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Landscape DesignGarden
bearbear2

planting hydrangea in retaining wall

6 years ago

I am a newbie to gardening. We are redoing the whole yard this spring and going to set up a retaining wall along the fence to fix the water problem on our lawn due to everything sloping towards the house. My questions:

  1. The width of the soil between the retaining wall and fence is 2', is this wide enough to plant Annabelle or Incrediball all along the fence?
  2. I know that I have to plant them 4' apart, and it will take them 2-3 years to fill in. Can I put landscape paper around the plants and put mulch on top? Will the landscape paper hinder growth of the plant? I get a lot of weeds in my yard and we are lazy people.
  3. I read in a review that Incrediball only gives you 3 weeks of white flowers, before the color starts turning. Will Annabelle maintain the white longer?
  4. Do Annabelle or Incrediball attract bees or wasps? Family member does not like bees, and will choose not to go out to the yard at all if bees are there .
    Thanks in advance.
Featured Answer
  • 6 years ago

    1) No. Annabelles (and most other arborescens cultivars) will grow to a height of 3-5' and with a spread of 4-6'. A 2' planting bed is too small.

    2) Skip the landscape fabric and just use mulch. Landscape fabric is not very efficient at stopping weed development and often makes weeding more difficult as well as hampering the establishment of the plants it surrounds

    Being "lazy" does not factor in well to having an attractive garden. It will require attention and routine maintenance just like the inside of your home requires routine cleaning and maintenance. If you can't be bothered to tend to it yourself, you need to hire a service.

    3) All hydrangea flowers change color over time. Annabelle flowers will remain white until the flowers start to go over and then they will fade to a tannish color.

    4) Virtually all flowering plants will attract bees or other pollinators. That's what the flowers are for....to attract the pollinators to fertilize the flowers to develop the seeds so the plant can reproduce. Hydrangeas are no exception, however they are not known as being hugely attractive to bees or wasps.

    Comments (7)

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