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Vanille Fraise

joannebob2joannebob2 Posts: 7
in Plants
Hello everyone.  I’m new to gardening and have been give a hydrangea Vanille Fraise for my front flowerbed.  It is a sunny area and well drained soil.  I wanted to ask if this is an ideal plant to plant. I have read it grows fast and wide and whilst I can prune and tame I am new to gardening and wasn’t sure if this was too much to manage straight away.  The pictures I’ve seen look beautiful but my flower bed is about 6 ft from my front window and I’m just nervous to plant or more importantly avoid anything invasive or hard to manage.  All advice welcome and will be taken. Jo 

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It wouldn't be a problem to manage, but it might not like the site. The vast majority of hydrangeas are best with some shade, and moisture retentive soil  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I've had this one for about 10 years and it's still quite small, you can just see another further behind it that was a cutting.
    A couple of years after you plant it the stems will be quite woody.
    Prune those stems back a bit in the Spring then each year do the same. You'll soon get the idea when you've seen how they grow.
    You can cut them right back to a few cm from the soil but that encourages them to get big.
    You need to do some pruning each year to keep it tidy and strange as it sounds, the harder you prue it the bigger it gets. So I just trim mine back each year to the woody stems and remove any stems that are out of place. They're tough plants and will take hacking about.


    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • joannebob2joannebob2 Posts: 7
    Pete.8 thank you so much.  This is really helpful and reassures me so much.  Jo 
  • joannebob2joannebob2 Posts: 7
    Fairygirl said:
    It wouldn't be a problem to manage, but it might not like the site. The vast majority of hydrangeas are best with some shade, and moisture retentive soil  :)
    Fairygirl thank you. Oh I have a fair amount of such at the front so this may not work :( 
  • chickychicky Posts: 10,410
    @joannebob2 I have Vanille Fraise that does well in full sun - just need to keep it well watered in dry spells. It’s a lovely plant 🤩
  • joannebob2joannebob2 Posts: 7
    Oh that’s brilliant.  Thanks Chicky 
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I have 3, about 5 years old. I pruned them last week and they stay well behaved, also in full sun.
    Devon.
  • joannebob2joannebob2 Posts: 7
    Hostafan thank you. This is super reassuring. 
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    As it's a hydrangea paniculata, it's far easier than the macrophylla mop heads because you can prune in spring and still get flowers in the summer. They also do better with sun than other hydrangeas.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    @joannebob2

    Devon.
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