Throughout the summer, the enormous flower heads of hydrangea bushes (Hydrangea spp.) can cover a landscape with eye-catching flashes of blue, pink, or white. Most hydrangea cultivars, which are hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9, can survive a moderate winter without particular care, but they benefit from careful watering, pruning, fertilizing, mulching, and weathering over the chilly season for their spring growth and beauty. Winter doesn’t cover their stems, and if they aren’t clipped, old flower heads will turn brown.
Tip
If not removed, the dried and blackened flower heads of hydrangeas will stay that way all winter long. In the fall, hydrangeas likewise lose their leaves, but the brown stalks hold upright unless they are cut back.
How do hydrangeas fare over the winter?
The ideal places for potted hydrangeas to overwinter are garages or basements, where the temperature stays cool without freezing. The plants will go dormant, but until spring you’ll need to water the pots on occasion—roughly once a month—to keep the roots moist.
Do I need to take any extra steps to protect a hydrangea if I’m growing it outside of its proper growing zone? Should I cover them in burlap or another kind of covering like I might with other shrubs?
Giving it an additional blanket for the winter is a good idea if you’re trying to grow something in a somewhat hardy environment. You’ll likely need one or two more layers than someone who usually experiences the cold when you get off the plane from Hawaii to Minnesota in January. Burlap does offer some nice protection for the shrub, but you might also want to consider enclosing the shrub in a metal cage and stuffing the cage with pine straw or leaves before wrapping it in burlap.
How often should hydrangeas be watered over winter?
You shouldn’t have to water plants all winter long if you live somewhere that gets snow. You might need to apply once per month or so if you live in a warmer area without snow and little winter rain. You can leave it unless it’s completely dry because the plants’ water requirements are small because they aren’t growing and have no leaves. The same is true of container-grown hydrangeas. Easy as pie.
First Editions ‘Vanilla Strawberry’ Hydrangea
A panicle hydrangea called “Vanilla Strawberry” blooms from midsummer until the end of the season with sweet-colored blossoms. Cut down or shape plants in the late winter or early spring before blooms appear. Vanilla Strawberry is a standard that can grow to a height of 6 feet.
Don’t give up on it in the winter and fall. This time of year, they are intended to shed their leaves. If there isn’t snow cover, make sure it keeps hydrated all winter. The plants still need some hydration at their roots even though they are dormant. Snow cover serves as a water source as well as insulation. Make sure you have enough rain or water to get them through if you live somewhere where it doesn’t snow or doesn’t receive snow. Additionally, make sure mulch, such as wood chips, oak leaves, pine straw, or another type, is placed over the hydrangea’s base. Snow or no snow, it provides the necessary insulation as well as some extra defense against hungry rats and rabbits in the winter.
When trimming other plants in the late winter, you might be tempted to prune hydrangeas as well, but McEnaney advises that you should first identify the type of hydrangea you have before using pruning shears.
Remember, he says, to offer a minor clip in the spring if you have a reblooming or mophead hydrangea.
Late winter is the time to prune down cone-shaped hydrangeas by a third to a half. Prune a cylindrical oakleaf variety after midsummer flowering if you have one.
When in doubt, McEnaney advises against pruning in the fall.
You run the risk of jeopardizing your flowers for the following year by cutting off blooms that grow in the fall. Simply be patient and wait until spring to prune after this season’s blooms have provided you with some winter appeal.
Ask for assistance from a nearby nursery, garden center, county extension office, or even another gardener to identify it if you are unsure of the variety.
According to him, too much fertilizer can be detrimental.
The element that promotes bloom production and gives you the most value for your money is phosphorus, so seek for a fertilizer with a high concentration of it when you’re at your neighborhood garden center. Follow the instructions on the fertilizer package and avoid overfertilizing to avoid burning the root system and preventing the development of flowers. If anything, one more application of fertilizer in the middle of the summer is beneficial, but make sure to cease fertilizing by early fall.
How can I maintain a healthy winter appearance for my hydrangeas?
Winter winds and cold temperatures both have the potential to be fatal. This catch-all phrase simply denotes plant dying over the winter. The plant may perish due to the low winter temperatures or from drying out brought on by the winds.
Since hydrangeas become dormant in the winter, winter damage to hydrangeas can not become apparent until spring. If your hydrangea doesn’t produce any green shoots in March or April, it could be your first indication of harm.
Protecting the shrubs from winter’s wrath is necessary to avoid winter kill in hydrangeas, which includes the young buds on the plants. Laying down a heavy layer of mulch over hydrangeas’ root zone is a wonderful place to start with winterizing them. For this, straw works wonderfully.
Use a wire cage to enclose the shrub or construct a cage around it using sturdy posts and chicken wire for even better protection. Wrap the cage in burlap or insulating material. Additionally, you should give the plant a lot of water right before the ground freezes.
Should I trim my hydrangeas for the winter?
If and when you prune is the key to happy, healthy hydrangea flowers. Of course, fertilizing and offering the ideal environment have a lot to recommend them. However, if you don’t prune properly, your efforts will be in vain. Deadheading is not the same as trimming. Pruning refers to more drastic cutting to preserve shape or remove dead growth. However, feel free to discard spent blossoms or cut fresh ones to use in arrangements.
Hydrangeas can bloom on either fresh wood or old wood, depending on the species. The wood from which they blossom determines whether and when to prune.
Old wood-blooming hydrangeas do not require pruning and benefit from it. They’ll blossom more abundantly the next season if you leave them alone. But feel free to deadhead or gently thin. Just keep in mind that while new growth may appear, it won’t bloom until the following season. In our region, four different species blossom on aged wood. Additionally, they are not limited to the hues displayed here.
Climb using suckers. On your wall or trellis, resist the desire to remove the dormant growth.
The flower heads are more conical in appearance, and the leaves are large and resemble oak leaves. It’s a pleasant surprise for a hydrangea when its leaves turn reddish-orange in the fall.
They are very comparable to lacecap types, but smaller and with more compact leaves.
Pruning should be done in late winter or early spring on hydrangeas that bloom on new wood. Trim back to two feet to prune to shape. The next season’s blossoms are produced by strong, fresh growth that is encouraged by trimming. In our region, there are two types that bloom on fresh wood. They are also not restricted to the colors displayed.
Oakleaf variants are not included in cone-shaped blooms. Keep the blooms on throughout the winter to provide interest; even dried out, they are quite lovely.
regarded as a wild kind. They often have smaller blooms and leaves than Bigleaf variants and are completely white. They enjoy full sun and can grow very tall.
Knowing whether or when to prune now will help you avoid the disappointment of a hydrangea that doesn’t blossom. Don’t forget that a robust shrub will produce more gorgeous blossoms if it has well-draining soil and good organic fertilizer. Come on in, and we’ll show you where to go to develop your green thumb.
After the winter, what should you do with hydrangeas?
Hydrangeas are stunning flowering plants with showy flowers that provide color and drama to the summer garden, but if they don’t receive the right care and attention, they may be finicky. Late winter hydrangea care must be done correctly. Disappointment might result from improper pruning, other typical blunders, challenging weather, and more. Fortunately, my radio guest this week, Lorraine Ballato, is an authority in hydrangeas who can assist you in overcoming the most difficult hydrangea problems.
Lorraine is a hydrangea expert, lecturer, writer, and photographer who specializes in gardens. In fact, she wrote the book Success with Hydrangeas: A Gardener’s Guide on hydrangea maintenance. She claims that hydrangeas are one of those plants that have a bit of a diva complex and are picky about how gardeners care for them. She advises gardeners to remember that what works in one area won’t necessarily be the ideal strategy in another. The ideal winter care for a hydrangea in Washington may be the worst possible care for one in North Carolina. And various hydrangea kinds have varied requirements, she continues.
Hydrangea Care in Deer Country
In zone 5b, where Lorraine resides, March is a chilly month. There are two to three feet of snow on the ground, and she can see deer footprints there, indicating that they are out grazing.
“If you live anywhere near deer habitat, Lorraine advises that you get outside and spray as soon as it warms up and becomes dry since this is the time of year when they really start to destroy everything. Before all the snow melts and before the does give birth, you may teach the deer that your garden is not their salad bar. The deer are hungry and pregnant. Don’t wait; the does will teach the fawns where to eat.
When using sprays, make sure you are facing the wind “Lorraine advises, and she means it, “You don’t want to be downwind of any deer spray that you use.” Any clothing you are wearing should be washed as soon as you are through spraying.
There are systemic deer repellents in addition to spray repellents. When plants are actively growing, systemics are sprayed. Through their roots, the plants absorb substances like denatonium benzoate, which gives the leaves a harsh flavor that keeps deer away. These can be used on ornamental plants but are not intended for food crops.
I live in zone 7b, where dormant plants will soon begin to leaf out, which is simply food for deer. I don’t have deer fences on my land, therefore my family of 13 deer feel free to roam about. You can listen to my chat with landscape design expert Karen Chapman about how she keeps deer away from the plants on her remote property in the Pacific Northwest for fence-free ideas to avoid deer from devouring your food garden and beautiful plants.
These 13 deer like my fence-free land and will soon be enjoying the dormant shrubs that are just beginning to leaf out. Here are a few of them.
Prepare Before Pruning
Make sure you have the appropriate instruments for the job, that they are all sharp and clean, before beginning to prune shrubs. Cutting can spread infections that were on tools that had contact with infected plant material the previous year.
In order to avoid the spread of diseases, Lorraine also suggests cleaning pruning equipment thoroughly before and after each plant. She uses rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle or antiseptic wipes. She does not advise using bleach because it will corrode metal surfaces.
Pruners come in two varieties, each of which is used for a distinct job. With a motion similar to a pair of scissors, a bypass pruner passes its blades by one another. A dull side of an anvil pruner is crushed by a sharp blade that presses down on it.
Anything that is alive should be chopped with a bypass pruner. Lorraine advises cutting at a 45-degree angle since it will result in a good, clean cut. Deadwood can be cut using an anvil pruner in the meanwhile. She cautions that using one on live wood will damage the plant.
Give anything that is alive a nice, clean cut with a bypass pruner. To cut, Lorraine advises a 45-degree angle. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Bear in mind that although appearing to be dead, branches are actually alive. Some gardeners make the error of believing the top growth on their hydrangeas is completely dead, so they chop it all the way down. According to Lorraine, they pulled off all of the flower buds that were going to bloom that year, which is how they end up with a green bush devoid of blooms.
The scratch test is what Lorraine employs to determine whether a plant component is alive or dead: If the stem turns green after being scratched, it is alive. It is dead if the urine turns brown.
To see if a stem is still green, use the scratch test. It is dead if the urine turns brown. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
According to Lorraine, every cut a gardener makes will encourage new growth. In the spring, pruning before the temperature has warmed up can make a plant wake up too early. That will deprive the plant of the energy it needs to really emerge from hibernation, and the new growth will be more susceptible to the cold. The plant will be more vulnerable to pests and disease if it dies back.
Take care of that decayed, ill, or damaged wood if you’re in a warmer climate, Lorraine advises. If you don’t feel like pruning right now, she suggests going fishing instead.
Even on a 50-degree day, according to Lorraine, ice, snow, and cutting instruments don’t mix. The wait will benefit the plants the most, and it is not worth the risk.
Hydrangeas shouldn’t be pruned before the last date of the last frost since pruning encourages development, and new growth is readily harmed in cold weather. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
New-Wood Hydrangeas and Old-Wood Hydrangeas
Not all hydrangeas grow in the same ways. Some flower on the fresh growth of the year, whilst old-wood varieties flower on the growth of the year before.
A fresh-wood hydrangea will develop new buds and then bloom if you prune it in the spring. However, spring trimming on an old-wood hydrangea will eliminate the flower buds, so the plant won’t bloom that year. If you must prune old-wood varieties, do so as soon as their summer flowering buds appear. Search for the “broccoli, claims Lorraine. That is how buds appear as they approach blossoming. Leave the broccoli alone and only remove obviously sick or dead wood.
On an old-wood kind, the buds start to resemble broccoli as they get closer to blossoming. Only remove sick or dead wood, leaving the healthy wood alone “broccoli unbroken. The red-circled bud is dead and can be removed without risk. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Clues to Identify Hydrangeas
Some examples of new-wood hydrangeas include panicle hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata), such as Limelight, and woodland or smooth hydrangeas (Hydrangea arborescens), such as Annabelle, Incrediball, and Invincibelle. However, you might not be familiar with the name of the hydrangeas you have if you didn’t choose them yourself. Perhaps you received plants when you moved into a new home. In that situation, Lorraine advises against taking any action the first year, saying that it is best to wait until you have a firm grasp of your garden’s capabilities.
A significant focal point in the landscape, this Hydrangea paniculata “Tardiva” has been trimmed into a tree form. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
To tell if a hydrangea blooms on fresh wood or old wood, there are a few signs to watch for. For instance, a panicle hydrangea, a new-wood type, may have conical-shaped blooms, but it’s also important to check at the foliage. Hydrangea quercifolia, popularly known as oakleaf hydrangea, is an old-wood bloomer that can also produce conical blooms.
The conical-shaped Snow Queen hydrangea blooms on mature growth and has oak-leaf shaped leaves. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Bigleaf hydrangeas are always going to be blue or turn blue when exposed to a soil acidifier (Hydrangea macrophylla). The Endless Summer kinds of bigleaf hydrangeas bloom on both old wood and new growth, unlike most of them which only bloom on old wood.
Bigleaf hydrangeas with mopheads, or pink pompom blossoms, are sometimes mistaken for mountain hydrangeas (Hydrangea serrata). On aged wood, mountain hydrangeas bloom.
The hydrangea serrata “Blue Billow” is more than merely lovely. Additionally, it is the hydrangea kind that tolerates shadow the best. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Lacecap (flat) blooms on hydrangeas could indicate either a mountain or a bigleaf variety, therefore they are insufficient justification for taking action. To get a better sense, Lorraine advises looking at the foliage, or spending the season watching the plant and noting when it flowers and how it grows. Does it alter its color? Can it bloom again?
Japanese highlands are the source of mountain hydrangeas, which are more resilient. Even in years when it was too cold for other types to blossom, they can.
Mountain or bigleaf hydrangeas with lacecap (flat) blooms are both possible. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
How to Care for a Reblooming Hydrangea
Rebloomers should not be pruned at the beginning of spring; instead, treat them like old-wood-only hydrangeas. However, there is a way to promote additional blooms because they have the ability to set out flower buds for that season on new growth as well. Cutting off the dead stem tips will allow growth hormones to migrate up the plant when the terminal flower, which is the blossom at the stem’s tip, dies. Flowers will then grow up the stem’s sides.
Reblooming hydrangeas should be treated as old-wood-only hydrangeas and shouldn’t be pruned in the early spring. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Lorraine claims that flower buds on old wood simply won’t survive the winter in extremely cold places, like Minnesota. The correct course of action in those situations is to remove the rebloomers from the garden in April or early May and promote new growth that will bloom later, in mid-July or August.
If cold-climate gardeners grow hydrangeas that only produce new buds once a year, they might never see flowers. Reblooming or continuously blooming hydrangeas are the best option for colder climates because of this, in Lorraine’s opinion. (Blue Enchantress is her favorite prolific rebloomer.)
A rebloomer is a blue enchantress hydrangea, for instance. When the stem’s tip is clipped, fresh flower buds will grow up it. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Sun, Shade and Hydrangeas
In the past, hydrangeas were not sun-tolerant. Some more recent cultivars can survive full sun, but only to a certain extent.
According to Lorraine, it is not possible to grow bigleaf, mountain, oakleaf, and climbing hydrangeas in full light in the South. They’ll burn up. The panicle hydrangea, which adores the sun, is the only variety of hydrangea that can tolerate full light wherever it grows.
Bigleaf and mountain hydrangeas thrive in partial sunlight, ideally in the morning.
Typically, hydrangeas thrive in partial sun. Hydrangeas can burn in full sun, particularly in the South. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Wind and Hydrangeas
Lorraine claimed that it took her almost ten years to realize how crucial it is to shield hydrangeas from wind in a chilly region. A fence, a shed, or a tree or plant with winter-enduring foliage, such as an azalea or rhododendron, will shield the cold winds that damage flower buds.
It’s crucial to provide hydrangeas with winter wind protection, whether it be in the form of a fence, a shed, or a plant with evergreen foliage. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Watering Hydrangeas Without Drowning Them
Gardeners frequently flood the area with water as hydrangea foliage starts to wilt in the midday sun. Instead, Lorraine advises taking a break and coming back later. If the soil is properly amended with plenty of compost and a thick layer of mulch, the foliage will rehydrate and perk back up after the sun has been off the plants for a bit.
A plant can temporarily shelter itself from the hot sun by collapsing its leaf. Hours later, there may be a problem if the foliage has not revived. Other plants might be absorbing the water more quickly than the hydrangea can, or the soil may not be storing moisture.
Plants use droopy leaves as a defense against the intense sun. Wait a few hours before dousing it in water; the foliage will revive spontaneously after that. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Propagate Hydrangeas Through Layering
A stem that touches the ground provides a chance for hydrangeas to be easily propagated. It’s possible that anything hindered the stem’s growth or that it became too heavy. It is ready to be divided into a new plant for any cause.
Give the stem’s underside a cut in the spring, then place a rock on top to weigh it down and keep it in contact with the ground. Give it a tug in July to uncover all the roots that have emerged from the cut. You now have a rooted slice that is prepared for transplantation.
If a stem is in contact with the ground, layering can be used to create new plants. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.