Sperry: Hydrangeas can thrive in ETX however fail in most components of the state

Sperry: Hydrangeas can thrive in ETX however fail in most components of the state

Published 10:47 pm Sunday, March 29, 2026

Dear Neil: I reside in Round Rock, and I’d prefer to develop hydrangeas. However, I’ve met with repeated failures. I even purchased one in Aurora, Colorado. The hydrangea man there assured me it might do nicely in my a lot hotter setting, nevertheless it didn’t. A buddy has one which comes again yr after yr. Do you’ve got any ideas?

I’ve been advising Texas gardeners for greater than 50 years, and hydrangeas are close to the highest of the checklist in producing frustrations. The hall of Blackland Prairie soils that follows I-35 throughout Texas shouldn’t be the buddy of those acid-loving vegetation. That’s why you’ll so usually see their leaves turning yellow, then virtually white, then brown and crisp. Irrigation water from our cities is equally fairly alkaline, additional resulting in extra iron deficiency signs. Winter injury is normally the ultimate straw. The northern varieties that you simply see in Colorado and notably at the same time as far north because the Great Lakes don’t do nicely in our local weather.

If your buddy is close by and gardening in comparable situations than what you’ve got, be aware of how they’ve ready the planting mattress, how a lot daylight their vegetation get, how they take care of these vegetation by way of feeding, watering and pruning – search for some distinction within the care their vegetation have been given in comparison with what you’ve got given yours. Your margin of error with hydrangeas is far smaller than with most different plant varieties. Hopefully you possibly can tremendous tune issues all the way down to the place you will be profitable like your buddy. Just do not forget that you’re not alone. Unless you’re within the Piney Woods of East Texas the place rainfall is normally extra plentiful and soils are acidic, you don’t see many fabulous plantings of hydrangeas in the remainder of the Lone Star State.

Dear Neil: We have a house on the sting of Clear Lake. Pasadena is throughout the road. I maintain dropping citrus bushes (see photograph) from Master Gardener plant gross sales. I don’t suppose they’re utilizing trifoliate rootstocks (chilly hardy). My substitute bushes maintain freezing. Should I attempt grafting my very own or simply hand over?

Texas A&M has a number of good reference truth sheets on rising citrus in a house orchard. I’m going to ship you to these for info on rootstocks, grafting, and winter safety. It actually will differ area by area. That mentioned, Texas has had a number of winters previously decade which have put numerous plant species (not simply citrus) to the check. Many didn’t fare nicely. I’d proceed to attempt as a result of if you will get your new bushes by way of a number of winters, they could have a greater probability of surviving.

Dear Neil: I’ve a row of pittosporum shrubs. I’m in a continuing battle with wasps constructing their honeycomb nests within the vegetation all summer time. I can spray and never injury the vegetation, however I’d somewhat forestall the wasps than need to eradicate them. Do you’ve got any ideas?

Those could also be yellowjackets. If so, they’re much more aggressive than most different stinging pests so watch out. In truth, they’ll come out whilst you’re simply strolling previous. I do know of no strategy to forestall them. They’re a standard native insect with their very own place in our ecosystem. If they’re not constructing nests in shrubs, they’ll be underneath eaves or beneath giant tree limbs. I’ve sprayed them late within the day to allow them to’t see me as I “race” away, and extra not too long ago I’ve used a protracted piece of PVC pipe to knock their nests down earlier than they’ll swarm and sting. But it is advisable be sure-footed and speedy.

Dear Neil: When I lived within the Metroplex, I used to be capable of finding shops with pre-emergent weed-preventing merchandise. But, since we’ve moved towards the Hill Country, I can’t discover any retailer that handles them. Do you’ve got any ideas?

Hopefully you do most of your purchasing at native impartial retail backyard facilities and farm shops. They are much better at reacting to native wants and even bringing in objects that native residents request. The huge nationwide “box stores” purchase when and what they need from main regional out-of-state shopping for facilities. They usually lack the native perspective. Don’t be afraid to ask the proprietor or supervisor of an area firm to create a particular order for you. But hurry for those who’re wanting pre-emergent granules for this season. Time is sort of over.

Dear Neil: We needed to have a drain line to our home changed 4 months in the past. The firm ended up digging a 4 x 4-ft. tunnel 25 ft. beneath our home. To do this they needed to dig up one 42-year-old boxwood plant 3 ft. tall and huge. I cared for that plant as finest I might, nevertheless it took them three weeks to complete their work. They replanted it at midnight. It shouldn’t be aligned with the opposite 8 vegetation in its row, and it’s now yellowing significantly. Is there something we are able to do to proper the scenario?

You’d be amazed at what wholesale growers have available. Talk to a nursery that works with panorama contractors. They could possibly discover you a plant that will match the opposite 8 vegetation. It could be loads simpler to exchange your one plant than to attempt to coddle it alongside for a number of years. And that assumes you possibly can even save the previous plant. One that has been rising in a single location for 42 years was in all probability very established. It encountered a substantial amount of shock in that course of.

— Have a query you’d like Neil to contemplate? Mail it to him in care of this newspaper or e-mail him at mailbag@sperrygardens.com. Neil regrets that he can’t reply to questions individually.