My Hydrangeas - Some Tips and Tricks

My hydrangeas last summer.
P.S. I added another one right at the corner of the house. It's still a baby.

 

Since I have ummmm, ten hydrangeas in my front yard alone, I guess it's safe to say that I kind of like them. ;)

I planted the hydrangeas when we first moved in because the previous owners' landscaping just wasn't cutting it for me. An off-centre cedar and some scraggly vines? Umm, no thanks. I was actually inspired to create a hedge of hydrangeas along the front of the house from a Country Living photo that I saw in a book or magazine. Even though I haven't been able to find the picture since, I can still picture that pretty grey house with it's long row of hydrangeas as clear as day. 

While I'm no professional gardener by any means, I thought I would share some tips and tricks that have helped keep my hydrangeas healthy and full of giant, white blooms. (Seriously, one of my neighbours admitted that she almost snuck into our yard one night to clip some flowers for her dining table. Of course we installed an alarm system after that, hahaha.)

Keep in mind that where you plant your hydrangeas and how you care for them will vary depending on where you live, where you plant them, and the variety that you have. My hydrangeas are the 'Annabelle' or hydrangea arborescens variety and they receive dappled shade in the afternoon / evening in Hardiness Zone 3b.

Caring for my hydrangeas started even before they were planted. I removed about a foot of poor quality soil and clay before adding in a combination of peat moss, manure, and garden soil. I also added bone meal to the soil that I used to fill in around the bottom and sides of each plant.

Hydrangeas require a lot of water. Because most of my hydrangeas are in dappled shade and only receive a small amount of afternoon / evening sun I don't have to worry about them drying out too often. Hydrangea leaves will get all withered and droopy when they have been without water for too long. When I do water them I try to do make sure it is in the early morning or early evening (although I've read that morning is always better). I also make sure to water each one deeply rather than just spraying the leaves or lightly watering the soil surface.  

In early spring I do a general clean-up and pruning of each hydrangea shrub. I start by trimming off the dead blooms with snips. Next I pull out any dead wood and leaves from the centre of each plant. Once the shrubs are cleaned up a bit I go ahead with some gentle pruning. (Gah! The word pruning is weird.) Most years I bring out one of Alex's measuring tapes and prune back each stem to a specific length. For example in 2011 I cut them all to about 20" long. (I didn't have time to be that particular this year so I just randomly trimmed them all until I got a nice rounded shape to each one.)  When trimming the stems, I make sure to snip above the first or second set of buds. I try not to cut off more than that.  

For me, gentle pruning has two advantages. By keeping some of the old wood, it helps the stems get nice and thick over the years so that the plant becomes nice and solid. Thick stems are important to help hold up those giant flowers when it rains. I've also read that gentle pruning in early spring generates more blooms. And this girl looooooves hydrangea blooms.

Every once in awhile I will use some Miracle Grow fertilizer when I water but I don't do this very often for no other reason than I am forgetful.

Because my gardens are under the roofline, sometimes the soil around the plants gets washed away over time. Every spring I make sure to add some nice, dark topsoil to cover up any exposed roots.

Here's how my hydrangeas looked a few days ago, Not quite as meticulous as in 2011 but I suppose a kid and a second dog will do that to ya. ;)

So, that's that. I've had really good luck with my hydrangeas so far. Well, except when the freakiest hailstorm ever crushed them all to bits last fall. I cried. For real, I cried. My fingers are crossed that they will bounce back this spring and summer!

If you have any other good tips or if I've left something out, make sure to leave me a note in the comments section.

:)

New Flower Pots for the Front Yard

Old flower pots. Cute, but no contrast!

For the last few years I've used two ceramic pots in front of our icky cement stairs to add some curb appeal to our front yard. When I bought the pots a few years ago, I really liked how they had the same light green that we used on our front door and shutters. While I love the pots on their own, I just wasn't loving how they looked in front of the stairs. I finally realized that it's because they just blend right into the concrete and don't create any contrast!

See what I mean?

My old pots were really cute up close, but from far away they just blended right into the concrete steps!

 

 

So, I thought I would move the ceramic pots out onto our back deck and find some darker pots for the front yard. I was thinking that a dull black or charcoal colour would be nice since our roof, exterior light fixture, address sign, and metal railing are all black as well.

 

Before I had a chance to scout all of my usual spots (Homesense, Home Depot, Lowes, Canadian Tire, etc.) I ended up finding some really cute pots at The Superstore garden centre while I was out getting some groceries.

I used to turn my nose up to plastic pots because I thought they looked cheap but now I've changed my tune. ;) Sometimes you're able to find imitation pots that look like the real thing but are cheaper, lighter, and more durable. (Now that I'm off all spring / summer without pay I'm all about the cheap, haha.)

The pots are called 'PC Black Belly Pots' and I purchased three of the 18" pots. I'll be using two at the front door and another one at our side entry. They actually had small, medium, and large sizes to choose from (mine are the medium size). The pots are made of lightweight fiberglass and can be used both indoors and out.

I'm excited to plant some flowers in them! Up here in Northern Ontario we need to wait another week or so until the last frost. Come on Mother Nature, come on!

:)

Coops Turned One, My Neck is Sore, and My Fabric Swatches are Finally In

Oh hi. I'm still alive. But you can call me robot girl from now on because I can't turn my head to either side and I've been walking around like a total freak show. It huuuuuuuuuuuurts. After a week of excruciating pain and looking like a fool, I finally hit up the chiropractor and he literally snapped my neck all over the place. It was horrible. But it seems to be working because I'm finally feeling well enough to write this blog post tonight. Woot!

 

Cooper likes to climb and eat chairs instead of sitting in them. ;)

 

Cooper turned a year old last week and we had a nice, big party with all of our family here (25+ people). At first I think that having a party is going to be so much fun but then reality hits and I get super stressed out. I cleaned the entire house thinking that our guests would be inside and then suddenly the forecast changed from snow and rain ALL of April to sunny and hot on the day of the party. We did a mad scramble to get the patio furniture out of the garage and to get the deck and yard somewhat presentable. There just wasn't enough time to do any raking or big spring clean-ups beforehand. It all worked out though. We got Coops one of those sand / water tables for his birthday and he's been playing with it (a.k.a. eating sand) all week!

 

Fabric swatches from Fabric.com

 

 

The fabric swatches that I ordered finally came in after two weeks of daily, stalker-ish trips to the post office. I thought that once I saw the fabrics in person I would immediately know what direction to go in with our living room cushions. However, I'm still undecided. I'll explain more and share some pictures in a separate post.

 

I'll fill you in on what's been going on around here, I promise. It's just been super, super busy. To top it all off, our beloved Roary almost died the night of Cooper's birthday party and had to have emergency surgery in the middle of the night. His recovery is going well but he's still not out of the woods yet. We are spending as much time as we can with him as it's pretty much a miracle he's still alive. I'm off to bed (at 9:30 p.m. on a Friday night, holla!) but here is the cutest picture ever of our first baby:

Roary at his favourite place - the cottage.

 

Staying Home Just a Little Bit Longer

Must. Stay home. With this guy.

 

Just popping in to share some very fun news.

 

With my one year of maternity leave coming to an end (waaaaah) it was either start getting ready to go back to work (eeeeek!) or extend my leave for a little bit longer.

 

My super cool hubs agreed that staying home is a good fit for our family right now. So, instead of heading back to work at the end of April, I've extended my leave for the months of May and June. With the summer after that it means that I won't have to go back to work until the new school year in September.

 

Four extra months with the Coopster is pretty awesome. I'm very grateful and relieved.

 

Weeeeeeee!

 

I've got a few posts lined up (some cute Homesense finds, a basement design board, some Fixer Upper bathroom progress, etc. etc.) but I just haven't had a chance to sit down and write any of them!

 

I'll be back. But in the meantime, how squishy are those cheeks!?!?! ;)

The Fixer Upper - The Kitchen

I've been avoiding writing this post for quite some time. It's kind of hard to explain without sounding like a whiny brat.

 

Basically, The Fixer Upper has a nice, new, updated kitchen. It's got new drywall, paint, floors, cabinetry, cabinet hardware, countertops, sink, and faucet. It's got a bit of a new design that includes a large island with seating, space for a dishwasher, and an extra pantry. When you take a look at the disgusting before pictures, you'll notice just how many improvements have been made to that poor kitchen.

 

However, this is where the whiny brat part comes in, the kitchen is just not my light and airy cottage style. I pretty much would have chosen different e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. 

 

BUT, having said that, we are very fortunate that the completed kitchen was included in our weird house purchase and we didn't have to do any of the labour. Most importantly, our rental property has a fully functional, clean, and updated kitchen that the renters (Alex's parents) really, really like. 

 

So, while The Fixer Upper's kitchen may not be an example of the light and white cottage kitchen of my dreams, it's still a darn (or is it darned?) good before and after.

Alright, enough blabberjabbing. Let's do this. 

 

The first three photos are from our second walk-through of the house with a realtor, after the people living there tidied up. Sooooo gross. The Flippers bought the house in this state and completely gutted the kitchen before we eventually bought it from them.

 

Alex standing in an ugly kitchen.

Oops. Some random realtor guy is in this one. Hahaha.

Grime and stains everywhere. Yay.

 

This next photo is of the kitchen after we bought the house from the Flippers. The floors haven't been refinished yet, it doesn't have any trim or baseboards, it hasn't been painted, and there are no pendant lights over the island.

 

 

The next few pictures are of the kitchen now!

 

 

 

I whipped up a few side-by-side comparisons just for fun:

 

 

 

So, that's the kitchen. I've got a really funny (to me) story about this post and Pinterest that I'll try to come back and share later on in the week. :)

 

What do you think? Not too shabby, eh?

 

P.S. There are a few more small updates we'll probably do to the kitchen in the future (backspash, etc.) but the hubs says no to cabinet painting or to a marble for granite counter swap. Sigh. ;)