Re: Hydrangea-reply
- To: <perennials@mallorn.com>
- Subject: Re: Hydrangea-reply
- From: "* T* <m*@clark.net>
- Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 04:16:25 -0400
I'll second what Marilyn said. Lordy! Most of my Hydrangeas are lucky to
get fertilizer ever! A decent soil and mulch (if they're especially lucky)
seem to keep mine happy and blooming, plus, of course, a lot of water when
it's hot and dry.
Besides being unable to remember fertilizer schedules, I have doubts about
fertilizing woody plants a lot unless you know from soil tests that your
soil is badly lacking the nutrients necessary for plant life. Seems to me
that excessive fertilization can create over lush growth that's not
necessarily good for woodies, as well as just polluting ground water if
it's more than they can actually take up in a given time and making the
chemical companies rich and you poorer. Unless my woody plants look like
they could use a pick-me-up, they never get more than the occasional top
dressing with compost - if there is bare ground around them, which there
mostly isn't. I may be missing out on something by not using a lot of
fertilizer, but I've got a garden full of woody plants that have been (with
a few exceptions) growing just fine for years and years under a regime of
intermittent neglect.
So, Neens, save your money and don't fertilize until and unless your plants
look like they need it!
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor: Gardening in Shade
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----------
> From: MARILYN DUBE' <maridube@teleport.com>
> Date: Friday, July 24, 1998 2:59 AM
> Neens, I don't remember the fertilizer content of Miracid (N-P-K), but
the
> ACID will definitely keep your blue Hydrangeas blue. It will also turn
your
> pink, white and red Hydrangeas blue eventually. The 0-10-10 will help
your
> bush to produce more blooms without encouraging the lush green growth
that
> is so attractive to aphids. I've never fertilized my Hydrangeas more
than
> once a year, so every 2 weeks sounds like a LOT of fertilizer to me.
Marilyn
> Marilyn Dube'
> NATURAL DESIGN PLANTS
> Hardy Perennials, Choice Tropicals
> Portland, Oregon, Zone 8b
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