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Landscape Design Shrubs Hydrangeas

Limelight Hydrangea Mystery

last year

Several years ago we planted about 14 limelight hydrangea bushes on our south side fence to attempt to create a privacy screen. After several summers, we have noticed a divergence in how well the bushes are doing depending on where they were planted (see pictures below.)

For the bushes closer to our house, they have done well but as the bushes go farther away down the fence line near a large maple tree, their growth has been significantly stunted. Last summer, we started to majorly notice the difference between the plants and cut away some branches of the maple to see if they were getting less light and that clearing the coverage could possibly help.

Any input on other factors that may be impacting the growth between two sets of bushes would be appreciated. Is there anything we can do to try to help the slow growers get caught up (like fertilizer)? Should we be testing the soil between the two to see if there is an issue with the soil specifically in that area? We are in a 4b heartiness zone.

Thanks in advance for your input!

Featured Answer

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

last year

Maple roots can be very widespread and aggressive. Chances are they are stealing the lion's share of soil moisture and nutrients from the hydrangeas in their proximity. That could certainly account for the less vigorous growth.

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Comments (8)

laceyvail 6A, WV
last year
You'll eliminate a lot of ongoing work if you simply mulch the entire bed and eliminate the grass. entirely.
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IPM - Integrated Pest Management - is a practice all gardeners should follow. Its primary tenet is to control plant pests by the least ecologically disruptive method first, only resorting to stronger control methods like broad spectrum pesticides as a last resort. Following the best cultural requirements for the plant in question is always the first step - like making sure plant has correct light exposure, decent soil conditions and adequate water during hot or dry periods. Next is picking off insects by hand or using water as a pest control method - much more effective than one would imagine for a number of issues, including controlling spider mites. And it does not need to be high pressure water. Spider mites are highly adverse to damp conditions and high humidity and thrive when conditions are hot and dry. Just spritzing down the plants on a daily basis will make the environment inhospitable and the problem should disappear. Resort to a manufactured pesticide only if nothing else works.
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i cant make much out of the first pic ... regardless.. the bottom line is that with no insult to the root mass .. there is no reason it wont rebud and do well next year ... too many peeps top their plants .. or overshear them.. with little or no long term issues ... in this case.. god took care of it for you .... so be it ... buy yourself a good pair of pruning shears.. if you dont have any.. as it might take you a few years to prune it back into a nice shape ... i suspect this thing might go a bit bat s crazy this year.. and you will want to reduce some if not many new branches towards training it into its new form ... dont worry about it . if you already have the hand shears... trim up all the wicked wounds ... cutting just below a spot where a bid will trigger next season ... imo.. wounds are ALWAYS removed on shrubs .... if possible to do it without killing the thing ... imo.. it will be fine next year ... ken ps: im surprised how fast the snow reduced down to what we see in the pic ...
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cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky)
last year
It's lack of water- trees suck it all up.

Remove the grass underneath them and mulch heavily- it will help retain what moisture there is.

But those farthest from the house simply need more supplemental watering so get out that long hose and get busy.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
that maple is twice as big underground.. as you see above ground.. its a super competitor for water ...

i will load a pic below for you to see such ...

if you fert the plants.. the tree will steal it all .. and grow even more roots .... so dont waste money on that ...

just increase water to the plants... mulch as noted above ... and get over it... nobody beats a maple.. unless you hire someone to remove it ...

ken

bet a lot of you would like sand like that to garden in.. lol ...
endlesswinter
Original Author
last year
Thanks all for the quick input here. Seems to be a consensus that more water is needed. Does anyone have any recommendations for how to eliminate that much grass efficiently?

Should I rent a sod cutter and try to remove the grass? I would be somewhat concerned though on possibly damaging the roots

Thanks!
diggerdee zone 6 CT
last year
I might just build a bed around the hydrangeas using cardboard with mulch on top. It will eventually smother the grass. Might take some time but I think that would be least labor-intensive. You could take a pick-axe and with the flat blade skim the grass off the top. You would have to be careful close to the shrubs to prevent going too deeply and damagint the roots. Even if you remove the grass I would still put down cardboard (or a thick layer of newspapers - but who reads newspapers anymore, sadly?) and put the mulch on top of that.

:)

Dee

P.S. Looking at your pictures again I might bring that mulched area onto the other side of the fence. I'm not sure just bringing it to the fence would do as much good as extending it a bit further.
endlesswinter
Original Author
last year
Ok - this will be the plan. Thanks Dee!
Mike
last year
As others have said, maples suck up a lot of water. You have to accept that plantings near mature maples will be very slow going, and could take years longer to get going. The only solution would be to water those shrubs more aggressively. Also, some shrubs and perennials do better in harsh environments, like that of a maple root system, than others. I'm dealing with the same thing, with some different shrubs planted around 50 year old maples. Patience is really all you can do.
endlesswinter thanked Mike

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