soil help needed! Pweease

[Ivy123]

This is off subject, for that I'm sorry But,enquiring minds wanna know -from the experts)

I need to prepare a bed..Our soil isnt horrible but its not great either.....Im planting 2 -6' huge hydrengia bushes in front of my porch....All that remains there now is alotta weeds lol So far, all Ive done is container gardening...

Sooo my plan is to>>> 1) pull all weeds 2- Mix in some pottijng soil?? 3) Also mix in one or more of the following> compost tea, chicken manuer, fish and seaweed emulsion, Plant tone, perlite?..Any other suggestions. Or big nono's lol?

After that's done would you suggest spinkling with "Prene" - weed retardant before i put the landscaping fabric mulch down? I really want this to looks great... Thanks you guys, any suggestions would be much appreciated (smile)...Sleep sweet when you get there...

[habitat_gardener]

I'd weed, add lots of compost, put down some cardboard or newspaper to block light from weeds, plant, and add mulch. That's it.

Compost is great because it helps create better soil structure and also contributes to soil fertility. The cardboard or newspaper will help keep weed seeds from germinating, and will eventually break down and feed the soil. Mulch on top of the newspaper or cardboard will help the plants settle in. The one thing that can help every garden is mulch.

If you want your hydrangea flowers to be either blue or pink, you need to know the pH of your soil and then add amendments accordingly. If you're fine with either color (or if they're varieties that are not pH sensitive), I wouldn't add anything else.

I looked at the website for Preen and it looks like it's not recommended unless the plants are established. If you use it when you plant, you may damage or kill the plants. I also would not use landscape fabric -- weeds can grow under and through most kinds, and it gets in the way and is a hassle to work around or get rid of.

[janezee]

+1 That's exactly what I'd do, too.

jane

Depending on the weeds, you might have a very hard job, or relatively easy job. If it is something like Bermuda, you will need weeks or months to get rid of it all. If it's an easy 'pull' plant, weed and then amend the soil. It takes some real work to make a major shift if your soil PH. Our Oak Leaf Hydrangea has always been pink, and this year I put down the amendment to help them turn blue. I applied it heavily twice. It didn't do a thing, as we are still pink. Small shifts would be easier, or I would assume so.

[babice]

Hi! Welcome - we love gardening so don't be afraid to ask, even if it's not about tomatoes. I'm in zone 5 as well so I'll give you my tidbits based on that in con★★★★★★★★ with other folks' opinions.

#1 - if you're going to buy them now but for some reason are not able to plant them until the Fall, make sure you can take care of them thru the Summer heat until you have to plant them

#2 - or if you don't have time now to plant them, you can wait until the Fall to buy them. I went this route last year - had my eye on the "Strawberries & Creme" Hydrangea at my nursery and it went on sale in the Fall because it wasn't flowering any more. I planted it in the Fall, mulched it well and let it over winter. I didn't prune it this Spring since it is this plants first year in my bed.

#3 - having said all this, yes, I agree with the folks about not using the Preen if you're going to plant them right now. You'll just have to put some hard work into getting the weeds up. See if you can borrow or rent a tiller and turn the soil over real good after you weed. Then work in the manure and other stuff you were talking about with the tiller.

#4 - my method would be not to fertilize it really this year but to buy some of that stuff that stimulates root growth. What you want is for the Hydrangea to establish really, really good roots before our zone 5 winter. So, if you do plant it now and want to fertilize it, I'd suggest stopping the fertilizer by the end of August so that it starts focusing on its roots. If it were me, though - I wouldn't begin fertilizing until next spring.

#5 - I would likely do all that has been suggested for the bed (the manure, compost tea and all you mentioned plus the cardboard or newspaper and everything else) so you've got good, well-draining soil from the beginning.

#6 - mulch them well (at least 2 inches) - I recommend pine straw or regular straw for Hydrangeas

After you spend all your hard work and sweat getting out the weeds, amending the soil and then planting the hydrangea, you'll be all set. Leave it be until next Spring. I would not recommend pruning them the first 12 months, not even next spring. I would personally let them get going before I'd stress them by pruning them. Just my opinions tho!! Good luck!

[Ivy123]

Thank you all for the advise...We've just got around to working in the hydrengea bed today... After pulling weeds all morning (ugh lol) I wasnt sure what to do next ( only that the preen was a no no from looking it up online)...
Bummer about the landscaping fabric ( bought the good stuff too).. I had thought about the newspaper so I was on the right track...

Those strawberries and cream hydrangeas are the exact ones I bought too babice lol....The pots are pretty small I don't know how well it would go trying to keep them going in them until fall...At least not without a transplant..I'll have to think about it while I go buy a newspaper and some root stimulator, which is probably the ONLY thing I haven't bought this year lol..Thanks again (smile)

[babice]

Originally Posted by Ivy123

Those strawberries and cream hydrangeas are the exact ones I bought too babice lol....

LOL! Great minds think alike! I was thinking about my advice and realized they recommend planting things like this either early summer or early Fall. I guess I tend to wait until Fall because stuff goes on sale at that point! If I were in your shoes and bought them now I'd likely rather get them planted than trying to keep them going in their pots thru the summer. I think I'd have a hard time waiting! Water 'em real good at planting and use that Root Stimulator. If you do any fertilizing, stop by end of August. They need the Fall to begin preparing to go dormant for the winter and you want them to focus on growing some good roots before the first freeze. Be sure you've got them good and mulched both to survive the heat and then to be ready for the winter.

Don't know why you can't use the landscape fabric, btw. Musta missed where someone recommended against it? I guess we all have our methods. I might use it before you mulch if I were in your shoes. More hard work but worth it in the long run!