Hydrangeas for free...

Recently I transplanted three hydrangeas into a new flowerbed along the house (those of you who have looked around have probably seen the Hailey’s Garden post. Little did I know how finicky they are during the transplanting process (it was one of those…if I’d known that beforehand moments). However, growing your own hydrangeas is actually pretty easy!

Hydrangeas are fairly easy to root. You can choose to root them in water or soil. Personally I feel the soil method to be more of a sure-proof method. To begin the process you’ll need to gather some materials.

Find a healthy plant to get your starting material. Some easy sources are in your own yard, from a neighbor, friends and or family members. If you are in an area where they aren’t as prevalent (we live in the South so they’re everywhere here)…you could always buy a new one and take cuttings from it (before you plant it in the ground). You’ll also need potting medium, pots and clean garden shears or kitchen scissors. Optional items are clear plastic bags, sticks and plant rooting hormone.

Step 1

Find a hydrangea and cut some small branches just below a leaf node. Make sure your cuttings are at least 5-6" long with several nodes (preferably on a new growth branch (light green color) that don’t have a flower). Nodes are the rounded locations on the stem where new leaves grow.

Step 2

Make sure to place your cuttings in water immediately after cutting and leave them there for about an hour.
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Step 3

Next, strip all but the top most set of leaves from the cutting. The cutting should have only two leaves left. Cut the two remaining leaves in half crosswise (not lengthwise). The plant will look like this.

You may choose to use a root growth hormone. This isn’t mandatory, but it does help the plant to get off to a good start. Dip the base of the cut stems into the rooting hormone. (Follow directions on your particular label.)


Step 4

People use and suggest all different kinds of potting medium. I say use what ya got! If you have compost and potting soil….use it. I personally used a good potting soil and mixed in some sand I had left over from Hailey’s sandbox. You just want to make sure that the plants don’t get too wet or dry out too quickly. Fill the container.

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Place each cutting in a pot or section or a divided/ large container making sure that they don’t touch each other.

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Step 6

Water, water, and water those pots till the water runs freely from the drainage holes. The soil should now be moist but not soggy.

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At this point you have two options; you can water several times a day to make sure soil stays moist you can make a mini greenhouse. To make a mini greenhouse insert two sticks into the pot and then place a clear plastic bag over the whole pot. Make sure the plastic doesn’t touch the leaves and keep out of direct sunlight or it will literally cook your hydrangea. Don’t know bout you….but I’m not planning on eatin’ em!

Below are some additional options for set up...

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Step 8

Place in a partially shaded area where they will receive bright but indirect sunlight. Keep an eye on them and water when top of soil becomes dry.

Top of FormAfter two to three weeks your cuttings should have roots and they are ready to remove the cover. To make sure that roots have grown; you can pull lightly on plant, if there's resistance you have roots.Leave them in the pot (outside the bag) for one more week. After that they should be ready to plant!

That’s all you need to know about how to grow your own hydrangeas. With a little work, you can start new hydrangeas for your yard or for friends and family…

Hailey's Garden

For the last week I have been working like a mad woman on a private little garden/play area for Hailey. (The child loves to be outside.)We have a nice sized back yard with a privacy fence, but it’s a pain in the booty to get her down there. Not to mention we have to share the space with the dogs. Not exactly ideal for a little one…this would be why we never go out there!

So anyway, last week I came up with the idea to turn our unused (and yes, I hate to admit, overgrown and weedy side yard) into a great place for her to play. It’s ideal because it’s almost totally surrounded by privacy fence on the back side and houses on either side. The front has several trees that almost block it from view from the street. It’s like her very own secret garden (I always loved that book).

I started planning and working on it like a crazy person, not to mention recruiting the oldest (through bribery of course) to help in the area of muscle and his truck.

My starting points for the flower bad were some hydrangeas from my mother-in-law’s house. I’ve known for a while I wanted to get and now I had figured out exactly where to put them. They can be kind of persnickety about where you put them (but that’s for another post).

As you can see in the pics….it’s still a work in progress, but waaaaayyyyy better than where it started from! I wish I’d taken before pics. I always kick myself afterwards for not doing that.

I think she likes it!!!

Slacker

I know, I know….I’m a slacker! I’m posting this a day later than normal. Who’d have thought that staying home with the baby can be so tiring? I ran my booty off all weekend trying to keep up with her (which would also explain the name of this blog)! She’s become quit the little speed demon (and my husband wondered why I baby proofed the whole downstairs).

Speaking of baby proofing; just today Hailey ran into the dining room and came back into the kitchen with outlet covers in hand (I think she can get those puppies out faster than I can). She’s been able to get them out for a while, but thank goodness she doesn’t normally mess with them. Obviously mommy isn’t allowed to do anything else when she’s up…or she’s looking for trouble in order to get my attention. I mentioned to my friend on the phone what she did and what did little missy do next…she went hunting around the downstairs to find more outlet covers to pull! I’m thinking it’s probably time to just take the ineffective outlet covers out. I would love to be able to put these expensive ones throughout the house, but with my luck she'd figure those out too!

On a brighter note, I think little bit is going to have a green thumb like her mommy…we went and got flowers for the flower pots by the front door and planted them on Saturday. She loved playing with the dirt and flower pots…the only problem was…she kept wanting to take the flowers back out! It’s so cute, every time I turn around she wants to go outside and look at the flowers. Just wait till mommy gets really motivated to work on those flower beds and then she’ll have all kinds of pretty flowers to look at!