Hydrangea Hydrangea I finally go them to go.

[ktsb]

I LOVE Hydrangeas. I just got my back yard put in (new house) and I put in as many hydrangeas as I could. I'm in an area that has a very dry hot summer so I put the hydrangeas in areas that got mostly shade.

They've grown like crazy since they were planted in March but I want to be sure they look as good year after year.

I understand pruning them in the winter is the key to how they come back every year.

Anyone familiar with how to prune them?

[Lizard]

Our neighbors have a beautiful hydrangea, and every fall they snip it WAY down... like down to 2 feet high or so. Basically they take off all the branches and leave a little stub of a bush. Hydrangeas grow like crazy! They did this last year and already the bush is probably 5 feet high and covered in blooms.

[~queen~]

I just put one in this year and I love them so far - but they need so much WATER! Ugh! I'm watering it literally every day and as the blooms continue, it needs even more! I also started cutting down some of the blooms to keep it under control and enjoy them in my house :)

I also plan to cut back some of the newly grown branches after the blooming season is over. Since my bush was completely bare when I brought it, I can see that it can easily overgrow if not contained a bit.

[Phen]

I hear that deadheading them during the season will encourage new blooms, too.

~ Phen

[Delaney21]

I loooovee hydrangeas!! I don't know about deadheading them because mine seem to bloom all season. Maybe it is a different hybrid of hydrangea though.

I have 9 at my house but I'm having trouble with one. (Sorry if this is hyjacking!) One of the plants has very light yellow/green leaves. I have been putting acid on them to try to darken them up a bit, but its not helping. I only put the acid on once a week because I dont want to over do it and kill it. But they keep getting lighter and the ends of the leaves are starting to die. What am I doing wrong? Am I not putting enough acid on them?

[bea_mama]

This may be a dumb question, Delaney, but you are putting the acid in the soil not on the plant, right?

[Delaney21]

Well the directions on the box of the acid say to mix it with water, then wet the leaves with it and pour the rest of it on the roots. Maybe I'm putting too much on the leaves? But why is it only that one that's having problems? If I was doing something wrong, you would think that they would all be suffering from it.

[babylove]

Just another perspective here....my dad has a HUGE hydrangea bush that he does absolutely NOTHING to every year and it's gorgeous. It has tons of blooms every spring/summer and I know that he doesn't prune it or anything other than water it. It's in a very shady area too.

We just had 2 hydrangea planted in our front yard last September and they grew like weeds this Spring and now have little blooms....after reading this thread, I am so conflicted about how to care for them!

[Oakley]

I'm planning planting hydrangeas next year because they are so gorgeous. I'll be reading along to see how to care for them also!

[sbgirl]

I plan on planting a couple in my front yard as well

Site about pruning (http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/pruning.html)

[MeTheGirlie]

Mine died!~ I'm zone 6 and I'm not sure what I did wrong...you do "mostly shade" or "sun to shade" does that mean "morning sun" Ugh, I'm so confused.

[ShannonGH]

Some varieties of hydrangeas grow from old wood so if you have one of those, definitely don't prune it. I have Endless Summer. It grows from both old and new wood so I don't do a thing to it (other than deadheading it).

Edited to say that as much as I love hydrangeas, I don't know if I'd grow one again. I'm sick of all the freaking watering!!!

[vwinkel]

I hear you can grow a new hydrangea bush from just the leaf of an existing plant? Does anyone know about this?

[ktsb]

So now we know they are tricky guys. Mine were put in just this March along with the rest of our backyard (new house) by a landscaper so I'm assuming they are not from old wood but then again who knows.

MeTheGirlie mine are in morning sun and florishing. Of course we have not had much heat this year and our just now getting it so I'm crossing my fingers. I do have them on a drip set for twice a day.

Delaney I also have the Miracle Grow acid treatment which does say to get the leaves wet too even though that seems odd to me.

It would probably help if we all identify what zone we live in. I was just in Cape Cod and they really love it there. I think they grow like weeds in some areas and are tricky in others such as mine (zone 9).

I do think I will just dead head it this year and see what happens.

[Lizard]

Some varieties of hydrangeas grow from old wood so if you have one of those, definitely don't prune it. I have Endless Summer. It grows from both old and new wood so I don't do a thing to it (other than deadheading it).

Oh wow, thanks for the info Shannon! I didn't know this was the case. We have LOTS of neighbors with hydrangeas and they all cut them way down in the fall. If I get one, I'll have to check what variety they have.

By the way, I'm in zone 4. Everyone seems to have a hydrangea around here. I think they're lovely but I can't convince my DH of that fact. :)

Here is my favorite Hydrangea pic... I found it on the web and have been keeping it for inspiration. :):

http://members.cox.net/lcruver/hydrangeas.jpg

[ktsb]

Oh My!!! That is amazing Lizard Mine don't come past my knees yet.

[nordey]

Hi KTSB! My un-MIL has 2 huge hydrangea bushes in her front yard and she trims them all the way back to just a stump in the fall and each year they come back bigger (with more blooms) than before.

Good luck (can't wait to see them!)

[ktsb]

Come over anytime Nordey!! ;)

[kemaji]

I have 4 different varieties of hydrangeas and I love them all! Some grow faster than others (like my snowball hydrangea, which grows like mad). My neighbor has a Japanese climing hydrangea that she got this year and it is a very slow grower. As long as you are pruning according to the variety you have planted, you should be fine.

[Phen]

I'm in zone 7 and the "Endless Summer" variety I planted about two weeks ago are growing like mad.

Here's the description for Endless Summer (which I found at both our local WalMart and Home Depot nurseries):
The first Hydrangea macrophylla that blooms on both old and new wood. Flowers virtually all season long and is hardy to zone 4. Endless Summer® will produce magnificent pink to grape to blue blooms depending on the pH of your soil. Alkaline - pH 6-7 will produce pink blooms. Acidic soil - pH 5-5.8 will produce blue ones. For blue add aluminum sulfate to the soil

~ Phen