Hydrangea Care Guide (All You Want To Know)

Shrubs with large, showy inflorescences look marvelous during blooming. The number of colors the hydrangea has to offer will satisfy even the most discerning gardener. You will find as much information as possible about this excellent plant in this article.

Plant profile

Care/requirements	Hydrangea
Hardiness:	USDA zone 3-8 (1-12)
Size:	Height 1-6 ft and width 2-10 ft
Shape:	Rounded with upright stems.
Type:	Perennial, deciduous, shrub.
Light requirements:	4-10 hours of direct sun per day. Sun, Partial Sun, Shade
Soil:	Loam or amended soil.
Soil pH:	6.0-7.0 Grow best in slightly acidic to little alkaline soil.
Watering:	Water when soil is 1 inch dry.
Growth rate:	Fast, slow, medium.
Blooming:	Late spring and early fall. On old and new wood.
Flowers color:	Red, pink, purple, white, blue, and much more.
Leaves color:	Bright green.
Fragrance:	Low scent.
Pots:	Needs a large pot and frequent watering.
Best time for planting:	Early spring and early fall.
Pruning:	Deadheading after flowering and removing deadwood.
Reblooming:	In early fall.
Spacing:	4-10 feet apart (center to center).
Transplanting:	Early fall or early spring.
Fertilizer:	Balanced NPK formula, once per year.
Propagation:	By cuttings in early spring.
Deer resistant:	No
Problems:	Pests, diseases.

Planting

The best place for planting is in partial sun. Depending on the species, hydrangeas can tolerate 4 to 10 hours of direct sunlight daily.

The best time for planting is in early spring before the buds open. Avoid planting in the summer when it is very hot. The second suitable period for planting is the first half of fall.

Water the hydrangea generously a few days before planting. Choose a cloudy day over a sunny one.

Dig a hole twice the size of the root system and fill it with a bucket of compost. Mix it with the native soil. Place the shrub so the stems and crown are not buried in the ground.

Backfill the entire space in the hole with loose and well-drained soil mix. Next, water the hydrangea with 1-2 gallons of water.

Sunlight requirements

The ideal sun exposure for all hydrangeas is the partial sun. Hydrangeas are best exposed to up to six hours of direct sunlight in the morning.

It is best to keep it in full shade in the afternoons and evenings, but some species can tolerate much more light.

For example, panicle hydrangeas can grow in full sun all day and be fine. They can also tolerate full shade, but for the best blooms, they still need a few hours of direct sun.

Mophead hydrangeas, on the other hand, are most sensitive to direct sun. They only need the morning sun. If this hydrangea gets afternoon sun, it will get burned. As a result, the leaves and inflorescences turn brown.

All other hydrangeas fall somewhere in between. You should check exactly how much sun a particular hydrangea needs.

Soil

Hydrangeas prefer moist and nutritious soil. It is better if the soil has some organic matter.

If you have clay or sandy soil, improving it with organic matter is better. Clay soil is poorly drained, and sandy soil dries out too quickly and is very poor in nutrients.

Before planting, mix the native soil where the hydrangea will grow with the same amount of compost or soil conditioner. Peat also works well. Always use ingredients only from reputable suppliers.

The result is a nutritious soil mixture that will stay moist but not too wet. This is the ideal environment for hydrangeas to thrive.

In addition, the organic matter will make the soil slightly acidic. In such soil, you will avoid chlorosis, a widespread problem. Also, some hydrangeas will turn blue if the pH is below 6.0.

Watering

Hydrangeas are moisture-loving plants and need plenty of water. The best way to check whether a hydrangea needs watering is to feel the soil with your fingers. The hydrangea should be watered if the soil is more than 1.5 to 2 inches dry.

Use 1 to 3 gallons of water for each shrub. The larger the shrub, the more water it needs.

Avoid watering according to a certain schedule, as this can lead to overwatering, which can make the soil swampy. This can lead to root rot, which is difficult to treat.

On the other hand, if you water too little, the Hydrangea will droop. This is especially true for newly planted plants and with hot summers.

The closer you get to winter, the less often you need to water the hydrangea. Usually, in winter, the ground is moist, so watering is not necessary at all. But in the case of dry, warm winters, water hydrangeas about once a month.

Fertilizer

Because of its abundant flowering, Hydrangea needs a lot of nutrients. Slow-release pellets are best. They usually have work for 90 days, so you should apply them in spring. As a result, the plant will be supplied with minerals for almost the entire growing season.

For composition, it is better to choose a fertilizer that contains approximately the same amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

You should avoid using a fertilizer with a lot of nitrogen, as the nitrogen stimulates the growth of the leaves and not the flowers.

The second fertilizer application should be done right after the blooms. In this case, you should use a multipurpose fertilizer that will take effect immediately.

The last type of fertilizer is organic fertilizer. In the spring, simply mulch your hydrangea with good-quality compost, a layer of 2 to 3 inches. Avoid putting mulch on the stems and crown.

Propagation

The easiest way to propagate hydrangeas is by cuttings. Seed propagation is also possible, but the new plants will differ significantly from the mother plant.

The best time to take cuttings is spring. The cuttings should be 6-8 inches long and have at least two buds.

Prepare trays or pots with drainage holes. Fill them with the sterile seedling substrate. Immerse the cuttings in the soil at least 2 inches deep and about 3 inches apart.

Water the soil in the trays liberally and transfer to a shaded greenhouse. The humidity should be at least 60%. The first roots will appear in a few weeks.

Do not transplant the cuttings from the trays until the following spring. They should remain in the greenhouse or in another sheltered location all winter.

Diseases

Hydrangea is most often affected by fungal diseases. Botrytis Blight, Cercospora, and Anthracnose are among them.

Anthracnose appears as light brown spots on the leaves. Over time, the spots become larger, and the leaf turns yellow. This disease is most active in wet weather.

Cercospora is similar to the previous disease, but the spots are much darker and almost black. It usually affects almost the whole leaf. Poor air exchange and high humidity cause this.

Botrytis Blight is a more serious disease. Affected leaves immediately wither and turn brown, and a gray mold appears.

Although all these diseases are different, the treatment is approximately the same. The first step is to remove the diseased leaves and burn them.

Next, spray the hydrangea with an aqueous solution of fungicide. Repeat the spraying a week later. A different fungicide should be used each time. The first time, you can use a multi-purpose one, and the second time, you can use a copper fungicide.

Also, make sure that there is good air exchange around the bush. If necessary, repot it or transplant plants that are growing too close.

Avoid overwatering and too much moisture around the hydrangea.

Pests

Hydrangea leaves are also the target of many different pests. The most common are aphids, small bugs that parasitize the upper leaves and stems. Ants usually spread aphids because they feed on their sweet secretions.

To get rid of the aphids, wash them off with water from a hose. Next, spray the leaves with an aqueous solution of neem oil. This is usually enough to stop them from doing more damage to your plants.

The second, more formidable pest is the weevil. These large beetles lead a nocturnal lifestyle, so the leaves may be bitten around the edges, but you won’t find the pest.

The easiest way to eliminate this beetle is to destroy its grubs. To do this, use beneficial nematodes. Dilute them in water and pour the soil around the hydrangea. After a while, the weevils will disappear.

The third pest is the spider mite. This is a tiny sucking pest. If you see tiny cobwebs on the leaves and young stems and the leaves turn brown, it is probably a mite. To remove them, spray your hydrangea with acaricide (miticide).

Pruning

In general, hydrangeas do not need pruning except for deadwood. Dead branches can be trimmed at any time of year. Do this as close to the ground as possible, but do not damage the crown.

You can also cut back your hydrangeas if you want to renew them. The best time is early spring. Remember that some species only bloom on old wood; if you cut them back, they will not bloom in the current year.

On the other hand, many varieties flower on both new and old wood. They can be cut at almost any time. Just don’t cut back the annual stems until the hydrangea has bloomed.

It is also good practice to trim the inflorescences when they have faded. Some gardeners leave them in over the winter because they have decorative value.

This makes some sense, but if you remove the inflorescence immediately after flowering, the plant will not lose energy to create seeds. As a result, next year’s blooms will be more abundant.

Always use a stringy and sharp tool. Choose dry weather for pruning.

Transplanting

The most appropriate time to move hydrangeas is early spring. If you transplant at this time, you can expect a positive result of almost 100%.

The second good time is in the autumn. The main thing is to transplant in 30 days before frost.

What you don’t want to do is a transplant in the summer. This is especially true if the summer is very hot and dry.

Overcast weather is most suitable for transplanting. If it hasn’t rained a few days before, water the hydrangea the day before transplanting.

Dig out the shrub as carefully as possible. The fewer roots you damage, the sooner it will take root in its new location.

Plant the hydrangea as I described in the planting section above. Use soil that is well-drained and nutritious.

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