Hydrangeas: PH question, 1 by

wrote:
5.7 is already really acid. I'd say give the shrubs a couple of years to settle in before you start trying to change the color. To give you an idea, here is the same shrub pictured above in a photo taken last year. You can see the dramatic color change as the shrub adjusts to my soil. Last year was its first year in the ground. I have done nothing to change the Ph of my soil. Wish I could tell you what the Ph of my soil is, but I don't really know. However, all of the soil around here is on the acid side. That's why we grow such nice rhododendrons, camelias, and other acid loving plants. This planting bed is surrounded by cedar and mature douglas fir trees. There is also a big leaf maple that drops its leaves in the general area every year.
Do you already have things growing underneath your pines? Some pines are allopathic - they don't let other plants grow underneath them.