How Big Does A Bigleaf Hydrangea Get

The traditional hydrangeas that you see on magazine covers and in florist bouquets are bigleaf hydrangeas, often known as mopheads or French hydrangeas. They are a huge shrub that can reach a height of 10 feet and a spread of 10 feet. They prefer the shade and wilt in too much scorching, direct sunlight. The soil pH can be changed to produce blooms in the colours of white, pink, blue, purple, or red. Look for the “Endless Summer” hydrangea collection, “Nikko Blue,” and “Tokyo Delight” variations.

Bigleaf hydrangeas grow how quickly?

Your hydrangeas’ development pace will depend on a variety of elements, such as the environment, sunlight exposure, watering, and fertiliser.

With some types growing an average of 25 inches per year until they mature, hydrangeas are categorised as having quick growth. Other hydrangea species, including the Hydrangea paniculata, have an annual growth rate of up to 2 feet.

With canopies that are 18 to 20 feet broad and that can grow to heights of 10 to 15 feet, some paniculata types can be classified as tree forms.

Knowing in advance how big a certain hydrangea cultivar can go is crucial when designing your garden, especially since some kinds can quickly take over the space you offer them.

This will enable you to designate enough room for it in your yard, or if you don’t have enough space, just pick a lesser kind.

How much room are hydrangeas need for?

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 colours.

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 colour. 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 colour, 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 fertilise hydrangeas if your soil is rich. When fertiliser is applied in excess, blossoms are sacrificed in favour of green growth. A soil test is the most effective tool for determining your fertility requirements.

Apply fertiliser according to the type of hydrangeas you have. Every variety has varied requirements and will profit from applying fertiliser at various times.

Several mild fertiliser 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 fertilising 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.

Bigleaf hydrangeas bloom for how long?

One of the most well-liked hydrangeas in our gardens is Hydrangea macrophylla (Big Leaf Hydrangea), which is native to Japan. This deciduous shrub has a rounded form, big, strong leaves, and lovely clusters of June flowers that bloom for a long time. The Mophead Hydrangeas and the Lacecap Hydrangeas are the two subspecies that make up the species.

Large, spherical flower heads covered largely in showy, sterile florets are produced by Mophead Hydrangeas or Hortensias. The blooms will continue to bloom nonstop throughout the summer, for a period of three to six months, until October arrives and they begin to change colour. Rich blues that turn wine-red can be quite spectacular, as can whites that turn pale green or even blood-red.
The flattened flower clusters that Lacecap Hydrangeas create are made up of showy, sterile florets that radiate out from a core cluster of tiny, fertile florets. The lacecap blooms will fade much more quickly than the mopheads since the fertile florets will be pollinated, only holding their beauty for around a month.
Deep blues, vivid pinks, pure whites, lavender, and intense red and purple hues are just a few of the many colours available. The majority of Hydrangea macrophylla varieties have the additional allure of changing colour according to the pH of the soil. These species can grow blue blooms in highly acidic soils, whereas pink flowers can grow in somewhat acidic soils. If you want your Hydrangea’s blossoms to be a different hue, you can amend the soil with aluminium sulphate to make them bluer or with lime to make them pinker.
Zones 6 through 9 are hardy, Bigleaf Hydrangeas prefer a thick layer of mulch all year round because they are more susceptible to cold than their relatives (shredded bark, peat or compost ). This will control weed growth, hold onto moisture, and lessen soil temperature swings.
Bigleaf Hydrangeas prefer sun to partial shade and do best in rich, medium-moisture soils that drain well. They can only survive full sun if the soil is continually moist.
No significant pest or disease problems. Keep an eye out for leaf spots, mildew, bacterial wilt, and bud blight.
Perfect for container and foundation plantings. grouped in a protected area or used as a decorative plant. They work well as a hedge and also make wonderful cut flowers! Perfect for gardens near the sea because of their hard, glossy leaves, which can tolerate wind and salt.
After flowering, Bigleaf Hydrangea stems should be trimmed by being cut down to two sound buds. In the early spring, remove weak or winter-damaged stems.

Do I need to trim my bigleaf hydrangea?

Consider when your hydrangea blooms to see if it grows on old wood. These shrubs typically start blooming in the early summer and stop by midsummer, however isolated blooms may continue into the fall. Late summer or early fall, when the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, these shrubs begin to create the bloom buds for the following year. Pruning should be done just as the flowers start to fade to limit the chance of eliminating these buds. The sooner the shrub recovers after bloom, the more and bigger flowers it will produce the next season.

1. Old blossoms should be taken out to tidy up.

Gardeners can remove any wayward or straggly canes at the soil level and prune wasted blooms just below the flower head to keep their plants looking clean.

2. Eliminate the oldest canes to increase vigour.

A hydrangea may produce lesser blooms as it ages and becomes woody. The shrub will remain healthy and continue to produce big, many flowers if a few of the oldest canes along the soil line are routinely removed. The same technique, which involves removing the tallest canes, can prevent a shrub from becoming too tall.

Watch a video on pruning bigleaf hydrangeas

Almost everyone is mesmerised by bigleaf hydrangeas’ mophead blossoms (Hydrangea macrophylla and cvs., Zones 49). And it appears that queries regarding pruning these flowering bushes are common among gardeners. Because they are shrubs, it is frequently assumed that they require pruning. Some gardeners believe that pruning their hydrangea will encourage it to bloom. Both of these ideas are incorrect. Bigleaf hydrangeas don’t require any pruning, and if you prune them, you risk removing the bloom buds you were trying to receive by timing your cuts improperly.

The flower buds on bigleaf hydrangeas are often found on growth from the previous season, which is known as “old wood.” You will be removing the flower buds if you prune them before they bloom. Pruning too early doesn’t stop the entire display; rather, it stops a large chunk of it for many newer types that really generate buds on both old and new wood. However, if your hydrangea isn’t blooming, improper pruning is frequently to blame. Just after the bigleaf hydrangea has finished flowering is the ideal time to prune it. The shrub will have plenty of time before winter to establish new growth and harden off.

This video will provide you with the knowledge you need to timing your cuts properly and pinpoint where to make them on the shrub if you feel that pruning your bigleaf hydrangea is necessary. Only hand pruners and possibly a pair of loppers to reach deep into the hydrangea will be required of you. Wearing safety eyewear is also advised. While trying to gaze down into the shrub, it is quite easy to poke your eye on a stem, even if you don’t think they are cool. A poke in the eye is also never appropriate.