I'm sorry to hear about your drought issues. I'd glady give you half to 2/3 of my rainfall for June! Anyway, I'd water it about a gallon or two a week. Not like you'd know what that is. LOL. So maybe 3-4 Liters?

Also, ANY mulch is better than none. I get Lowe's "Premium Colored Mulch" when it goes on sale for 5/$10 and it hasn't failed me yet. Basically, If you get mulch that's a bit chunky but not "nuggety", it'll last much longer than mulch that is finely shredded, because that decomposes into soil faster. My two cents...

Geez, you might want to write a Proven Winners rep about your MEGA-Pinky! That's going to bother some people if theirs get that big too! Mine started as a gallon for $10 in 2011 and it's only 5x4' - but ^that picture has me a little scared! I'm not afraid to hard-prune if I have to, though!

(I know Tim Wood / Spring Meadows did not breed Pinky Winky because it was bred by someone in Europe. There may have been some miscommunication about its ultimate size somewhere, e.g. meters to not equal feet!)

Springwood, I usually try to plant things whose ultimate size serves the function I want since pruning isn't a favorite activity and I am not young any longer. I think I saw 8'x8' as the size for PW somewhere, but obviously where it's happy, it can get bigger. I have seen far too many plants crammed up against buildings and hanging over sidewalks where someone hadn't any idea of the plant's size and hasn't kept up with pruning for whatever reason. Since there are now several lovely selections of H. paniculata that are a more restrained size, it makes sense for most folks to choose a size that will work for their application. This works for me here, since with this border I wanted to distract from the work area and solar panels visible in the first photo, so a minimum height was 6' and I wanted things full enough to make a fairly solid wall much of the year. I am starting to think about some of the littler H. paniculata for a foundation planting.

I mulch with chopped leaves in back and use free wood chips on my paths. In the front, I'm with Springwood - I use the Lowe's premium when it's two bucks a bag. There's enough small pieces that it will start to break down, and enough large chunks that it doesn't need to be replaced as often. (I thought this year's batch had larger chunks than last year's.) You can get mulch at Home Depot too!

My soil is clayish too and I added organic compost & expanded shale (or lava sand) to improve drainage. I maintain 3-4" of mulch and check in Spring/Fall if more is needed. If I happen to have pine needles or pine bark mulch, I use those but otherwise I get hardwood mulch. Depends on what do I find in stock at Lowes.

You can use the finger method to tell if it needs water or you can use a moisture meter. You can insert a finger into the soil daily early in the mornings for 2-3 weeks to a depth of 4" and water 1 gallon per watering if your finger feels dry or almost dry. Every time that you water, make a note on a wall/electronic calendar. After 2-3 weeks, review the notes and see how often you had to water. Then set the sprinkler or drip irrigation to give 1 gallon of water on the same frequency that you were using. If the temperatures go up/down a lot, try the finger method again to see if you need to tweak things.

In the summer, I increase the amt of water from 1g to 1.5g per waterings and reduce them back when the summer temps go down. Once the shrub goes dormant, you can just water once a week in dry times or once every two weeks (stop once the soil freezes).

You can skip fertilizing now (on Year 1) since the pot will probably contain those round fertilizer pellets but in Spring 2016, you can add 1/2" layer of composted manure or 1/2 cup of cottonseed meal. Or get a chemical fertilizer that is general purpose and slow release with a NPK Ratio around 10-10-10 (check the label to tell how much to use).

PW may be about to bloom if you are correct. The exact time for bloom varies but year 1's time could significantly differ from other years since the wholesaler prepped the plant to bloom at shipping time and not at the "normal" time. If you see that the flower buds look to be in the broccoli stage, that is going to be a bloom indeed. PW produces the flower buds at times that vary, maybe May thru July so, if you can, be mindful not to prune during those months. Normally, no pruning is ever required with hydrangeas but sometimes they just grow more than expected and people have to prune to keep them in the location where they are planted.

Enjoy,
Luis

I vote third for using a natural colored mulch of materia that is not real chunky. It might be called 'natural dark hemlock." or natural pine. If you can find a nursery that sells it (bark mulch) by the truckload, ask if they'll sell you a big container full for a few bucks. Use a big recycling bin or a garbage can you can pick up.

Congratulations, beginner gardener!

. Asking lots of questions will get you lots of knowledgable answers here. I hope your hydrangea brings you many blooms and much joy. May it be the first of many many plants in your gardening lifetime!

Marie (gardening 35 years and a lot slower at it than I used to be)