Calling Packrat and Monnie - Gardening advice needed

[Calliecake]

Packrat and Monnie,

I know you both like to garden so I'm hoping you may have some words of wisdom. Do you by any chance have any hydrangea plants in your yards? If so do they do well in wet areas? My neighbors have a sprinkler system and for some reason the ground is always very wet on their side of the yard. We have one as well but I have really dialed it back on their side and noticed it made no difference. I want to plant a large area with hydrangea plants and am worried about ripping out my rose knockouts if the hydrangea plants won't do well in this space. If they can't tolerate a lot of water I will just leave the roses where the are. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Monnie, I'm not sure if you grow more vegetables than flowers.

 

[packrat]

Ooo I feel so speshul getting called out-I don't think that's ever happened before!

What zone are you in Callie? We don't have any hydrangeas in our yard. Different types may do better than others depending on what your weather is like. Is the ground where they will go more saturated b/c of the neighbors?

 

[packrat]

Might be some help here? http://www.waysidegardens.com/wg-hydrangea-guide/a/324/

ETA well lookee here, a whole website devoted! http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/

ETA again. the faq's part has some good stuff http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/planting.html

 

[Calliecake]

Thank you so much for replying Packrat. I consider you the expert gardner. We live in a suburb Chicago. The neighbors have had a sprinkler system for years and never used it until last year. I turned ours off on his side of the yard because the ground is so saturated. We have never had a problem like this in the past so I'm pretty sure the problem is on their end. I just don't want to take out the roses if the hydrangas won't do well in this spot. I'm off to read what you attached. Thank you so much for your reply!

 

[packrat]

Aw thanks Callie! If the knockouts are doing ok in that spot I would be hesitant to move them and put hydrangeas in. If the ground is too wet I would worry about them.

 

[monarch64]

Hi Calliecake--I have never tried growing hydrangeas! I grow mostly edibles and annual flowers. I have been trying to add perennials here and there the past couple of years, but our house was landscaped nicely when we bought it and I haven't made many changes/additions.

Thank you for thinking of me. Packie is definitely a plant expert. I know a lot of people in our local Hosta/Daylily society would LOVE to tour her gardens. Amazing!

Have you considered putting in a water garden on that side? Might as well take advantage of their very generous "help."

 

[House Cat]

Knock outs are a nightmare to remove permanently. If they are truly thriving, this tells me they are getting too much sun for most hydrangeas. There are a few hydrangeas that will tolerate sun better, they are in the Paniculata family. Limelight is a very popular variety that tolerates sun and when it is planted in a hedge, it is truly breathtaking.

Hydrangeas are very thirsty except for the Oakleaf varieties. But nothing likes sopping wet feet except for bog plants. So when you say the ground is saturated, do you mean it is wet or do you mean that things are withering away and dying with brown roots? When you step on it, does water come up around your feet?

Finally, if you REALLY want expert advice on which hydrangea will be best for your site, go to the gardenweb website. They have a website dedicated to hydrangeas with people there who know as much about hydrangeas as people here know about diamonds. They are fantastic!

Limelight Hydrangea example, alone and in hedge form
http://www.theimpatientgardener.com/2011/03/another-hydrangea-im-losing-my-marbles.html

 

[Calliecake]

Monnie and House Cat, Thank you so much for your responses. The rose knockout are doing very well there so I will probably just leave them. I just have a bug to plant hydrangas. I love them and had this bright idea that I would rip out the rose knockouts and replace them with hydrangas. I thought I would plant small boxwoods in front of the hydrangas. It sounded great until I started figuring out how many plants and boxwoods I would need. It will be very costly and most of the backyard has full sun. I think I'm going to forget about this idea. My husband also looked at me like I had three heads when I told I wanted to take out all the rose knockouts.

House Cat, Thank you so much for telling me about the gardening website.