Planting Hydrangeas

May 30, 2024

Here at my Bedford, New York farm, I have several allées of trees - they look so beautiful and dramatic along the carriage roads, between the horse paddocks, and beside the antique fencing.

In landscaping, an allée, or an avenue, is traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each side. In most cases, the trees planted are the same species or cultivar, so as to give a uniform appearance along the full length of the allée. One allée is planted along the carriage road to the woodland. I started with a selection of London plane trees and then planted about 100 royal purple smoke bushes, Cotinus coggygria. Next, I added crepe myrtle, Lagerstroemia. This week, I decided to plant dozens of bright and colorful hydrangeas from the Endless Summer Collection by Bailey Nurseries.

Here are some photos, enjoy.

: I started this allée in the fall of 2019 and it has developed so beautifully over the last five years.

: To create this allée I chose to plant two rows of London plane trees – 46-trees in all. When selecting a location, always consider the tree’s growth pattern, space needs, and appearance. London planes are easy to transplant. They can also develop massive trunks with spreading crowns, so they need lots of space.

: The bark is unique, gray-brown. When mature, flaky scales shed to expose mottled peeling patches of white, gray, and green.

: The London plane tree, Platanus × acerifolia, is a deciduous tree. It is a cross between two sycamore species: Platanus occidentalis, the American sycamore, and Platanus orientalis, the Oriental plane. This very large tree with maple-like leaves grows to roughly 75 to 100 feet with a spread of 60 to 75 feet. London planes grow in almost any soil – acidic or alkaline, loamy, sandy or clay. They accept wet or dry soil and grow best in full sun, but they also thrive in partial shade.

: In between the trees, I chose to plant Cotinus, also known as smoke bush or smoke tree – a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs. These were all purchased as small whips – slender, unbranched shoots or plants. I like to nurture them for a year or two in pots before placing them in the ground – this way they are planted as bigger, stronger specimens.

: These smoke bushes have stunning dark red-purple foliage that turns scarlet in autumn and has plume-like seed clusters, which appear after the flowers and give a long-lasting, smoky haze to the branch tips.

: Recently, we received a large delivery of pretty hydrangea varieties from the fifth-generation, family and brand owner Bailey Nurseries in St. Paul, Minnesota. I knew right away, a collection of these would be great in the allée.

: The hydrangeas were lined up perfectly and evenly spaced in front of the smoke bushes on both sides.

: Hydrangea leaves are opposite, simple, stalked, pinnate, and four to eight inches long. They are also toothed, and sometimes lobed.

: The blooms on this compact Summer Crush® hydrangea are intense, deep raspberry pink.

: Many of the potted hydrangeas are blooming right now. When mature, these hydrangeas will reach 36-inches tall with a spread that’s 18 to 36-inches wide.

: Holes are dug for each plant – as always, at least twice the size of the plant’s root ball.

: And a handful of fertilizer is sprinkled in the hole and on the surrounding soil.

: For these we’re using Scott’s Miracle-Gro Shake ‘n Feed, which is an all-purpose plant food containing bone meal, earthworm castings, feather meal, and kelp to support root development and strength.

: As with any plant, the root ball is teased to stimulate growth. This root ball is not root bound, so the soil is soft and easy to scarify with the Hori-Hori.