers. I've put a few canes in the pot so that I can tie the stems to them to give support.
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Post by Cherry on Aug 6, 2013 15:16:39 GMT
Peony my Hydrangeas which are meant to be blue, are blue, and my gardening is so hit and miss, that anything which can go in the soil is better off. I will put canes up then. On a recount, I have five of these large blooms, not four. Not bad for the first year of flowering. It must be two years old. Your Hydrangea sounds lovely.
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Post by sweetpea on Aug 6, 2013 15:50:53 GMT
Odd cherry, I find hydrangeas quite sturdy plants and it is my paeonies which get their blooms so full of rain that they get weighed down very badly. Not sure but maybe a feed or two of Phostrogen would help to beef them up a bit.
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Post by peony on Aug 6, 2013 18:14:02 GMT
Peony my Hydrangeas which are meant to be blue, are blue, and my gardening is so hit and miss, that anything which can go in the soil is better off. I will put canes up then. On a recount, I have five of these large blooms, not four. Not bad for the first year of flowering. It must be two years old. Your Hydrangea sounds lovely. I like the blue ones best Cherry, but those planted in the garden, even if they start off blue, because of my alkaline soil always turn pink in their second year. I love the blue flowers as they fade and turn different shades of purple.
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Post by Fractal on Aug 6, 2013 18:19:16 GMT
Hi Cherry, I think staking your hard pruned Hydrangea's is the best option. When you hard prune, you are effectively treating them like an herbaceous perennial so the stems are less woody. Worth doing for the huge flowers.
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Post by Cherry on Aug 6, 2013 20:22:46 GMT
Fractal, that makes sense now. I have seven stems and five huge flowers. They are rather lovely, so I expect I should use stakes as unobtrusively as I can. Will I hard prune every year? I can't remember when I pruned, but I expect I will know when it is right. I think I will take a photo of it. No sweetpea. I am not often at odds with you, but I think because of the size of the blooms and health of the plant, I would be overfeeding and make the problem worse. Incredible soil here!
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Post by sweetpea on Aug 6, 2013 22:01:34 GMT
Fractal, that makes sense now. I have seven stems and five huge flowers. They are rather lovely, so I expect I should use stakes as unobtrusively as I can. Will I hard prune every year? I can't remember when I pruned, but I expect I will know when it is right. I think I will take a photo of it. No sweetpea. I am not often at odds with you, but I think because of the size of the blooms and health of the plant, I would be overfeeding and make the problem worse. Incredible soil here! or perhaps you are just an incredible grower cherry You can be at odds with me anytime. Its all in the game and you know I never take offence.
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Post by Cherry on Aug 7, 2013 6:07:00 GMT
Flattery will get you everywhere sweetpea. I really am very fortunate with the soil here, and yes, I grow incredible weeds. The nettles are like trees.
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Post by Tel on Aug 7, 2013 6:13:50 GMT
Flattery will get you everywhere sweetpea. I really am very fortunate with the soil here, and yes, I grow incredible weeds. The nettles are like trees. Yes sweetpea I have nettles 3ft tall but Cherry has nettles like trees been there and got stung more than once by them.
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Post by sweetpea on Aug 7, 2013 15:34:28 GMT
Got quite a few nettles here too but some are left to grow and I just keep them under control. The butterflies have to have their nettles.
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Post by Cherry on Aug 7, 2013 16:12:48 GMT
I get rid of as many as possible because I have what amounts to acres of the horrors along the edges of the upper fields and behind the hangar. The butterflies are coming out now, but not as many as past years.
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