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Help My Hydrangeas!

Garden know is essential if you want your hydrangeas to bloom and bloom. They can be tricky to prune in order to bloom abundantly. They are particular about what kind of soil and fertilizer they receive for bloom color. Hydrangeas can be so picky about the light conditions that they prefer.This is a guide to help you prune your hydrangea plants.

There are quite a few hydrangea plant types and varieties. The white hydrangeas are the kind known as hydrangea arborescence and these bloom on “new” wood. Because hydrangea arborescence varieties bloom on “new” wood they can be pruned in the fall. They will produce new stalks in the spring which will bloom. The popular tree like hydrangeas are also white and are called paniculata hydrangeas and they benefit from fall pruning. Simple rule to follow: white blooms, fall prune.

It gets more complicated when you realize that there are other kinds of hydrangeas called hydrangea macrophyllas-these are the kind of hydrangeas that have lovely magenta to bright blue flowers Hydrangea macrophyllas bloom on “old” wood and can ONLY be pruned before Mid-July the year before. I did say this would be somewhat difficult, but not impossible?Let’s not forget oakleaf hydrangeas which are “old” wood growth bloomers. When is the optimal time to prune?? The summer before.

So now that you are totally afraid to touch your hydrangeas it’s time to tell you about what you can do to help your macrophyllas bloom in the color you like. In order to get blue blooms you will have to increase the acidity of your soil pH. To help increase soil acidity one can use pine needle mulch and put some rusty nails and coins around the base of the plant. Good luck trying to change the pH of your soil:a daunting task. Soils with less acidity and less aluminum produce pink hydrangea flowers. Incidentally if you can’t get them to bloom in exactly the right color you were hoping for you can always put a few glass gazing balls on designer gazing ball stands in the hydrangea bushes in blue or pink to get the color that way. These will look great and provide the accent of color you were attempting to get minus all the hard work.

If your hydrangeas are still looking kind of strung out it is likely that they are not getting the correct kind of light. Partial shade is recommended for hydrangea plants. Hydrangeas can of course survive in full sun, but they will look unhealthy. They can live in full shade but will be virtually bloomless. They specifically need morning sun and afternoon shade. And as the name suggests they do not do well in drought(dry) conditions so remember to water them regularly and they should grow so abundantly you can use them as a hedge to hide an unsightly air conditioning unit, or plant them around the base of a bird feeder to hide all the spent seeds.

These [helpfull] hints should help increase the abundance of flowers on your hydrangeas. It is imprtant to have some information about what hydrangea plant you have before you prune or plant it. Once you are armed with this insider knowledge you won’t be afraid to incorporate these lovely flowering shrubs into your garden because they are indeed glorious.

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