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bgaviator

hydrangea care

bgaviator
9 years ago

new to working with hydrangeas...my new house has a bunch growing below my deck.....they got super tall this year, but produced very few blooms over the course of spring/summer. When I first moved into the house in the early spring, I decided to cut down all the dried stalks leftover from the previous seasons hydrangeas. Not sure if this was the right thing to do or not, but it just looked like it needed cleaned up. Going forward, can I get advice on how to maintain these plants....do I do anything with them now that it's getting into fall.....do I mess with them in the spring? Or do I just let them be? Also, how can I get them to produce more blooms next year?

Comments (7)

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    9 years ago

    Can you take a close up of the stems and leaves? What did the flowers you did get look like?The growth habit looks more like H. arborescens than it does H. macrophylla and you care for them differently so important to ID. The good news is that there isn't really anything you need to do now - the plants lookd relatively happy and healthy despite not flowering heavily.

    Personally, I might make sure any weeds at their base were removed and mulch for the winter (avoid piling up against the woody stems). And if it remains dry going later into the fall, give a couple of deep waterings.

    Get us a couple of photos to confirm ID and we can tell you more :-))

  • luis_pr
    9 years ago

    If they were pruned in early Spring and they were arborescens, they would have produced flower buds. Since they did not and the leaves look like macrophylla-like when I maximize, I would expect them to be mopheads or lacecaps (both are H. macrophylla). Lack of flowers would be due by the early Spring pruning. Non-remontant varieties only produce flower buds in July-August (the blooms open in the Spring) so pruning them in early Spring resulted in no bloomage this year. :o(

    They do look very healthy. Keep them well mulched, with 3-4" of mulch year around. Give them some fertilizers in Spring. Keep the soil as evenly moist as you can. Prune after they bloom but before July. You can add coffee grounds, liquid fish or liquid seaweed thru the growing season but stop at the end of June so they will go dormant in the Fall instead of staying in growth mode.

    Here is a link that might be useful: More info on hydrangeas

  • bgaviator
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    are these close enough for ID?



  • luis_pr
    9 years ago

    Yeah, that is good. Thanks. Looks like a mophead. Its flower buds develop in July-August and the flower buds open in the Spring 2015. If you ever need to prune again, do so after the blooms have opened in Spring but before July. Your shrubs have developed invisible flower buds by now.

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    9 years ago

    flower buds open in the Spring 2015

    That timing depends a lot on where you live as does the following timing for pruning. Mophead hydrangeas ( and I agree that IS a mophead) in my area do not bloom in spring........they do not start blooming until the end of June and continue on until September, sometimes later. I still have a few buds opeing on my macs :-) And there are other zone 7 locations up north that would prompt a later bloom season than Luis experiences in Texas.

    So the instructions to prune after "spring" bloom but not later than July are not universal. July is just the start of my bloom season!

    Many hydrangea growers recommend pruning macs as little as possible. You can remove any dead or dry stems as they become apparent (easiest to do in spring as the plant is budding out) and deadhead as desired. But neither of these are really 'pruning' in the strict sense.

    It is best to site the plants where they can be allowed to grow to size without any need for routine pruning. But if you do need to reduce size now and then, there are a couple of recommended methods.

    Here is a link that might be useful: excellent link on how and when to prune hydrangeas

  • hokierustywilliamsbu
    9 years ago

    In my zone 7 here in Va I never prune except dead wood so as not to prune the buds and blooms off. If I prune it is only to bring flowers in the house.

  • bgaviator
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    that's great advice everyone.....sounds like the best course of action is to just let them be! I like the sounds of that! I always tend to try and mess with things too much and I cause more harm than good.