Hydrangea Flower Maintenance

Hydrangeas bring remarkable beauty to gardens with their showy blooms and lush leaves. Caring properly for these eye-catching shrubs ensures they stay healthy and bloom yearly. This guide covers everything you need to grow vigorous hydrangeas successfully.

The Importance Of Hydrangea Flowers

Hydrangeas include diverse flowering deciduous shrubs native to Asia and the Americas. They belong to the Hydrangeaceae family. With good care, they reward us with gorgeous blossoms and graceful foliage.

These shrubs became famous because of their spectacular blossoms, which are available in spherical mophead blooms, delicate lace cap shapes, bold oak leaf clusters, conical panicles, and more.

The blooms emerge white and become gorgeous hues like blue, pink, purple, red, and green.

With the right hydrangea flower maintenance matching their growing needs, hydrangeas grow rapidly, averaging two feet or more of new growth per year.
By following the best hydrangea flower maintenance guide, your hydrangea plants will thrive while adding incredible elegance and vivid color to your landscape.

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Hydrangea Flower Maintenance: Step-By-Step Guide

Follow these best hydrangea flower maintenance practices for keeping your hydrangeas healthy and flowering wonderfully:

• When To Plant

Aim to plant hydrangea shrubs in early spring or fall. Avoid summer's heat when newly installed plants struggle with rapid moisture loss before their roots fully develop.
If planting in early spring, get shrubs in the ground as soon as your area's average last frost date passes.

• Preparing The Planting Site

Planning and preparing the hydrangea bed in advance is time well spent, as it provides these flowering shrubs the best chance to sink roots deeply into ideal growing conditions.

• Site Selection

1. Sun Exposure: most hydrangeas thrive best with morning and afternoon shade, needing 4-6 hours of direct sun. Too much hot sun often causes wilting.
2. Soil Drainage: excellent drainage is also vital since soggy soils easily rot the roots.
3. Air Circulation: choose open sites with ample air movement around the plants. This deters fungal diseases like powdery mildew.
4. Root Competition: keep hydrangeas away from aggressive tree roots that could compete for space, moisture, and nutrients.

Soil Preparation

While adaptable to various soil types, hydrangeas perform best in moist soils rich in organic matter. Here are some great ways to prepare your soil before planting:

• Work 2-4 inches of well-aged compost into beds before planting to enrich and improve moisture retention.
• You can also mix in other organic amendments like rotted manure, leaf mold, peat moss, or grass clippings.
• To promote deep rooting, loosen and de-compact soils 12-18 inches deep using a shovel or garden fork before amending.
• If drainage remains problematic after adding amendments, consider installing drainage pipes or planting at raised beds.

Water Thoroughly At Planting And Beyond

When first planting hydrangeas, water them very well. Soak the root area thoroughly. Water deeply 3 times every week for the first year. This helps the roots grow strong.
Always use a soaker hose or drip irrigation to water hydrangeas. This allows complete control of water flow.
Aim to give hydrangeas 1 inch of water each week throughout the growing months. Water deeply but not too fast to prevent runoff.
Some hydrangeas need more frequent drinks. Check smooth leaf and bigleaf types more often. But every kind benefits from steady moisture.
The key is slow, deep quenching right to the roots. This keeps the soil moist without getting waterlogged.

How To Take Care Of Hydrangea Flowers

Once established, focus on providing optimal conditions. Water deeply and regularly, especially in summer.

• Annual Mulching

Mulch around plants with bark, leaves, straw, or wood chips to conserve moisture and nourish the soil. Pull mulch back several inches from the base to prevent disease.
Apply a balanced organic fertilizer in early spring. Prune immediately after flowering, cutting back to just above healthy buds. With attentive care, your hydrangeas will flourish!

• Fertilizer

Hydrangeas need plant food twice yearly - once in spring and again in late winter. Fertilizers for hydrangeas come as liquids, loose grains, or long-lasting spikes. Liquids work fastest while grains are sprinkled into the soil. Spikes dissolve slowly over months.
You can buy natural fertilizers made from things like compost. Or use chemical types made to boost blooms. A balanced formula with equal nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium is ideal. Scatter this around each plant.
For especially big flowers, choose a high phosphorus granular fertilizer labeled "bloom booster." Apply this slowly over the season for the best results.
To make Endless Summer hydrangeas turn blue, add sulfur to the soil. For pink, mix in lime instead. This gradually changes the acidity level. But all hydrangeas need feeding to unlock their fullest color and growth power.

How To Keep A Hydrangea Plant Alive Indoors

Growing hydrangeas as houseplants is enjoyable but challenging.
Here are some tips on hydrangea flower maintenance indoors:

• Place in a Bright Spot at Room Temperature
• Put your indoor hydrangea in a bright spot inside your home.
• Keep at room temperature.
• Keep the Soil Moist
• Check that the soil stays damp—water thoroughly once or twice weekly. You can bathe it by sinking the whole pot in water.
• Place a saucer under the pot to grab extra spillage after watering. Toss this out after 30 minutes so the roots don't rot from lack of air.
• If you forget to water, revive your drooping hydrangea. Fully immerse the pot to saturate the soil. Let it drain, then recover in an excellent spot. This process may take time.
• Feed Every Other Week
• Apply indoor plant fertilizer as directed every 2 weeks. This gives your hydrangea the nutrients it needs.
• Hydrangeas release substantial moisture. This boosts humidity. Keep soil damp so your plant can better the indoor air.
• If your hydrangea stops blooming, you can move it outside when frost risk is low. Cut back spent flowers about 6 inches—place in shade or partial sun. Revive in a garden bed or a nice-sized pot.

What To Do With Hydrangeas In Pots After Flowering

After hydrangeas in pots finish flowering, it is essential to provide continued care to keep plants healthy. Choose a large container, at least 16-24 inches wide, with drainage holes to accommodate the root ball. Before winter, insulate exposed roots by burying smaller pots in soil or wrapping larger ones in burlap or bubble wrap. This protects them during dormancy. To encourage future blooms, move pots to the sunniest location possible and water frequently. Florist hydrangeas won't rebloom, but most varieties will flower yearly if cared for properly. Repot roots in a bigger container every 3-5 years once roots fill the existing space. Potted hydrangea plants can continue thriving for years after the initial flowering season with adequate winter protection, proper sunlight, frequent watering, and occasional repotting into larger containers.

Troubleshooting: Dealing With Hydrangeas Flower Issues

Follow these tips to overcome problems you may encounter:

No Blooms?

Hydrangeas may only bloom if pruned correctly or fed enough nitrogen fertilizer. Those that bloom on old wood should be pruned right after flowering. Too much nitrogen produces lots of leaves but fewer flowers. Use fertilizer with more phosphorus to encourage blooms.

Small Flowers?

Flowers may stay small with inadequate sunlight, improper fertilizing, or insufficient water. Check that plants get some morning sun. Use fertilizer made for blooming shrubs. And water thoroughly during the summer heat.

Wilting Flowers?

Flowers can wilt in too much hot sun or when under-watered. Move plants to morning sun only. Water frequently to revive and prevent future wilting.
Browning Flowers?
Flowers turn brown early if conditions get too dry. Apply mulch to hold moisture. And keep watering regularly even after plants are established.
With extra care in these key areas - sunlight, watering, fertilization, and pruning method - you can get the biggest, brightest hydrangea blooms for the longest season.

Final Words

Hydrangeas bring an array of colorful, textured blossoms to the garden, along with lush foliage. Their rapid growth fills spaces quickly and delivers floral displays over long bloom seasons. With knowledge about hydrangea flower maintenance, attentive care, and proper pruning techniques, gardeners can wonderfully keep hydrangea plants healthy, vigorous, and flowering.