To prune or not to prune.

Before I even owned a garden, I knew I wanted hydrangeas there. When my husband and I got married in 2008, we used a lot of cream and lime hydrangeas (both fresh and dried), in the floral arrangements. That day, although I was in madly in love with my husband, I fell head over heels for these beautiful flowers. Before my wedding when I thought of hydrangeas, I pictured the bright pink or electric blue mophead variety, so I was thrilled when our florist talked about using these flowers in gorgeous creamy whites and deep limes, many with small tinges of antique pink.

But of course hydrangeas are usually sun-loving and when I finally got my own garden it was mostly shaded. My yard only has small sections of part shade, some areas you might call part sun, and mostly shade. The only full sun in the entire yard is a tiny bed in the front of the house where I knew I wanted to plant something evergreen.  So for the first year while we worked indoors, I staked out the sun patterns throughout the yard.* To my delight, I found one area in the backyard that received a decent amount of morning sun, most of the year. I was delighted because several varieties of hydrangeas actually favor morning sun.

And that is how two limelight hydrangeas became the first plants I ever planted in my garden.

My new hydrangea dilemna.
Below is a photo of my limelight hydrangeas last May, only 9 months after we planted them.  Below that is a photo one year later, 22 months after we planted them. Now before I found the photograph from a year ago, I was thinking they hadn’t grow much over the last year, so I was pleasantly surprised to see how much they’ve actually grown! In the last two years they’ve also bloomed very well. I’ve only deadheaded them in late fall or early spring (limelight hydrangeas produce blooms on new stems not old wood), and left them alone otherwise. I’m quite happy with the flower production and I realize they still have a lot of growth left in them, but I’m becoming concerned about the shape they are taking. Specifically, towards the top of the shrub there are several new stems shooting upward with no forks on them. Perhaps I’m being picky here, but they are looking a little bit leggy to me. As a result, I started doing some research about pruning limelight hydrangeas and found that there are a variety of methods. I actually found so many different opinions that I’m almost more confused now than when I began. I discovered that some gardeners suggest only cutting spent blooms, others suggest pruning back to leave only two buds on each stem, others recommend only cutting back new stems every year to leave the thicker stronger stems, and then there are even others who say don’t prune it at all, just let it be.

So, who should a newbie gardener listen to? Well, here’s what I decided. First of all since it’s already June, I’m going to leave the hydrangeas alone this season and see how they look when they bloom. Then, depending on their shape with blooms present, I’ll decide if I should take action. If I do decide to prune, my plan is to take a thorough series of photographs of the hydrangeas in full bloom, then use these photographs to determine where to prune in order to encourage the fullness I’m seeking. I will probably use a variety of the suggestions above but ulitmately follow my instincts and respond to my specific plants.

Make sure to check back in late August for an update to see how they look in full bloom!

*Note: I absolutely recommend taking a full year to study and record the light patterns in your garden. I was amazed by the dramatic changes in light that I found each season. Don’t assume that a spot with full sun all afternoon in the fall will have full sun all afternoon in the spring or summer. Also, it’s good to keep in mind that full sun in the summer is much more intense than it is in the spring or fall.

The casualties of vacation.

Summer is almost here! And with summer comes summer vacations (usually). This year, I’m planning a trip with my extended family to some cabins on Trout Lake, which is near Lake George in upstate New York. It should be a great time for a little hiking, grilling and a lot of relaxation. So, why am I looking towards this vacation with a bit of anxiety? It’s my plants, of course.

Last summer when I returned from my vacation, I discovered that several plants, including one of four recently planted spireas, were on the verge of death due to insufficient watering. Although I left detailed watering instructions for a friend of ours, it just wasn’t enough with an unexpected five-day heat wave. This year, I’m trying to figure out ways to prevent a repeat of this misfortune, but it’s not easy.

The first thing that will have changed this year is that I just had a baby. Seems unrelated, right? Well, because my focus has been elsewhere, I haven’t put in any new plants this spring and new plants are at the greatest risk because they just don’t have the root structure of more established plants. However, I do have some transplants from a friend’s garden that I planted last fall and a few of those are still struggling to thrive.

The second thing I’m going to implement is a heat wave back up plan. While it doesn’t seem too inconvenient to ask a friend to stop by a couple times to water a few of the more fragile plants, coming by everyday to water all of the plants is a burden for anyone. So my new plan is simple: ask a few different friends. I’ll have one friend plan to come at least twice to water the plants that are in the most danger of failing, but ask another friend (or two) with a second set of instructions to be my back up in case of extreme weather.

Now, I know what your thinking. This plan is dangerously close to breaking my grandfather’s gardening philosophy that gardening should be fun and enjoyable; stress relieving never stress creating. But I’m adapting the attitude that a little planning and precaution is better than disappointment and regret. Though most of those plants from last summer just completely died, watching that poor little spirea struggling to get back to the size of it’s sister shrubs is my motivation.

Both Spireas were originally the same size and planted at the same time: