Hydrangea care for dummies......

10 years ago

We have several mop head hydrangeas planted all along the porch of our northwest facing coastal South Carolina home. They have been there for 10 years or more, growing sporadically well on the sunnier side of the porch, and not so well on the more shaded side. Due to the many tall pines and oak trees in the yard, they get partial sun/shade throughout the day. They’ve never been very magnificent, but provided plentiful blooms. Some years we prune them back, others we don’t, with mixed results. We really don’t know even the basics of how best to care for them. We also have two oak leaf hydrangeas, two different varieties, in other areas of the yard.

This year even the plants in the more shaded area are showing progress, so I’d like to see what should be done to them to insure better growth and blossoms for next year. This year’s blooms are already fading and drying up, due to our weather conditions. Now that both DH and I are retired, we have the time and energy to devote to caring for them properly, yet need guidance on what’s best to do for them. Your tips would be most appreciated. Do we prune them in the fall, and how much?

Featured Answer

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

10 years ago

Unless they are one of the newer, reblooming forms of bigleaf hydrangea (and being in place for at least 10 years makes that a bit doubtful), any pruning should be kept to a minimum. These shrubs bloom on growth that was produced the previous season - if you prune in fall or even early spring, you will remove any latent flower buds. All you really need or should do is remove any dead wood that remains after the plant leafs out. If it gets too large or develops a lot of older, large, tough interior stems, you can do some renewal pruning. This involves removing the oldest stems/canes back to the ground but no more than a third of the overall plant at any one time. If you repeat this process for a second and third year, you will have significantly reduced the size of the shrub - at least temporarily - and it should have generated a lot of new, vigorous growth from the root crown.

Ideally, mophead or bigleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) should be sited where they receive morning sun and then shade during the hottest part of the day (generally from 2pm on in summer). That should be sufficient sunlight to encourage good blooming regardless of how heavy the afternoon shade is. They like a well-draining, rich, organic soil (lots of compost or other organic matter as mulch) and plenty of water. Other than that, there is not a lot of care required. Mophead hydrangeas in my climate grow virtually untended except for watering during hot, dry spells.

You can deadhead the old flowers if you like by just cutting under the flowerhead just above the next set of leaves. Deadheading does not encourage new flowers - what will produce flowers was already established the previous summer

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Comments (9)

October_Gardens
10 years ago
Prune to shape in late July or August only. You can remove dead wood any time and notice some immediate benefits. Also, use plenty of slow-release fertilizer. Almost any kind will do, but high phosphorus (middle number) is best. Those two things will make a huge difference!
4Heidesign thanked October_Gardens
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cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky)
10 years ago
"This year’s blooms are already fading and drying up, due to our weather conditions."

Best thing you can do for all of them is supplemental watering.
luis_pr
10 years ago
That may not help in some areas of the South; the blooms probably are just faded and spent by now. My mophead blooms opened quite early this weird year (late March); they started going downhill about 1-2 weeks ago too. Sigh. You lucky guys! :o)

A few rebloomer mopheads are now opening flower buds on new wood but they are still tiny and should be open fully in 2-3 weeks. So adding rebloomers and hydrangeas that bloom on new wood would help as they would be producing bloomage on new wood just as the old wood blooms begin to fade or a little afterwards.
4Heidesign thanked luis_pr
PRO
4Heidesign
Original Author
10 years ago
Luis, our mopheads also began blooming in March, and the downhill slide started 2 weeks ago. It’s the earliest bloom season that I can remember. There are some rebloomers, as well.

Thanks for all your tips. We hope to see some progress with these shrubs now that we have more time to tend to them.
phyllis charron
8 years ago
i live in Canada does it apply the same way
PRO
Whispering Pines Landscaping
8 years ago
Yes as gardengal48 mentioned earlier in this. As little pruning as possible is best. Cutting out the dead, diseased, and intersecting branches is good for the shrubs but leaving the oak leafs alone allows it to continue to grow on old wood.
Ann Probus
8 years ago
1 of my biggest & oldest hydrangea got to where it wasn't blooming at all, I tried everything including cutting the canes back. Nothing helped!!

Then my sister told me to dig a deep furrow around it, making it think it was being dug up & it would go into survival mode, and it worked fabulously. Now every couple yrs d/t erosion I have to trick it again, but i just fill it in w/mulch after blooms begin to level ground.

Not sure if its age or what but it works when nothing else does!
ophoenix
8 years ago
I think that the furrow provided water to the roots and drip line. Might also work if you let a hose drip slowly around the base of the shrub. lol Also, a lot less work.