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saddlebum_gw

soil question

saddlebum
10 years ago

I have 4 hydrangeas, all planted in different areas. I'd guess there is anywhere from 50 to 100 feet between some of them. All do very well except one of them.

This particular one is in full sun tll late afternoon, as are the others. The only difference is that the one doing poorly is planted in an area where two cedar trees drop needles that fall into the bed. These are mature cedars and their needles have fallen onto this bed for 40 years.

I know hydrangeas don't like alkaline soil, so I thought the pine needles should have acidfied the soil enough to give me a healthy plant, but its upper leaves are yellowing, with green veins, which tells me that perhaps the plant is not able to take up enough iron. I also thought that more alkaline soils would be the cause of the inability to take up the iron.

So if pine needles have been falling on this area for 4o years, wouldn't they provide suffient acidity in the soil for the plant to be able to use the nutrients there? All the other plants in this bed are doing well; Japanese maples, weigela, sedum, false cyprus, daylilies, oriental lilies, and a few roses. I fertilize the plants each spring with some aged horse manure.

Any thoughts as to why the hydrangea leaves turn chlorotic?

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