Baytree Garden Centre’s advice for your Hydrangeas

This week’s Out in the Garden column from Baytree Garden Centre’s Mark Cox features some definitely-not-Pointless tips for your Hydrangeas.

It was early evening on Wednesday when I conducted my weekly telephone conversation with my mum. We covered all of our usual topics which included the weather, how the family were and AOG – any other gossip.

I could hear in mum’s voice that we were nearing the end of the call because it was ten past five and the love of my mum’s life Alexander Armstrong was just about to host another episode of Pointless. I thought for a while about keeping the conversation going just to raise her stress levels.

However, rather than spoil her enjoyment of her Alex – and being the good son that I am - I was happy to end the call, so I said my goodnights and hung up. To my surprise, within two minutes of ending the call an email alert popped up onto my smart phone (yes smart phone, I don’t know how to use it but it looks good, I’m down with the youth!).

A_Armstrong@bbd.co.uk was asking me to suggest a climbing plant for a north facing wall which was visible from his kitchen window. It couldn’t be Alex could it? And, if it was, what would I tell my mum? I excitedly opened the email, was it multiple choices, and had the producers of Pointless added a new email a friend round? Well it turns out no; it was from Mr Andrew Armstrong who lives along Queensgate in Spalding.

I scratched my head for a bit because without knowing what type of soil he had I could only base my recommendation from a handful of plants.

Anyhow, since I was put on the spot I suggested that if it were me and my garden I’d plant Hydrangea Petiolaris, it’s a great climber and during the summer it’s covered in beautiful delicate white flowers. As summer turns to autumn the flowers will fall and the leaves will turn butter yellow. As it’s a deciduous plant it will lose its leaves in the winter. However it is fully hardy and will return again in the spring.

To plant you’ll need to dig a hole wider than the pot that the plant has come in and make sure the hole is close to the wall you wish to grow it up against. The term used by many gardeners is “showing it the wall”. When planting your Hydrangea, angle the plant so that much of the foliage and stem is in contact with the wall. You don’t want to squash the plant; you just want it nestled in like when you lay down on a really soft bed.

The gently rubbing of the plant against the wall caused by the wind etc. will stimulate aerial roots to form on the stems and these will then anchor the plant to the wall as it grows.

A climbing Hydrangea such as Petiolaris will do well in in most soil types, including alkaline and acidic soils however in a moist well-drained soil is where they are at their happiest. You don’t really want the roots to dry out on this one nor do you want it sat in water for months on end. So during particularly warm or dry spells just give it a drink every now and then.

Next spring mulch around the base of the plant with some well-rotted farm yard manure mixed with a little compost. This will set it up for the new growing season.

So there you have it I can confirm I am not as pointless as you all think!