The bold beautiful Hydrangea and what to plant with her.

As national online garden expert for Palmers, I am free to answer your garden questions.

 

Keep any gardening queries coming to the Facebook page called Palmers or their web site www.palmers.co.nz and I will answer in detail all of your queries.  

 

Eden Living is still running in full swing as I work alongside NZ's largest garden retailer.  If you prefer you can contact me directly through my web site www.edenliving.co.nz

Wherever you are in the country you have a Palmers near by and everything I talk about here is available at a store near you. 



I had a lovely trip down nostalgia lane!

Hydrangea

I had such a nice time yesterday visiting a garden centre that swept my memories back to childhood.  As you arrived at the front door of my childhood home (the only home I knew until I left as a young adult), to the right hand side there was a hedge of Hydrangea with it's huge blue ball flower heads in summer that was not unlike my mothers swimming cap of the time.  In my youth, hydrangea always struck me as such an amazing plant with it's strong cane like stalks that my brothers loved to de-leaf and decapitate and run around chasing me with what reminded me of Mr Gudgeons' cane at school.  Thank goodness by the time I was in form 2 (year 9 nowadays) the cane was banned and Mr Gudgeon could only use it as a threat.  

In winter, Mum cut back the Hydrangea hedge and I was always quite disconcerted arriving home to the front door for fear that if I fell off the patio I would be impaled by the fierce looking stalks.  Is this where my love of landscaping and design came from?  I don't know, but it must have had an impact as I have always been concerned with leaf shape, texture and balance of planting.  When visiting as an adult, I realised my mother was not so thoughtless of our safety, as she had a carpet of Helleborus Orientalis that would have broken a fall and also broke the winter bare of the Hydrangea.  

Helleborus Orientalis

The thing I loved about this garden that other than morning sun it was a shaded area that begged for bold colour like the Hydrangea.  

How to keep it that colour

The white flowering Hydrangea can't be manipulated but all other Hydrangea colours can be changed.  

Blue requires Aluminum to be added to the soil and can be purchased from your local garden store.  I have a garden client who is welcomed to her front door with a blush pink and green variety, not unlike the Helleborus flower colours.  This unusual old variety came from her grandmothers house (that I have to get cuttings of next winter).  I will side dress this Hydrangea with garden lime to keep the blush colour.

Hydrangea has a place in every garden.  I am glad to see she is making such a comeback, but it is knowing what to plant with it to create year round interest is what I want to help you with today.

Variation of leaf size and structure



Because Hydrangea is such a show off it is a good idea to let other nearby planting slip in to compliment rather than compete.  Also recognising that Hydrangea will have those lethal looking stalks come winter; planting with leaf structure that looks like this will soften the appearance.  

I love to see Dietes grandiflora  that has a soft Iris like flower in shades of lavender blue and white with long strappy green leaves nestled in beside the Hydrangea.  

Daylily

Dietes grandiflora

To add drama another great choice is the Daylily and with a large colour palette you can fit your choice to contrast or tone in with the colour of your Hydrangea.   

The low growing Hosta with huge leaves love the semi shade where your hydrangea will be.  Being dormant in winter, a bare patch of ground will be left so to soften this space plant a drift of Agapanthus streamline - a dwarf variety with slender glossy green leaves and pale blue flowers.  This is also where Helleborus Orientalis sneaks in and while the Hydrangea and Hosta are resting it is her time to show.  

Hosta

The one thing I didn't like about the Hydrangea garden at home was there was nothing other than the white weatherboards of the house that provided a backdrop in winter.  Having a hedge or a climber I think is the final touch for Hydrangea at your place.  

I love the NZ native Hoheria populnea (Lacebark) that flowers dainty white flowers and has leaves similar in serration as the Helleborus.  

Agapanthus streamline

Lacebark grows tall enough to give privacy, 2.5m - 5m and can be kept trim to hedge or if you have the space can be left to bush as a shrub or small tree.  

Lacebark is a hardy fast growing specimen with a long flowering period and might be just what you need to create an intimate cool space to retreat to after a long day. 

A great place to relax is a well designed garden with Hydrangea

Happy gardening everyone!

Maria Quayle-Guppy

The best snail trap ever!

As national online garden expert for Palmers, I am free to answer your garden questions.

Keep any gardening queries coming to the Facebook page called Palmers or their web site www.palmers.co.nz and I will answer in detail all of your queries.  

Eden Living is still running in full swing as I work alongside NZ's largest garden retailer.  If you prefer you can contact me directly through my web site www.edenliving.co.nz

Wherever you are in the country you have a Palmers near by and everything I talk about here is available at a store near you. 



IT'S FINALLY SPRING!!

Why did it feel like winter was so long but now that it is finally spring it seems time has flown and it was only a short time ago Autumn had just set in.  I can certainly tell things are heating up around my garden and the biggest thing to watch now that the weather is warmer is the slugs and snails.  I made some easy bait traps today that will protect my soil from the chemicals in the bait and provide a dry place for the pests to slither into and feed rather than desiccating my young seedlings.  Just cut both ends off a milk or soda bottle and on the base of the bottle sprinkle your bait and slide this in the 'tunnel' resting like a dish on the plastic. This tricky little tip is also great for keeping the pellets away from the dog too.





In the edible garden

My fruit trees are budding up with blossom and before the tree is in full bloom I will continue to prune and shape the trees to get the most amount of light and air amongst the branches.  Be careful to only do this task when there is no rain on the horizon.  This is essential to reduce disease and like a good hair cut, any brittle and dying branches should go to promote great overall tree health.  Always paint pruning paint available at your local store on to the cuts to protect the tree like a plaster; this action will stop bugs and moisture getting into the new wound.  Before pruning give your tools a good once over sharpen and oil to ensure clean cut.  Use a pruning saw, secateurs, and loppers to complete the task.
This time of year is fun to garden; everything that goes in grows quickly which is so encouraging.  Planting spring onions and lettuce can see you picking from both of these in as little at two weeks.  Home grown food is not only better for you because it is fresh and nutrient packed, it is far tastier harvesting from the garden than being left with a part used bag of lettuce from the grocery store to throw out to the compost at the end of the week.  

The ornamental garden 

 











My clivia and bursting to bloom and give a real tropical look to the garden.  The nice thing about clivia is it grows almost everywhere in NZ.  When planted under a tree (as they like dry shade) they give a vibrant show of colour to a potentially bare patch of the garden.  My camellia with its deep green leaves is covered in rich red flowers and is a welcome show of flower outside my office window.
  
  Top Task For the Garden 

 Mulch!  Keep mulch pouring on as with spring we also get wind that is very drying to your garden.  One of the benefits of mulch is that it keeps the soil moist (along with the weeds at bay, always a plus in my house!)  Mulch that breaks down and feeds the soil is the way to go and only needs topping up once or twice a year.  In Autumn I collected a sack of leaves and added a bit of water and blood and bone and now I have a beautiful rich leaf mulch to add to the gardens.  If you missed out on doing this you can buy leaf mulch from your garden retailer.  Before laying it, I recommend mixing in 25% of compost to the mulch and then applying it around your ornamental and edible garden 10cm thick.  Just be aware of keeping the mulch away from stems of all plants, be it edible, shrubs, annuals and trees.  This will allow air to the base of your plants and prevent rot of the stems.

Enjoy the longer days, in the garden - Yay!

Happy gardening everyone

Maria Quayle-Guppy