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hayseedman

overwintering Hydrangea macrophylla winter protection

hayseedman
19 years ago

More than you wanted to know.

About this time of year, if you look in the leaf axils of new wood, you'll see a very small bud that might just be barely noticable. But, if it hasn't done so already, the ones at the tip of the cane and especially the ones toward the top of the cane will start to swell up and by the time frost arrives, these top most buds will be the size of a small bean. If you should be so lucky to get these buds through the winter and spring, then next year a cane will grow from these buds, a cane that could be a foot long with several pairs of leaves, terminating with a beautiful flower.

This comes from Michael Dirr's book, Manual of Woody Landscape Plants: Hydrangea Macrophylla and Serattas.

"HARDINESS: Zone 6 to 9, does not do well in Zone 5 unless extremely well sited, as one goes south and east this becomes a very common plant; however, in the northern states it is rare to see it in full flower; qualification is necessary for I have seen the plant in Urbana, IL withstand -20 F; it never flowered, but did come back from the crown to produce a respectable mound of foilage; since flowers are set (largely) on last year's growth, if the shoots are killed then flowering is history; I have seen the most magnificent flowering specimens on Cape Cod; in Zone 8, Athens, where the plant should prosper, 2 flowering years out of 3 might be considered good; the plant is soft and succulent and does not harden and the tops of the plant are killed."

Sound familiar?

The weather at Cape Cod is moderated by the ocean. For Cape Cod, the daily swing in the temperature might be 14 degrees, but for you and me it might be 21 degrees. In a week or a month it's the same thing. I remember going out to the beach in the late spring and realizing that it was downright cold out there. I think of the beach as hot because it's usually mid summer when I might go, but this trip woke me up to the realization that it's slow to warm up in the spring, and slow to get cold in the fall. Everything was late to bloom at the shore. I imagine that must be the kind of environment in which Hydrangea Macrophylla must have evolved in the islands of Japan.

"Roses can take hot, Roses can take cold. What they can't take is hot, cold, hot, cold...." I think of this when I'm thinking about overwintering my hydrangeas.

Even though we talk about overwintering hydrangeas, I think it's worth while to make the point upfront that the trickiest part of this whole business is the spring and you should pay really close attention to your plant in the spring. In my earliest attempts I would get the plant through the winter, only to kill it off in the spring. That hurts when you only get one chance each year. When your buds break dormancy in the Spring, it takes just the least amount of frost to zap them. They are sooooo tender. Don't forget.

You might be interested in this article about zones. If you're by the ocean and are in a zone 5/6 just like me, you have a tremendous advantage over me for growing hydrangeas.

I thought these were interesting comments make in this forum last Spring:

oooooooooooooooooooooo

"Zones!!!!

Posted by kars z7 LI, NY (My Page) on Sat, May 24, 03 at 8:47

I see many discussions on zones looking back through the forums. I am on the south shore of Long Island's east end, less than a mile from the water. We are considered zone 7. My mother lives about 30 miles west of me, towards the city and she is in the center if the island, about 15 miles from the south shore and 10 miles form the north shore. On any average winter day I am 5-10 degrees warmer than her. I even went and checked my thermometer against hers. Sometimes when it is snowing at her house it is raining at mine. Sometimes it is snowing north of me towards the north shore and raining by me. The norht shore gets the cold north wind, even though it is coming off the water (Long Island Sound)it changes the micro climate. That wind does not seem to effect me though. I've had days in the late winter when the wind is out of the north and changes to the south and the temps can change by 10 degrees or more. Plus the water seems to stabilize the temps.

Also the reverse is true for the summers. I often get comments from visiting friends that as they came within a distance to my house they had to roll the windows up cause it was chilly. This could be on a 70-80F day.

========================

Posted by: fdutra 7 maritime (fdutra1@attbi.com) on Sun, May 25, 03 at 7:46

Botanically speaking, the "true" Hydrangea macrophylla is considered a maritime species, originating from the near coastal regions and smaller islands of Japan's eastern shore. Since nearly all garden/landscape macrophyllas are hybrids originate from this stock, it's not surprising that Long Island's near coastal regions have an advantage when it comes to raising hydrangeas. It's more than just the higher average winter temps that help with overall plant survival and bud hardiness. That +/-10 degree moderating affect from the ocean makes a big difference when it comes to early and late frosts. Seasonably cooler temps in the spring help to keep budding hydrangeas in check, often avoiding that late spring killer frost that often wreaks havoc further South and inland. When they are developing next years flowers in the fall, the warming effect of the ocean will offer some protection from an early frost/freeze. The cooling effect of ocean breezes in the summer, along with frequent fog and higher than average relative humidity doesn't hurt them any either. A few miles inland can make a big difference as you noted, so I guess I'll be staying with the old maps and their confusing micro climates out here on Nantucket.

==================

Posted by: kars z7 LI, NY (My Page) on Sun, May 25, 03 at 11:44

fdutra - Good points. We usually do not get our first freeze until late December or later. Often not until January. Often when my mother wakes up to frost on the lawn I do not. This year my mother had snow in April but it was rain by me. A few miles north of me, farther inland there was snow on the ground. The temp stayed around 34 at my house. I am still amazed at how a mile or two can make a difference. There is a home on the bay that has a row of hydrangea at least 60 feet long. They look incredible in the summer. They seem to handle the winds and salt spray very well.

Ohh and that fog, many a night it rolls in around dusk and takes the morning sun an hour to clear it out."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I guess that is what we would like to duplicate if we want to get Hydrangea Macrophyllas to flower for us.

My most successful technique for overwintering is to either have the plant already in a pot (some in 15 gallon pots, some in less than a gallon.) or else I'll dig up the plant in the fall and use a 30 gallon size plastic bag which I don't open but instead just lay down as it is. I place the plant on top and tie the corners of the bag in a way that makes a snug enclosure for the root ball, the look of a balled and burlaped plant. I'll jab a few holes at the bottom for drainage. I think this is a better way than trying to put them into a pot. I wouldn't try this with an old, established plant, but it's easy enough for younger ones, and if you do it repeatedly, the root ball will stay tighter. Then I drive them out to my friend's house at the beach....If only, huh? I forgot... I use these same plastic bags to tie around the gathered up canes so that I have a more compact plant to deal with. Just like a piece of rope or twine, but less likely to cut into the plant.

I gather dry leaves and bag them in these same 30 gallon plastic bags. Next summer I can use the leaves as a mulch or a compost ingredient or keep them to use again. Many of them will get wet and some of these will eventually rot to nice leaf mold, right in the plastic bag. But for this winter, I'll use the leaf bags to make a corral by stacking them up. The old wet ones can go on the bottom. It doesn't need to be very tall, just enough to enclose these plants after they're laid down. Couple of feet, maybe. They might want to slip and slide, but you can lay some boards or limbs or something across a span of them to tie them all together. I do a lot, so I might end up with a space that's 15 feet by 6 feet by 2 feet tall.

I lay my plants down inside. I stack them and layer them some. I'm aiming for the sardine look. I usually put boards on top of the corral around the perimeter and then lay other boards across the top of everything trying to create a lattice over which I can spread one layer of these bags of leaves. Now I've got the plants laid down and enclosed by these bags of dry leaves. When it gets very cold later on, I will put a sheet of plastic over all this.

In the spring, I want to keep the plants inside this enclosure for as long as I can. I want them to stay dormant for as long as they can.

But at the point I bring them out, I hope that there is no forecast of a frost and hope that I have a good shot at not having another frost for the season. That's ideal. The plants will start putting out growth before I'd like to bring them out and this new growth will be your basic white with a tinge of yellow. That's what happens when they don't have any light at all. I can get a leafy stem that is several inches long. This is not a problem and the plant will do just fine even if I left it to grow inside this dark place. The real problem I have is that the plants are bound up and laying on their side. As this new growth comes in, it wants to go up, but since the plant is laying down, that's really sideways.Mabye I could deal with that, but since they're bound up, the new growth gets all entangled and when I unwrap it, it's difficult to untangle.

On the day I take them out, I check the weather forecast for as far as the eye can see. Just the kind of forecast you wouldn't want is what I want to see. We might have had a few nice warm spells, but I'm looking for weather that is on the chilly side but not freezing, wet and overcast. Don't run out on the first nice warm days of spring and throw everything off. ( If I could, I might throw more insulation on when we get those warm days). These plants need to be acclimated to the outside world and if you hadn't seen the light of day for months, you'd appreciate taking it nice and slow.

For a while, I'll leave them laying down, keeping an eye on the forecast. I might cover them with just a sheet of plastic if there is going to be a cold night. I've covered some that were in sunny location on some afternoons when it was very sunny, but last winter I had a group under some maple trees that leafed out just as I was uncovering them and the dappled shade was just perfect.

Mostly because they're growing sideways I'll feel that I need to stand them up and I'll look for a forecast of no frost for the foreseeable future. It never seems to work out that way and I'll need to lay them back down with a sheet over them . Remember that they're very, very sensitive at this point . One frost and they're gone. That being the case, I end up laying them down even if there is a threat of frost, meaning that I lay them down many times when no frost actually occurs.

Finally I think I'm safe and I'll untie and untangle them.

I think it's interesting that I don't get any rodent damage. They might dig into the soil, but I don't think I've ever seen a single bud eaten. The bark doesn't seem to be harmed. I've tried to overwinter other shrubs in this mound, and the bark gets peeled right off and the plants die. These plants show up on some poison lists. (I know, I know, the deer love them. What can I say? For me, I've never seen any deer damage either, but I know it's common. )

And it surprised me that plants can send up new growth even if there is no light. I've overwintered other plants in different ways and I've now seen this a lot. You bring a plant out into the real world slowly and it will green up and be just fine. Don't get all crazy thinking that because you've got all this white new growth you've got to get the plant out quickly. It's OK. I had a hydrangea in a dark cellar send up a white flower in March. I kept it down there for another month and it was still just fine after I slowly brought it out.

I make sure they go in well watered and they come out just as moist as they went in. Just like it's always damp around the ocean, that is a very damp environment they're in.

I have usually put my plants away before they've dropped their leaves. Other people's comments suggest that I put them in way to early, but that's the way I've done it. The leaves can end up pretty slimey before Spring and you'd think that all this mess couldn't be very healthful, but I haven't noticed any problem yet.

I've gotten very fond of using hydrangeas in pots. Big ones, small ones, whatever. They're great for a terrace plant. Start to Finish. I drop big pots and medium size ones in a border. A pretty pot is nice, but a black plastic pot will disappear to the eye. The pot gives them the extra height they need when they flop. And they're easier to overwinter in a pot. This mound is the best technique for me, but there are other ways that I've tried.

I've overwintered some in a cellar that wasn't really all that cold. It was dark. They did just fine. Being so warm, they broke dormancy in February, sending up white new growth and even a flower or two. I ended up with flowers lots sooner than otherwise. I think I'd like an environment a lot closer to freezing. I would imagine that the ideal might be right around freezing or lower. Once I tried overwintering some in an unheated, uninsulated room that got below freezing. The root ball froze and it seemed like the buds just sort of got freeze dried. I wonder if the plant would have survived a frozen root ball if it had been in a very wet environment like the ocean or under my mound.

I overwintered some in a crawl space that was insulated enough to keep exposed water pipes from freezing.

I've had pretty good luck overwintering them on the steps of a cellar leading in from the outside.

Somewhere you should be able to find a good spot around your property. Maybe an unheated, enclosed garage. Maybe you can lay one down along your foundation and put a couple of bags of leaves on top. Camoflauge it with a piece of burlap.

I haven't done it, but I bet you could mound a layer of shreded wood chips over them. Other people have had good luck using wood chips with ones they overwintered in the ground, so I can't imagine that they wouldn't work for a pot. Wood chips would be insulating, moist, and breathable.

I once saw some people talking in the Northern Gardeners forum about burying other plants in the ground for the winter. Would that work for hydrangeas? Might.

I wonder what would happen if you dropped a bound up plant into a big garbage can and then filled it with dry white pine needles. You could set this inside a garage maybe.

People all over suburbia are putting their bags of leaves out on the curb in the fall. Maybe they could stack a few around the shed out back or behind the garage or someplace like that to cover their hydrangeas.

Lay a few on their sides and cover with some chicken wire and then mound leaves over the top. That might work and a small pile of leaves around wouldn't be such an eyesore.

000000000000000000

My very first technique was to basically do the same thing, only do it with the plant still in the ground. I'd get half filled bags of dry leaves. (Half because they were smaller and I could manipulate them better). When it's looking like the thermometer would be going down to below 25 degrees I'll insulate them. I think I do it too soon, but that's what I do. The leaves are still on the plant.

I will gather and tie up the canes so that I have a small column. With stout wire, maybe six feet tall, I'll make a cage around this plant leaving about a foot or more of space around the plant. I'll place these bags of leaves around the plant, turning them upside down so that water is less likely to get in to the leaves. I leave cracks intentionally so that the plant can breathe a little. At the top I usually lash down some bags.

In the spring, I slowly acclimate them out. Take off some bags from the north side. Then some on the south side. You don't need to take off the bottom bags until the very end, but be prepared to cover the plant back up if a frost looks likely. I leave it bound up until the very end and sometimes, after it's all uncovered, I've gone out and wrapped it with plastic or put a plastic bag over it or even an old blanket if it looks like a late spring frost.

My most ambitious project was to overwinter five very old hydrangea that were in an L with a fence on one side and a shed on the other. I bound up the plants, and then pressed them down as hard as I could to get them lower. Put a fence around to finish the enclosure and placed bags of leaves around. Lots of leaves. Finally I put enough loose leaves around and over them to create the impression of a bin of leaves. Not quite so ugly. It worked.

Many people do what I do with the wire and then just fill the space with loose leaves. I've done this a couple of times and failed. I packed them in much too tight once and the plant looked like it rotted. Last winter I used oak leaves because they're supposed to stay fluffy and dry longer but it was a record cold winter for us and they didn't make it.

I know many people have mentioned using wood chips. . That makes sense to me. I've seen people talk about using a trash can with it's bottom cut out and placed around the plant. Then they put wood chips in around the plant.

Here are some pictures for you. I'm linking so that those on a slow connection won't have problems waiting so long.

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I'm tired of talking and I'm sure you're tired of reading.So, enough. Good luck.

Comments (104)

  • yellowgirl
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hay,

    Sorry to hear about your cuttings but congrats on your overwintering project, it looks like a success. I was surprised to see them all in containers. Are all of your hydrangeas grown in containers or do you dig them up in the fall? .....yg

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Many of them are in containers, but I've got lots and lots that are dug up in the fall. I wrap the root ball with a sheet of plastic, just like you'd do with a piece of burlap. The first picture is with just a small portion of the top removed. There's lots more in there. Hay.

  • yellowgirl
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, that's a lot of work for the love of hydrangeas!!! I guess that also answers the questions for once and for all about how well they handle being transplanted. They are proving to be a much more adaptable plant than most give them credit for. Then again, sometimes I think you just make it look easy!!!....yg

  • tree_oracle
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I just took the hay/oak leaf protection off of my hydrangeas this past weekend. They look really good. Some branches from each plant were sticking out of this protective layer and were killed during the winter. The parts of each plant in the protective layer look great and are putting on new leaves. I think I'll see quite a few blooms this year. It will be worth all of the efforts to protect/deprotect the plants if I get blooms out of it.

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I mentioned to Nantucket Hydrangea the loss of so many of my plants that I had tried to overwinter in my house in a very cold room. He has to overwinter thousands and I thought he might have some insights for me. And he did. I'll share them with you.

    It has been my experience that hydrangeas, as well
    as most other plants respond well to challenge... that is to say the
    sometimes harsh and variable conditions encountered in their natural
    environments. Time after time I have tried to protect some rare or
    valuable cutting/plant only to have them succumb while their cohorts
    which I ignored and left outside unprotected have thrived. I have had
    this beaten into me and still resist at times, but I'm beginning to
    catch on. You may be able to get away with blooming a developed plant
    inside for a couple of months, or keeping them inside in a very cold
    room for a couple of months in the winter, but once they get the urge
    to grow you need to be prepared to get them out into a cold frame
    before they bud out and lose their dormancy and antifreeze, and then
    keep them from getting too cold when the temp suddenly dips below 25.


    I have the advantage of being set up to overwinter en masse. When
    handling thousands, a few dead ones aren't noticed, plus I'm set up
    for it. I leave them out till first freeze which prunes off the
    leaves and weaker shoots. Then bring them under/provide cover for the
    worst of the winter, back out in the spring (Roll up
    sides/coldframes) with shade cloth/wind breaks wherever needed. This
    rough treatment not only culls out the weak, but produces a much
    healthier plant than your ever going to get from a greenhouse grower...

    .... but I would stop babying your plants.
    Think of it like a really bad way of teaching a kid to swim... Throw
    them out into the middle of the deep end of the pool and let them
    sink or swim,,, just don't let them drown! You might end up with
    burnt leaves, broken stems, and tattered foliage, but in 2 months you
    will have one tough, good looking hombre ready to take on whatever's
    coming down the pike.

    Live and learn. Hay.

  • yellowgirl
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for that Hay. I think I am starting to agree with the "stop babying your plants" mentality. As he said, it's easier said than done but time after time the semi-neglected plant in my garden seems to out-do the "babies" . If I'm not careful, I find myself working and analyzing too much and taking in and enjoying the beauty too little..........yg

  • hydrangea2
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hayseedman:

    I was totally captivated by your posts. I too am a hydrangeaholic but live in Zone 4! I was thinking of overwintering a florists hydrangea in my cold cellar. Since you say it doesn't need light, do you think this should be successful? What do think about watering etc.
    Would very much appreciate advice.

  • hydrangea2
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yellowgirl:

    I have been trying to search things on the net re: maximum temperature for overwintering hydrangeas and minimum dormancy period but have not been able to.

    Since I live in Zone 4 and would like to keep my florist's hydrangea I thought asking you about hydrangeas in FLorida might be worthwhile. Yours probably stay evergreen. Wondering what you know about how long their dormant period is and how cool it is. I have a few options for mine, garage with a window for a few weeks or cold cellar where it doesn't go below freezing but no light.

    Somehow, I think there must be a way to get these beautiful plants to come back.

    Would appreciate any information you can provide.

  • yellowgirl
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My understanding is that they need 8 to 12 weeks between setting buds and blooming. My plants do go dormant (kind of). I have had blooms (still blue) on New Years. February is probably the most dormant month down here. I say "most dormant" because my buds never really harden all the way. Even though the leaves fall off, etc. my buds stay in more of a tender state until they open fully again in April. So that pretty much fits the 8 - 12 week principle. Hope that helps. I know nothing about keeping the plant in the garage or basement but I have read other posters on this site say they have done this. Just don't forget to give it water from time to time. As an aside, you say that you are looking to do this with a "florist" hydrangea. Florist types are tricky to keep alive under the best of circumstances as they are not sold with long term health/growth in mind so beware that you have an additional challenge in that regard. Good luck.....yg

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You can overwinter these in the cellar. In my first post you'll find lots of pictures of some that I've overwintered thio way. It works. It's not as good as the mounds I do because the cellar doesn't stay very cold and the plant wants to take off way before it's time to go outside. It still works (and if you really like hydrangeas like me you can go down in March or so and watch the new flower coming out. It'll be white.)

    You can get an idea of the dormancy needs by the timing of my cellar blooms.


    And your flowering will be a whole lot earlier than ones kept in a colder place.


    Good luck to you. {{gwi:1014043}}

  • lsimms
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Knowledge like yours is the reason I asked GardenWeb to add an Hydrangea forum. Thanks.

  • hydrangea2
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yellowgirl and Hayseedman...you are both wonderful to help me out! Thanks so much as I am hydrangea crazy and for years have been frustrated until the higher powers sent us Endless Summer which I am so ever grateful for.
    So, Hayseedman, if I water it well before placing it in the cellar and no light, it will tell me when it's ready by pushing out new growth around March? I don't mind it blooming early because I can keep it as a houseplant.

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Don't water them too well. They really need very, very little water.

    I think it would be interesting to keep it as a houseplant, but I might be inclined to choose to try to keep it more dormant in a cold cellar (or the colder cellar steps maybe) for a longer time and then take it outside. I'm thinking you're going to be encouraging spindly, weak growth by trying to grow in limited light. All or none might be better than a little in this case. Let us know how it turns out.

    Thanks, Lisa. I always enjoy yours and everyone else's comments and garden pictures. I've gotten a whole lot more out of these forums than I've put in.

    Thanks to all of you. Hay.

  • hydrangea2
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks again Hay. What I will do is let it gradually think its going dormant this fall (it's outside now lapping up as much sunshine as it can and pushing out new growth) I've already repotted it.

    In the fall I will bring it in once the leaves are pretty bad and the temperatures are getting scarey, and put it in the cellar with enough water to get it through the "winter".

    Then in March it comes out once it's pushing and I will set it under my grow light stand for the flowers to mature. Then when it's mild again put it outside to soak up some more sun.

    Sound like a good plan??

    I will definately let everyone know about the outcome of this experiment.

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Let us know!

    I'd let it get zapped by the frost a few times before I brought it in. It can easily handle a gradual decline in temperatures to 25 degrees, say. Take the leaves off.

    In the spring, if you want, you can take it outside very early if you're willing to bring it in and out as it's needed. I don't remember the exact timing, but I went directly from the cellar to a porch that I could easily slip the plant in and out of the house. If this would work for you, I'd consider doing this rather than try to make it into a houseplant.

    You're gong to have fun, I bet.{{gwi:1006536}}This is a young Vulcain flower. Hay.

  • hydrangea2
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yup, that is definately a possibility for me and an easy one. I love these shrubs so much and am so committed to them that I will have no problem tending to their daily needs.

    Thanks Hay!

  • bcmouli
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hayseedman:

    Thanks for your wonderful posts. I am new to Hydrangeas; I bought several this summer only. I bought them late and did not see many flowers. The plants have grown well though. Two endles summers, one anabelle and one "Homigo", all in 15 G pots. I want to overwinter them. I do not have basement or enough garage space. I do have a vinyl sheet shed. Will it work? (a little diffuse light gets in. And what do I do with a Oakleaf which is on the ground?

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You are more than welcome. The best way to learn something is to try to teach it, and I really do want to learn, so it works for all of us. Thank you for asking!

    Fifteen gallon pots. Wow, that''s big. I use several 15 gallon pots and I know how heavy they can be. Are you very strong or do you use something to help you move them around. I'm a little bit strong, but I struggle a lot when I have to move mine. One simple trick that I use is to let them dry out as much as I can before I think I want to move them. And I've learned to do a few contortions to get leverage with my body.

    (An aside: Someone pointed out to me that sand, gravel and the like are sold by the ton. I've seen it first hand, now. If you buy the sand or gravel after a rain, you'll see that the pile is a whole lot smaller)

    I don't know that being inside your shed would really add a lot to keeping them over the winter. It is absolutly better than nothing, but I would try to find a way to put something around and over them no matter where you put them. If you don't like the ugly sight of plastic bags of leaves, perhaps you could do a small mound inside your shed. I think I would figure out a way to do it on the backside of the shed. Use the shed to hide the mess and to help hold up a few bags of leaves.

    I keep hoping that someone will find a beautiful solution to my overwintering.

    You might think about actually planting most of your plants. Then mulch them a lot to help the roots through the winter. Endless Summer would die back to the ground, but you'd still get a show of flowers from the crown area. Not as much as you would if you got the upper stems through the winter, though.

    The Annabelle shouldn't really be a problem. It can bloom on new wood and unless you really want to keep it in a pot, then I don't know of any reason not to plant it.

    Homigo, I'm not familiar with, but I bet you should try to overwinter that one.

    You do not need light to overwinter the plants if they are cold and dormant. Mine never see the light of day for almost six months of the year.

    I don't understand your "oakleaf on the ground"
    "IN the ground"?, I'd just mulch it a whole lot.

    Could you lay yours along a foundation wall of your house and then place a few bags over them. The house foundation would help a lot. And how about a crawl space under your house.

    Good luck. Let us know how it works out. Hay.

    I saw one of my pictures from last year. On November 8 I had put the last bag over my plants. Five more weeks for me.

  • bcmouli
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks a lot Hay!!

    I stand corrected. I think I meant to say 15" diameter pots; I did not see gallon info on them but I calcualted it to be about 10 gallons.

    I use a small hand cart to move stuff around. BTW, I did move a LOT of stuff when I built my pond using a lot of stones and concrete.

    I think I will put the Hydrangeas inside the shed if I have space or outside. What do you mean by "mound" ; can it be
    mulch, leaves etc?

    My Oakleaf is planted in the ground, about 3 feet from a fence.

    What do I do with some cuttings which have rooted? Right now, there are 2 or 3 small plants in I G containers. I never thought they would take root, but they did !!. Can I cover them up too until spring?

    Again, thanks for your valuable input.

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Mound means the pile of hydrangeas that I make and then surround with bags of dry leaves. Thiry gallon size bags. That is my basic method of overwintering. {{gwi:1017385}}

    I think you will have to do something equivalent to that. I do it on the ground, so I will be helping to trap the warmth of the earth to get them through the winter. In a shed, especially if it's off the ground, you wouldn't get that and that would argue even more for your need to put something over them.

    I'd put your young cuttings away in the same way.

    Plenty of people have said that they get by with just piling woodchips or pine straw over the in-ground plants for the winter. Many have done it with a wire cage or something around the plant that is then filled with chips or pine straw. Maybe you could just bury the pots in the ground, upright, and then figure out a way to enclose it with chips or something. Maybe cut the bottom out of a bushel basket for the smaller ones.

    Someone pointed out to me a gardening magazine mention of overwintering plants in the cellar window well holes. (Is that the right term?). Put a couple of small plants in there and then put something over the top with a bag of leaves or something like that. The house would help keep them over the winter.

    Here is something which someone might figure out a way to be useful in our overwintering. I haven't used it yet; I just saw it mentioned in some thread on Gardenweb and it looks to me like it has a lot of potential.


    Hydrangeas are known to be very susceptible to fungus. I don't know if I get more or less fungus than other people, but I do know that no matter what, I want less fungus. I worry that maybe I'm encouraging the overwintering of fungus by what I do.

    One of my mounds is on a slight slope and last year I put down a sheet of plastic with holes in it to allow any water to drain out that might get trapped. Fungus overwinter in plant debris and soil, so I think my plastic sheet may have cut back on this somewhat.

    I would love to completely defoliate my plants, but I have so many and I put them away before they would naturally drop their leaves so it would be a task for me. For someone with just a few plants, maybe you should try to have them go into storage as clean as possible.

    I'm thinking this year of maybe using sulfur to throw on the plastic to furthur help get rid of any fungus or to keep it from growing and maybe even drench the plants themselves with a sulfur solution.

    Good luck. Hay.

  • bcmouli
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hay:

    Some more questions !!

    If I place them in the shed instead of outside, do I have to water thm during the winter?

    Whe exactly do you cover them up? Depending on the temperature?

    How do I defoliate? Manually?

    thanks again

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You shouldn't need to water them in the winter. I put mine away outside and never touch them again til spring. They come out just about as moist as they started.

    Last year mine were covered on November 8. I think I put them away earlier than I need and that you could wait longer. Don't worry about a mild frost, but, when the temperature starts hitting low twenties overnight, I start to lose sleep so that's when I usually will cover them.

    I put mine away with the leaves still on the plant. If you have just a few and can take the time I'd manually defoliate the plant just in case it might encourage fungus, but my experience has been that it doesn't seem to cause any problems at all.

    Good luck. Hay.

  • brander
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I went out to cover my macrophylla hydrangeas today with plastic bubble wrap and after covering two of the four that I have, I realized that I was covering them with the leaves still on them. Our weather has been unseasonably warm and whereas the leaves are usually gone by mid Oct., here it is mid Nov. and there are still lots of leaves on the plants. My question is - should I wrap now or wait until the leaves fall off. I don't want to encourage disease from the dead leaves hanging on the plant but I'm not sure if this would be a problem. Would appreciate any advice. I don't really want to unwrap the two plants I've already done but will if you think it might cause a problem.

  • Gary M
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Brander

    Some people wait until the leaves fall off, some do not. The bubble wrap may cook your plants when the sun hit them. Burlap may be a better option. Most people build a chicken wire cage around the plant and fill it with leaves or other insulating material and cover the whole thing with burlap or canvas. Dont use plastic because it may cook your plant.
    Good luck
    Gary

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I haven't used bubble wrap, but I like the idea.

    Be careful to allow some breathing room for the plant. I think it is MUCH more likely that you might kill the plant by, in effect, suffocating the plant than you will injure the plant by covering it with the leaves still on the plant.

    I have always put away my plants with the leaves still on the plant. I'm sure there was never any real damage done to them by doing this. It's not like you're going to open them up next spring and see a slimey mess where you once had your plant. Maybe the leaves themselves will be a little slimey, but more likely they will be dryed up and crispy and will flake right off. To your eye, the plant will be very healthy looking. You peel away all this old leaf mess and there will be this nice, plump, healthy looking bud ready to go.

    I have one in the ground that I've been protecting with a fence and bags of leaves for about 15 years that never shows any signs of any problem. Healthy green foliage and flowers all summer long.

    Bottom line: Don't worry about it.

    Below the bottom line: Hydrangeas are very fungus susceptible. Powdery Mildew is very common, especially when you get away from the ones that have been selected to be somewhat resistant. I would like to do everything I can to discourage this, and even though I think I can't really do much, I have thought that my overwintering might be encouraging fungus to overwinter, so I've been experimenting with spraying sulfur on the leaves in the past few weeks as I gather them up. I'm thinking that I might try using sulfur next summer when the fungus problems usually show up and this was a good time to test it on the hydrangeas since, if I harmed the plant, I'd rather do it now than when it's at it's prime next July.

    I'm seeing forecasts of 24 degrees tonight. We've had some frosts but just around 30 this far. I'll probably try to lay them all down today and maybe cover them up with a sheet of plastic for the next two days, just to help ease them into the winter. Last year it was on November 8 that I put mine to bed for the winter. This season is a little later for us this year, but not by much.

    Good luck. Hay.

  • brander
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I got the idea of using the bubble wrap on this forum; it was one of the suggestions. I tried it last year on a Nikko and it worked great. When I uncovered it in mid April (too early I found out) it was covered with nice big buds. I had to keep going out to cover it at night because we had 13 frosts in April this year, but for the first time I had some blooms. I had also covered the whole thing with burlap. The bottom part closest to the ground was open so it was able to get some air to it, otherwise I agree I could have suffocated it. I think though that I will try the cage and leaves method for the other two small Endless Summer that I have, just to see how it works. I know the ES is supposed to flower even on new wood, but I know that would be much later in the summer and I'd like to get the early blooms too if I can. Thanks for your help.

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for telling us that you've tried it and it worked. That's great. If you should ever have a picture of your creation, I'd love to see it.

    I have to resist the temptation to bring my hydrangeas out too early in the spring. Not only do you have to cover the plants back up when there happens to be a frost, but also every time that there could be a frost. So for every frost that actually happens I might have three or four nights when it's possible and so I need to cover them up then,too. So I wait as long as I possibly can.

    My plants are all laying down in the mounds now. I've got two going and one is buttoned down for the winter and the other needs the top bags thrown on. Overnight on Thursday and Friday the forecast is for a low of 20 degrees. Up til now we've touched maybe 27 a couple of times, maybe 25 once. So Thursday night every thing will be covered for the winter. Last year it was November 8. This year, November 17. My little indicator of one of the mildest years on record.

    Hay.

  • brander
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hay
    Yes, we're going to get those cold temps too. I'll have to cover my last two plants tomorrow. I also have one in a pot that I was going to put in my cool, unheated basement, but I think I'll try protecting it outside using the bags of leaves around it. It will probably make a stronger plant that way.

  • dsacco85
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Seventy Hydrangeas or so were put to sleep this last weekend, some in pots others just root balls. My mound was a little bigger then last year, half cover by kiddy pool the other with bags of leaves. I did not pack the bags in as tight as last year and also stuck some 2inch pvc segments in between the bags for some ventillation.

    I am still amazed at how root systems grown late in the year when the weather starts getting cooler. Newly rooted plants that in August had root systems the size of quarters are now wrapping around a 1 gallon container....wow!!! I have always been told...its really all about the roots.

    Also sprayed three plants with Wilt-Pruf and will not wrap at all....We will see what happens.

    One othe plant will be pinned down to the ground and covered with card board and weed fabric.

    We shall see the results next spring.

    Hold a must add a picture: Enziandom

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I think you're right about getting better plants if you keep them outside. I think the plants are more likely to get diseased if you keep them inside.

    Dave, I've been wondering what you might be trying this year. Good luck to you. For some part of the top of your mound, are you using only the kiddy pool as a cover? No bags of leaves at all? I had the impression that last year you had put the pool cover over the bags of leaves that were on top.

    If I can get around to it, I've got some good candidates for flattening. A whole cluster that weren't protected at all last year and died back to the ground over winter. I then pruned back the new growth early in the summer and ended up with much shorter canes at the end of the season. If your wilt proof experiment doesn't work, you'll have the consolation of being able to prune them in any number of ways next year.

    You're not going to cover your pinned down one with anything more than cardboard and weed fabric? No leaves? I'm thinking I'll try figuring out a way to pin them down and maybe cover them up with something like fabric and then piling on the leaves. They're in a corner so two sides are enclosed. Maybe I'll put a little fence around the other two sides to keep the leaves piled up a little.

    (I'm thinking, "If I had a kiddy pool, I wonder if I couldn't use it to cover up these ones I'm trying to pin down. Or if I had a just a few plants, I wonder if I could put them under a pool. Then throw some leaves over them..")

    I hope we'll get to see that Enziandom again next Summer. Looking forward to hearing how your experiments work out.

    Hay.

  • dsacco85
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The kiddy pool was not big enough this year to cover the whole mound, so the walls are still made up of bagged leaves(some of them last year.

    The pinning down of branch technique is still not complete. I need to check out that old post in here regarding that approach. To flatten the canes I tied about 6 canes together and then tied them off to chunks of fire wood for weights.

    Last year I tried pruning late in the season like early October. It failed because the lower buds openned and were killed for frost. This weekend I will try doing this same thing but only hoping that the cold will prevent lower bud break and vernalization will take place in the lower buds, causing the side buds to flower in spring. So I will prune low and cover with leaves and wait for next spring.

    From Nantucket Hydrangea: North of 6 will have to protect from frost/freezing. Here's the deal. Once temperatures have dropped below 65 for 5-7 nights and sunlit day lengths get shorter (8-12 hr), hydrangeas will naturally begin floral initiation, a fascinating process which isn't over until they resume growth in the spring, or in the case of no dormancy (indoor culture), 2-3 months later. This can only happen if the plants have developed to a point where it can physiologically handle bud formation (5-7 weeks from root formation). Your plants already have about 4 weeks of "vegetative" growth and should be ready to begin floral initiation in 3-4 weeks. Try to keep them somewhat warm until then in the more Northerly zones. If you live in the southern zones you may have to put them under air conditioning for a few weeks. A fully developed fall bud will have a "rugose" (wrinkled) appearance rather than a smooth exterior. Of course you can always slice a bud in 2 lengthwise and look at it under a microscope where the fertile flower primordia should be visible.

    Not responsible for typos

    dave

  • yellowgirl
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks Dave....That was very interesting.....yg

  • brander
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I just made it covering my last two hydrangeas on Wed.Nov. 16. It got down to 12.7 degrees last night. I covered most of mine with bubble wrap and then covered that with burlap using binder twine to secure it. They all look like skinny teepees. I put a wire cage around one and covered the plant (it's a small one) with shredded wood chips. I guess that's it until spring. :0(

  • hydrangea2
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hey Hayseedman and Everyone!

    Good news! The florist hydrangea that I overwintered in my cold cellar started pushing out yellow/white growth about 4 weeks ago and so I took it out and gave it some water and behold, luscious green growth sprung forth along with 4 blossom buds! I am thrilled! Some bud leaves are still developing, so perhaps more.

    Any tips, on care right now? I don't want the buds to drop.

    Also, my ES cutting has a flower head on it as well. I gave it the same treatment as the one above. I have it under lights.

    Thanks Hayseedman for working with me to make this successful. The nurseryman told me it is almost impossible to get this hydrangea to rebloom. What I will say is that they really don't need to get that cold to go through their dormant period. My cold cellar probably didn't get much colder that 40-45 degrees and was usually about 50.

  • bcmouli
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    hayseedman:

    I followed some of your advice and covered up my hydrangeas.I wrapped them, filled the bag with leaves and placed several of them under a makeshift shelter behind my shed. I covered the whole set up with bags of leaves. I uncovered them yesterdat since the tem was in the 50s. I was disappointed them to see that they looked dead! Brownish and shriveled up. I wonder if it is too early to tell or I did something wrong. The plants were in 10 gallon containers and not in ground.

    thanks

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi, everyone.

    A little late to reply to your messages, but I hope you all had good luck.

    Hydrangea2, how did yours come out? I try to keep mine as dormant as I can so that they won't get really going until it's time for them to be outside. When I've overwintered in a cellar, they want to get going much sooner than I'm ready for them, just like you. So cold is better in this case. In my mounds outside, they do the best for me.

    bcmouli, I hope yours did OK. The old leaves and the stems might look all brown, but if they're healthy, then the buds toward the tip should have been nice and plump and healthy looking. Or, actually sending out new growth is maybe more likely by this time.

    Did you put your hydrangeas in bags and then put leaves in these bags, and then covered all this with even more bags of leaves? That might have been too confined, but I have to say that a friend ended up doing something similar and they did just fine. I can only guess without seeing exactly what you've done.

    One guess might be that you had them on a South wall and the extreme temperatures you'd get would hurt them. North side would be a whole lot better.

    Here's another overwintering thread that's gotten started and I'll add some comments over there if anyone wants to continue talking about overwintering. We can keep this thread around and not let it expire. It's a fun topic for me. See you over there.

    Hay.

  • summiebee
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for this post. This is my first year really paying attention and truly loving my plants. I have a hydrangea in a pot this year and several planted in my landscape. I am getting REALLY nervous about wintering my new ones over. I have 4 new hydrangeas in the landscaps and one in a pot. Also three potted roses (two are rose trees) Not only am I scared they will not come back, I am nervous as to how I am going to drag these to the garage and when will it be the right time? I keep reading after first front right?
    Fondly,
    (As I bite my nails)
    Summie

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Summie, borrow a kid's snow sled if you can't carry the hydrangeas around.

    Hydrangeas and Roses aren't so tender that they can't take a frost. You've still got plenty of time after the first few frosts in your area.

    In my zone 5/6 I usually put my Hydrangeas away by about mid November. I haven't dealt with Roses in a while, but don't people usually wait until the ground is actually frozen to mound them. That's with the Hybrid Teas, anyhow, I think..

    I've tried a long time ago to put other plants inside my mounds, but the critters would devour most of them so I just stick with Hydrangeas. For some reason they don't do a bit of damage. But I wouldn't think that a nice tasty Rose would last very long in there.

    I have in the back of my mind that some Rose standards are overwintered by wrapping them, maybe just the top part, in straw or something like that. Make your Rose trees into Scarecrows.

    Join us over on the newer thread.

    Hay

  • ofionnachta
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Gee, all this talk about digging up hydrangeas, covering them, moving them in & out of basements & barns! I grew up next to Asbury Park on the Jersey Shore. Every other house, whether mansions or small working folks', had at least a pair of the big blues flanking the front steps. There was a big plant at the corner of the street that was in full sun all the time. No one, except a few large estates, that I knew of ever gave them any winter protection (maybe they did it to keep the gardeners busy) and every year all of these plants were covered with huge blue flowers most of the summer. They all seemed to be in sun, too.

    When I got my blue, in a pot from the table at a friend's wedding, I planted it on the sunny west end of our front porch. We live on the Delaware R., inland from the ocean environment I grew up in & I figured it would like a bit more warmth. It gets afternoon sun & sometimes quite warm. We had to work at it to get it back to blue--the soil must be alk.in that spot-- but a summer with lots of that aluminum powder did the trick. Then we moved it to a shady spot because we were getting a new septic & the hydrangea's home was going to be part of the excavations. No choice on the shade; the rest of the yard is shady. It has not been very happy & there have been few blooms, but now we are about to return it to the porch spot.

    My question is, how big a root ball can we expect after 2 years in the temporary home? Do these plants make deep tap roots, or spread out their systems? If they spread, do they go way out? We don't want to start digging it out & find we have severed a lot of the roots. The spot we are brnging it back to has had some sand added (we have a lot of red shale & clay here) & lots of compost & just-fallen leaves. And we have been burying the kitchen waste in the area all summer long.
    Thanks for the input!

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    A little late to be responding to ofionnachta I guess, but don't think you'd have a problem moving a hydrangea that's been in the ground for a couple of years. I don't think they would be said to have tap roots, but an established one will have big spreading root systems. I've moved ones that were pretty large and it took a year for them to really recover, but a two or three year old plant will be fine in just a year.

    I'm late this year because I've been too busy, but today I started uncovering my hydrangeas.

    Not great quality pictures, but you can get the idea.

    {{gwi:1017386}}

    And after I've taken off most of the bags in a section,{{gwi:1017387}}

    Pretty typical of what I've been seeing over the years.

    The new growth and the whole area inside were quite damp, but I figured that it couldn't hurt and that they might enjoy a nice spritzing of water. We might be having a record breaking hot day really soon, so I'm going to be very careful not to let the tender new growth have a chance to dry out. I uncovered these about 6 P.M. and promptly covered them up with some burlap strips and some tight nylon mesh so tthat when the sun comes up tomorrow morning, it won't have a chance to fry my new growth. Little exposure at a time.

    Looking good so far. Tomorrow I'll open up another mound and the oldest one I have that's in the ground and surrounded by bags of leaves in a wire mesh corral.

    Another Summer of Hydrangeas.

    Nice.

    Hay

  • jackz411
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well Hay, I am still holding back on taking off the winter coats, although I was going to remove them this week. Just too much cold weather up here going to below 30 at night. Chance of snow tonight? Looks like early next week will be the time for me, mid-50's days and high 30's at night. Pretty cold spring up here. JK

  • radovan
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    it tells me I will be busy this coming fall:-)

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm confusing myself. I thought I remember uncovering my Hydrangeas earlier last year than my post above suggests. These years are all merging into one, I think.

    Yesterday I started the process. It's perfect weather. The forecast for the next few days is a range 60 degrees to 40, overcast, coudy, rainy. Perfect.

    This mound is a little different. I used an old scrap piece of fence panel and some lattice that you don't see, and then I mounded just plain leaves, not in bags, on top of that. I've taken away the lattice pieces from the front, and all the loose leaves on top and lifted up the scrap piece of fence panel. First light of the year.

    {{gwi:1017392}}

    You can click on the picture for a larger version.

    Hay

  • nude_gardener
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hay, it's amazing, could you tell us are you in some gardening business since you have millions of containers or you have millions of land acres to put all those hydrangeas up to grow.
    it's good, very good, i wish i have sooooo many hydra plants.

    Best wishes from nude (not so nude) gardener.

  • ditas
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Good morning Hay - I'm so glad that you revived this thread, it was a great help to me when I first joined the newly bitten 'Hydrangea bug' dirt digging group! I have since become an 'Over-wintering' apostle, challenged by my 5a-5zone & (at the time) my 15 year old Mother's Day, florist Nikko that very seldom bloomed ... consequently a slave to her!!! LOL

    Nikko will be 18 this M's Day and each year since I have improved on saving her previous years' canes ... hoping for even more blooms this year!!!

    Many thanks for your time in putting this thread up, your 'love & devotion' is quite inspiring!!! ;-)))
    D

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I do a little gardening work, but I'm not a big time professional. My interest in Hydrangeas is strictly personal and started long ago. Most of my work with Hydrangeas is with a friend that I got hooked on Hydrangeas a few years ago. It's contagious.

    My oldest Hydrangea and the one that got me started in all this is about 25 years old now, and it's been in the same spot all that time. I learned to overwinter the Hydrangeas in the ground by practicing on this one. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not. I've had bad luck in recent years and a part of the problem, I think, is that it is just too thick with canes to allow me to bundle it up nicely without getting everything packed so tightly that the plant doesn't have breathing room.

    Nowadays, I pretty much only do the overwintering in the mounds and I get consistently good results from that effort. I've begun to cycle out the larger ones and cycle in newer ones, mostly more interesting varieties than the Nikko I started with. I keep my largest plants in the pot all summer. Medium size ones get planted.

    Many of the ones I use are of a size that can be kept in pots in a patio or terrace setting and I keep them that size by dividing or cycling out the larger ones.

    Hay

  • ditas
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Hay - Perhaps not just 'contagious' but addicting as well ... obviously it is love of beauty in nature and the challenge to be able to preserve what is beautiful - improve, enhance & share them!

    I took the challenge on my old 'Mom's Day' Nikko for sentimental reasons - she is 4 mos older than my 1st born grandchild ('90)! Not only did I succeed following your method, I also had to take the challenge of protecting her from our scorching, Mid-West summer sun (after losing her dappled sun, when we had to give up an aging tree). The same grandchild helped me erect an arbor over her. The Sweet Autumn Clem. that quickly crawled over the arbor provided the necessary shade and she looked the diva that she is, under there!

    In 25 years, I may not have the energy to do the 'high kicks' I do for her now - I'll be 77 then & perhaps shorter than my 4'10" stature! LOL ... So my ??? 'wonder if I can keep her from growing too big & tall by sacrificing some canes & pruning her tops before going to bed for Winter? There is just no other way of over-wintering her, but the burlap-bundling, encaging w/mulch & bagged leaves method.

    TIA
    D

  • hayseedman
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My first Hydrangea is now in the ground for more than 25 years. At this point, I keep it for sentimental reasons only.

    It's gotten so THICK with canes that if I wrap it in my usual cage, I have to get everything so tight in there that I think I may actually be suffocating the plant. I've not had good luck overwintering it in recent years. This past winter I didn't even bother with it.

    If I were you, I'd consider taking a cutting or digging out a portion of your sentimental one and essentially start over. It would indeed be the same plant, so you could keep your sentiment.

    But I can understand sentiment. I should get rid of my first Hydrangea, but I'm not.

    For a long time I would cut back the old canes completely to the ground in the Fall. I'd only leave canes that had shot up from low points on the canes or from the crown. They would have grown all summer and would end up giving me great flowering the next year. I'd have very long stemmed flowers, too, that I had cut. The big problem with this technique is that you end up with weaker stems than you would otherwise and next summer they'd be weighted down to the ground with their flowers.

    I've found that, for my zone, I can usually prune as hard as I want up until about Fourth of July, just to be easy to remember, and not hurt the flowering potential for next year. After that, the buds start setting for next year and you start running into that problem. (But then I've cut some "nikkos" back to the crown in the Fall and on some I'd get great flowering and on some I'd get none. Do I really understand this? NO.) So, here is another method for you to consider to keep it smaller, at least in height.

    Another thing I've experimented with is to prune all the wimpy growth completely out and just end up with a few stout canes over time. This was interesting, but you end up with an artifical looking Hydrangea and the few stout canes start looking rather strange. But with this technique, more or less, you could develop a plant that wasn't so crowded. I don't know though.

    I wish I could help you more. I'd like an answer to the question you have, too!

    Hay

  • txmom
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hydrangea - do they survive the hot North Texas summers?
    Any special attention needed?

  • ditas
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Hay -
    Many thanks for taking the time ... your continued help is greatly appreciated. I'll start thinking/learning (gathering my guts) about your suggestion to get cuttings &/or splitting & starting over (to carry over sentiments!!!) also studying a site to shelter from Winter & Mid-West sun.

    In the mean time I'll try pruning tops to see how I can keep her as short as my own stature could handle (as we both age & before she turns 25y/o -LOL!).

    I'm quite curious about the"an artifical looking Hydrangea and the few stout canes start looking rather strange" - I might try & see what you mean ...'love experimenting & taking challenges!

    Thanks again, sincerely -
    D