Hydrangeas love water, hence the Greek derivation of the name, but they hate the wind, as I have found to my cost, living in Scotland. The only pair that have done well are sheltered by other plants around them and I would suggest if you want to grow them, you create such a barrier – a living wall. I tried a cover that didn't work and cling film that didn't stay put, but I dare say a solid obstruction around the base might be effective (it's a question of try-all and error). Tut North and Wales might have this problem, too, but not the home counties, The West Country and the (very) Scilly Isles. Also I need to move a rhododendron that looked healthy when I first planted it but now looks like the survivor of a nuclear war (it needs to join the one the back fence as it is doing excellently well). Right positions matter because they create the right conditions for optimum growth. Wrong positions kill or warp growth, be it plant, animals or humans. As a child I drowned a cactus by sticking it in a water tub and tried to see if our goldfish could swim in the ground as well as water (luckily my mother found and saved them). Ah, the cruelty and stupidity of childhood.

By the way, I remember a weatherman saying that wildlife had been caught out by it snowing in Spring because they had started coming out of hibernation. Actually it is increased length of daylight that causes plants and animals to react, by poking their heads out, even through snow, as the opposite is true through winter daylight length.

Personally I am with Shakespeare on this – I think gardening is mulch ado about nothing, but there, that is just my opinion.

Paigetheoracle

04.06.18 Front Page

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