Hydrangeas have huge bloom heads and exude an old-fashioned elegance. How to plant and take care of beautiful floral bushes is explained in our hydrangea growing guide. Additionally, learn the answers to frequently asked questions like “why aren’t my hydrangeas blossoming this year?”
About Hydrangeas
These elegant plants are simple to grow, withstand nearly any sort of soil, and produce an abundance of blossoms that are unmatched in the world of shrubs for their stunning flowers. Clear blue, vivid pink, frosty white, lavender, and rose blossoms sometimes grow on the same plant, enticing us with their colors.
From container gardens to shrub borders to group plantings, hydrangeas are great for a variety of garden locations. Breeders seem to give us more possibilities every year, and gardeners have countless expectations for bloom size and color. Varieties abound. Pay attention to the species listed below to get an idea of how your hydrangea will develop as some require different maintenance. The joys you experience will be enhanced when you know what to expect.
Enjoy this tribute to hydrangea beauty and read our guide below to discover how to grow hydrangeas.
Where to Plant Hydrangeas
- The majority of hydrangeas like fertile, moisture-rich soils that drain well. Compost can help improve bad soil.
- Hydrangeas typically prefer some sun. In an ideal world, they would receive full sun in the morning and then some afternoon shade to avoid the intense midday sun. The Bigleaf Hydrangea (H. macrophylla), with its huge, prone-to-wilting leaves, is a prime example of this. Some kinds can withstand more direct sunlight.
- Depending on the kind, place hydrangeas anywhere between 3 and 10 feet apart. Plants should always be spaced according to their anticipated mature size!
When to Plant Hydrangeas
- The optimum season to plant hydrangeas is in the fall, followed by spring. The cooler shoulder seasons are the ideal times to plant shrubs because they will have plenty of time to build a strong root system before the intense heat of summer or the bitter cold of winter.
- In the early morning or late afternoon, plant the shrubs. The plant is less prone to experience heat stress from direct sunshine because it is typically cooler.
How to Plant Hydrangeas
- Gently remove the hydrangea from its container and examine the root ball. Snip off any rotten or dead sections, and if the plant is very root-bound, pry the roots free.
- Make a hole that is two to three times as big and as deep as the root ball. The top of the planting hole should be level with the base of the plant, which is where the stem joins the earth.
- After placing the plant in the hole, add enough soil to fill it halfway. generously hydrate. Fill the remaining space in the hole with soil once the water has been absorbed.
- once more, thoroughly rinse.
How to Grow Hydrangeas from Cuttings
Cuttings of hydrangeas can be easily grown. They easily take root, and the process is a wonderful teaching tool for propagation. This is how you do it:
- Find a branch on a mature hydrangea that is fresh growth and has not flowered. In comparison to older growth, new growth will appear lighter in color, and the stem won’t be as firm.
- Make a horizontal incision 4 to 5 inches down from the branch’s tip. Make sure your cutting has at least three to four pairs of leaves.
- Trim the cutting’s lowest pair of leaves so that they are flush with the stem. If you can afford to remove more than one pair of leaves, do so. Roots develop more readily from these leaf nodes. But make sure to leave at least two pairs of leaves at the cutting’s tip.
- Remove the tip half of any leaves that are still pretty large by cutting them in half. This keeps the leaves from slamming into the sides of the plastic bag you’ll later use to cover the cutting (to keep the humidity up).
- (Optional) Sprinkle rooting hormone and a plant antifungal powder on the stem’s leafless area (both available at a local hardware or garden store). This will promote roots and deter decay.
- Prepare a small pot and put moistened potting soil inside. The cutting should be planted in the ground, buried down to the first remaining pair of leaves. Lightly water the area surrounding the stem to close any air spaces.
- Wrap a plastic bag loosely around the entire pot. To prevent the cutting’s leaves from rotting, make sure the bag is not touching them. The bag can be supported by chopsticks or other such objects to keep it off the leaves.
- Put the pot in a warm location that is protected from the wind and sun.
- Only rewater your cutting after the top layer of soil is dry after checking on it every few days to make sure it isn’t decaying. In a few weeks, hopefully, the cutting will start to root! If you feel resistance when you gently tug on the cutting, roots have grown.
Watering
- Make sure hydrangeas get enough water for the first year or two after planting and throughout any droughts.
- Over the course of the growing season, water at a rate of 1 inch per week. Three times a week of heavy watering is preferable to shallow watering. Root growth is promoted by this.
- All varieties of hydrangeas benefit from constant moisture, but bigleaf and smooth hydrangeas need more water.
- If the soil is too dry, the leaves will wilt, and there won’t be enough moisture for the flowers to bloom.
- To water thoroughly while keeping moisture off the flowers and leaves, use a soaker hose.
- The best time to water hydrangeas is in the morning to protect them from disease and get them ready for the heat of the day.
- Under your hydrangeas, spread organic mulch to help keep the soil cool and moist, gradually add nutrients, and enhance soil texture.
Fertilizing
You might not need to fertilize hydrangeas if your soil is rich. When fertilizer is applied in excess, blossoms are sacrificed in favor of green growth. A soil test is the most effective tool for determining your fertility requirements.
Apply fertilizer according to the type of hydrangeas you have. Every variety has varied requirements and will profit from applying fertilizer at various times.
- Several mild fertilizer applications in March, May, and June are beneficial for bigleaf hydrangeas.
- Two applications in April and June work best for oakleaf and panicle hydrangeas.
- The only time smooth hydrangea plants require fertilizing is in the late winter.
Winter Protection
- Cover plants with bark mulch, leaves, pine needles, or straw in the fall, at least 18 inches deep. If at all feasible, create cages out of chicken wire or snow fencing and cover the entire plant, including the tip, with the cages. (Avoid using maple leaves; they have a tendency to mat after becoming wet and may suffocate the plant.)
How to Prune a Hydrangea
Many of the queries from readers concern hydrangea trimming. It makes sense that it’s unclear because it relies on the hydrangea kind. Fortunately, identifying which type you have makes determining the best pruning strategy simple. Discover the fundamentals below, then read more about pruning different varieties of hydrangea here.
Pruning Common Hydrangeas
The Bigleaf cultivar of Hydrangea macrophylla is the most popular garden hydrangea shrub. (For more, see below.)
Hydrangeas with large leaves, such as Bigleaf (H. macrophylla), Oakleaf (H. quercifolia), Mountain (H. serrata), and Climbing (H. anomala subsp. petiolaris), are pruned AFTER the summer blooms have passed. On stems from the previous season, these kinds bloom (“old wood).
- Avoid pruning after August 1 since flower buds actually grow in the late summer and bloom the next season.
- Dead wood should only be removed in the fall or very early spring.
- To stimulate branching and fullness, trim one or two of the oldest stems by cutting them all the way to the ground.
- Pruning the stems all the way to the base is necessary if the plant is old, neglected, or injured. For the following season, you’ll lose the flowers, but you’ll also revive the plant for subsequent ones.
- The huge Mopheads should not be deadheaded (faded flowers removed); instead, you should leave them over the winter and trim them back in the early spring (to the first healthy pair of buds). Deadheading Lacecaps is OK; simply trim down to the second set of leaves below the bloom head.
- Avoid pruning unless it is absolutely required while growing H. macrophylla (and H. serrata) cultivars in Zones 4 and 5, and then only after blooming. If not, merely remove dead stems in the spring.
Pruning Other Hydrangeas
Hydrangeas called Panicle (H. paniculata) and Smooth (H. arborescens) are clipped BEFORE flower buds develop. On stems from the current season, these kinds blossom (“new wood).
- When the plant is dormant in the late winter, prune. The plant will therefore grow new buds in the spring that will result in blossoms even if the winter kills the buds.
- In general, avoid pruning to “shape the bush” and just remove dead branches.
Can you ever plant hydrangeas too deeply?
VERY IMPORTANT: Pick a spot where your hydrangea will be able to grow to its full size without being pruned. For hydrangeas of average size, aim for a height of at least 4 ft. X 4 ft. It is nearly impossible to keep hydrangeas clipped to a size that is smaller than what they ultimately want to grow.
Plant in a soil that drains properly! Add roughage, such pine bark mulch, to heavy soil (make sure it’s ground BARK, not ground WOOD).
Avoid planting seeds too deeply. Plant at the same depth at which the hydrangea was potted.
When a hydrangea has lost all of its leaves and gone dormant, transplant it (late fall or winter).
How to Plant Hydrangea Flowers
Make a hole that is roughly twice as big as the container. The top of the root ball should be at the same height as or just slightly higher than the soil’s surface when the plant is placed in the hole. Backfill the hole with dirt, gently compact it around the plant, then treat with a balanced fertilizer. Deep breathing. Since hydrangeas’ roots are shallow, it’s important to mulch well to keep them from drying out.
How to Care for Hydrangeas
Water hydrangeas frequently until they are established, but avoid allowing the ground to become soggy because they dislike having their feet wet. In the spring, treat them with a general-purpose flowering shrub fertilizer. Wait until the plant has all of its leaves in the spring to clip off anything that appears dead to prevent destroying the bloom buds for the next year.
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Are hydrangeas difficult to grow?
No, actually. They are one of the few species of plants that can be grown in most climates from coast to coast. However, hydrangeas thrive in hotter regions of the country when plants get early light and afternoon shade. So that you can select the proper location in your garden, be sure to read the plant tag.
How do I make my hydrangeas turn blue?
Contrary to common perception, not all hydrangea varieties will change the color of their blooms. Only a few varieties of bigleaf and mountain hydrangeas can adapt to the soil’s chemistry and metal content. If you lost your plant tag, the university co-op extension office in your area can assist you figure out what kind of hydrangea you have. Next, measure the pH of your soil (the co-op extension can help here again, or get an inexpensive soil test kit). Acidic soil is required for blue flowers. According to the directions on the container label, add aluminate sulfate granules in the spring if you have a hydrangea variety that can turn blue.
When do I prune my hydrangeas?
One of the most typical inquiries is this one! Let’s get to it: Some varieties of hydrangeas flower on branches that sprouted the year before (known as “old wood”), while other varieties flower on both new and old wood. Avoid pruning after mid-summer if you are unsure of the type of plant you have since you run the risk of removing the blooms for the next year. Or you could wait to prune until the plant starts to leaf out once more the following spring so you can tell what is dead and what isn’t. Simply remove the deceased items after that.
Peter Kruger, director of plant development and sourcing for Ball Horticulture, offers this grower tip: “When the roots are wrapped about inside the pot, loosen them up and spread them out by scoring with a knife or separating them gently with your fingers before planting.” Although it may seem harsh, the plant actually grows more roots as a result, which aids in establishing the plant.
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What time of year should I plant my hydrangea?
Choose a time in late spring or early fall when the nights are cooler and there is little risk of frost. If you garden in an area where the ground freezes, put seeds at least six weeks before the first deadly frost of the fall. This allows plants to establish roots before the ground becomes really cold. To improve root insulation, place a 2-inch mulch layer around plants after planting.
Can hydrangeas grow in shallow soil?
In dappled shade that is neither very sunny nor overly dark, wet, well-drained soil is excellent for hydrangeas. Avoid sites that face south, especially if the soil is quite dry. Grow Hydrangea anomalasubsp. petiolaris, a climbing shrub, in an extremely shady area like a north-facing wall. Avoid planting in a frost pocket and plant away from strong winds in the spring since the tender new growth is vulnerable to frost damage.
Most soil types, including alkaline and acidic soil, are suitable for hydrangea growth. The color of some types’ flowers will vary depending on the pH of the soil. If the soil is acidic, some plants that typically produce pink flowers will instead produce blue ones.
When to plant hydrangeas
Hydrangeas grow best in the spring or fall when the soil is warm and moist. It is possible to plant in the summer, but you must monitor the soil’s moisture content.
How to plant hydrangeas
If your soil is thin, bulk it up with moisture-retaining organic matter before planting hydrangeas because they thrive in damp soil. A good hour or so before planting, thoroughly water the plant. A hydrangea should never be planted any deeper than it was in the pot. Well with water. After planting, add a layer of mulch. Leaf mould is preferable, but compost or well-rotted manure can also work. Throughout the plant’s first spring and summer, make sure it gets plenty of water.
Train climbing hydrangeas initially onto galvanized wires before planting. They have roots that attach to themselves, so after a season of growth, they will find their own way.
Watch this Gardeners’ World video to learn how to plant lacecap hydrangeas: