Green fingers August 9, 2007
In spite of battling with Finn for most of the day yesterday I managed to transplant my four hydrangeas. Two were in the garden in a spot where they get too much sun in summer and two were in pots under the pergola. Now they’re all along the fence on either side of the cubby house where they are in shade pretty much all day in winter and for a lot of the day in summer.
This is make or break for the plants. I’ve had them for years, in pots and in different spots in the ground and they’ve never done particularly well. Hydrangeas are supposed to be tough, but they seem to be a plant that I just don’t have a knack for growing. My particular brand of benign neglect doesn’t work for them. If they don’t thrive after this latest move then they’ll be going in the bin.
When I was planting them I was struck by how heavy and wet the soil was. This is a bit of a novelty. I’m used to our soil being bone dry and rock hard below the surface. We’ve obviously had enough rain to finally soak right through the clay. For the first time in ages I was a bit worried that the ground might be too wet for the hydrangeas, rather than being concerned about how I was going to keep them wet enough to survive.
Hoorah for the rain.
The hydrangeas we grow over here do just fine with all the rain we get, so the nice wet soil may be just the ticket to get them transplanted nicely.