New Endless Summers with a few ?'s

[seaellare]

Hello - great forum , I had SO many questions before reading through here!! I'm left with just a few unanswered ones, so here goes...

I have 7 endless summers that were purchased at my local Lowe's, 1 gal containers. I planted them along the side of my home, they get shade until about 10am, sun until about 2pm, shade in the afternoon/evening. I've had them for a few weeks. I'm in Western SC, zone 7.

My first problem is I'm wondering if I planted them too close together - 3' apart. I read somewhere that 3' apart is a pretty good spacing, especially if you want them as a sort of hedge. Is that correct? If they should be more spaced out, should I wait until next spring to do it?

My next question is about watering them - I have gone out about 10am every day and watered them, because they have started wilting by then. They perk up nicely after that, but I'm wondering if, by letting them wilt a little, am I doing damage to them?

As for fertilizing - they are planted in miracle gro soil around what was in the pot with them. Do I need to further fertilize them?

They are about 2' tall now, one has a bloom and looks ready to flower, the others are just leafing, looking really nice. Should they have flowered by now? I'm not too worried about it, since they are young and who knows how they were treated before I bought them...

Thanks for all of your help

Christine

[decam0]

Hi
It might be better for the plant if you water it in the evenings when it's a bit cooler. That way the water isn't evaporating in the heat, and the plant can take the moisture up overnight ready for the next day.
Just make sure that you give them a good soaking when you water them.
If you water little and often, the roots will come to the surface looking for moisture and therefore dry out more quickly. You need to encourage the roots go deep, searching for moisture. They'll then go longer before wilting.

[FairyDust]

I agree with the watering at night. I planed a 2ft tall one also this spring and we have sandy soil here, I did amend it when I put it in, but it still dries out. So every evening or every other evening depending on the heat and how it looks I go out and water it. The mulch will still be wet in the morning, so that means its definitely getting all night to drink up the water and rehydrate. thats antoher thing, if you haven't done so, I'd put a 2 inche layer of mulch around them. It helps keep in the moisture longer for them.

[seaellare]

Thanks!! I will water in the evening, after the sun goes down. I thought that I read somewhere that watering at night can cause root rot (maybe that was just container growing?), but I guess these guys are so thirsty, they'll drink it all up! I have started, too, using the hose turned very low and just soaking the ground for a few minutes per plant rather than wetting the leaves down.

I have mulched around them - over landscape fabric (my pet peeve is weeds, I still go out and find some here and there!!), there is a good 2" of mulch - pine bark mulch if I remember right.

I have so many other ideas of things to plant, and (knock on wood) what I've done so far is all still alive so I'm getting the confidence to plant more next spring!!! It seems like every time I see flowers for sale, I think of a place where they would fit in!

Hope everyone has/had a Happy 4th of July

[seaellare]

UGH - For the last few days, I have been watering my new hydrangeas each night, and this evening, when I went out to water them, I found mushrooms growing around a few of them!!!

Should I be worried that I'm watering them too much? The plants themselves look fine, healthy, haven't wilted. One has a bloom, but I don't expect much this year.

They are planted in a bed of clay - I dug big holes where they are planted and filled in with miracle gro soil. I used landscape fabric, and then covered it with about 2" of pine bark mulch. I left an area of about a 6" circle around the plant base free of mulch, and in that area is where the mushrooms were coming up. I pulled them up, but I don't know if they could do any damage or be a sign of any damage...

Thanks for any help!!
Christine

[FairyDust]

I don't think there is anything to worry about with the mushrooms, they are probably growing there because its a spot that stays moist longer than anywhere else. I'd just pull them up as they come up. If the Hydrangea is looking healthy then I wouldn't be concerned.