Hydrangea Companion Plants

[beth777]

I'm a new homeowner and the area around the pool is all dirt! I have been wanting to plant some stuff, but am new to all of this. I was thinking of planting some Hydrangeas in a 10' x 5' area right behind the pool. What are some plants that I can put with them that will flow and be pretty? I live in Columbus, GA which is below Atlanta so it does get pretty hot here. I went to local nurseries and asked for help, but they basically told me to hire a landscaper. I am on a budget so cheaper plants that are hardy are what I'm looking for. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My eyes and head hurt from searching the web and trying to research and find ideas!

[rainbowgardener]

Your other post you were talking about an area that got a lot of hot afternoon sun. Is the back of the pool area the same? Hydrangeas will burn up and die in hot GA afternoon sun.

[beth777]

It is a L shape. I can take pictures later. The back is shaded in the morning by a bunch of trees behind the privacy fence...the side however is not shaded by those trees and gets full sun.

[luis_pr]

The most sun tolerant hydrangeas are hydrangea paniculatas but, you and I where the summer sun is so hot that the leaves sometimes get sun scorch. Compact paniculatas like Bobo, Little Quickfire and Little Lime may be needed in that area but again, you may have to "test the waters" first with just one such shrub. That way you can transplant to another shadier afternoon location if the first location is too sunny.

Since these are deciduous plants, I wonder if you might prefer to use compact shrubs like Japanese boxwoods. Some of those are cheap, not thirsty like hydrangeas and will not care much about the amt of sun that you describe. By the way, hydrangeas prefer morning sun and afternoon/evening shade. Or dappled sun. Except for paniculatas, which like more sun and can be planted in full sun up in the northern states. Paniculatas can be large shrubs so make sure you select compact ones like Bobo, Little Lime, Little QF, etc.

[rainbowgardener]

It is a L shape. I can take pictures later. The back is shaded in the morning by a bunch of trees behind the privacy fence...the side however is not shaded by those trees and gets full sun.

The back is shaded in the morning... still sounds like it gets AM shade and then hot afternoon sun. Hydrangeas like either filtered light all the time or morning sun and afternoon shade. Like luis says (he's a hydrangea expert), you can try it and see what happens.

There are dwarf hydrangeas with somewhat more sun tolerance (http://homeguides.sfgate.com/dwarf-hydr ... 98076.html), but even so they benefit from some protection from hot afternoon sun. I was thinking maybe you could plant a dwarf hydrangea with something taller that will provide it some shade.

[beth777]

Okay, I mean I don't have to do Hydrangeas. I just really like them. I could do Azaleas? I just want something pretty and something that will grow rather large to take up some space...

[applestar]

Can you grow peonies there? They are good for shade in the morning, full sun locations. If you want large, you could go with tree peonies.

[beth777]

Those are really pretty! I could check and see if they have them here at the nursery. Thank you!

[rainbowgardener]

Azaleas are even less tolerant of hot afternoon sun than hydrangea.

Viburnum is a beautiful shrub that handles most anything you can throw at it, sun, shade, wet, dry. It comes in a variety of sizes from very dwarf to 20' tall. It has exceptionally fragrant flowers in the spring, which will perfume your whole yard, followed by berries that birds like.

[LIcenter]

I'm on the viburnum train also. I have three different species so far, and do plan on finding a couple more. Very easy to take care of as rainbowgardener stated above.

[luis_pr]

Oh, I can vouch for some of those fragrant vibirnums as I have one of those fragrant ones but be aware that many v's get large and may not fit in your space (unless you trim/prune). So look at the plant label and make sure it is a compact v.

[beth777]

Okay Viburnum it is! Thank you so much!!