Hydrangea Heaven

Yes, more hydrangeas being planted. A trip to Gerber's yesterday resulted in a Quick Fire hydrangea and another Bobo hydrangea. I really wanted to get a Little Quick Fire, but they didn't have any of those at this point. So I debated whether or not to get the Quick Fire, which grows larger - 6-8 feet in height and width. But there is a spot in the back yard where this could grow nicely and get just as big as it wants. It also gets filtered morning sun and then again another hour or two of filtered afternoon sun. Apparently most hydrangeas can take full sun in this northern climate, unlike those in the south which can only take morning sun and afternoon shade or they will fry.

This shrub has already changed colour for fall and I hope it gets a good few weeks of root growth before the cold weather sets in. I plan on mulching all of these perennials and giving them some extra winter protection as this will be their first winter. 

This is the Bobo hydrangea - how could I resist this one? It is just so pretty. These only get 3 feet tall and wide, so that is a nice shrub size.

I am going to plant the Bobo hydrangea in between the rosa rugosa and the Quick Fire hydrangea. It will get a fair amount of sun in this location and the three shrubs will form a kind of informal hedge between our yard and the new neighbour who will be moving in next door.

Here it is sandwiched between the rosa rugosa and the Quick Fire. 

I plan on getting a garden bench for this spot in the corner. There are some nice stones piled up and a corner fence of old logs and it is a favourite spot of mine to sit for a while.  The hydrangea should grow and make this an even more inviting spot to spend some quiet time.

With each of the shrubs I have been planting, I have dug up the grass, then chopped away the soil from the sod, mixed that with purchased soil from Gerber's (loam, manure and compost mix), and then backfilled the hole with my mixture. It should help the drainage problem.

Now as for the raised beds, which will be the start of a vegetable garden next year. I watched a video on YouTube on making and planting a raised bed in 30 minutes. This assumes that you have all the components on hand which I don't. But it is an interesting concept. After building the beds, you lay cardboard on the ground in the beds. We have plenty of cardboard from our move; all you must do is remove any tape or staples from the cardboard. Better that it isn't heavily printed with ink. This should be a couple of layers thick. The purpose is that the cardboard will suppress the growth of the grass and weeds. The next step is to thoroughly soak the cardboard. Then you sprinkle dry grass clippings over the cardboard. These provide nitrogen. 

Here is a link to the video for this method of making a raised bed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gArx4ZKdc8w

                                 

Cardboard is in the beds, next is the grass layer. Very satisfying to know that you can create soil with these waste products which we normally send to the landfill. They are going to make a different kind of fill here.

Since I just cut the grass this morning, I now have the grass clippings.  After that, you layer manure, then shredded paper, compost, wilted nettles (for phosphorus) and calcified seaweed at the last. I don't have all of these components, but I figure that half is better than none and I can make it up as I go along. So far I have the cardboard, the grass clippings and the manure. So next I will get some compost (as my own compost hasn't materialised yet) and keep layering. This should all work together and become a viable bed next spring. It will certainly be better than planting in the existing soil which is heavy clay and doesn't drain well.