How to Take Care of Hydrangea | When to Prune

We have a lot going on in the garden this year, and one of those things is learning how to take care of hydrangea plants.

My mom gifted me 4 hydrangea plants and I’m so excited to add them to the kitchen garden we are creating!!

In my visions they will be large and beautiful, with blooms and foliage popping through the split rail fence that we put around the perimeter of the garden.

If you know me and my husband, you know that we are really into preparation. We would prepare ourselves to death before we make a decision.

We’re getting MUCH better at just jumping right in, but generally speaking, our go to is plan and prepare, plan and prepare, and then double check the plan haha!

So, in order to ensure my dreams come true with these hydrangeas, I started doing research!!

How to Care for Hydrangea Plants

Currently our hydrangeas are in a holding place.

Our fence isn’t in yet, so we planted them in a vacant veggie bed.

But this year we are going to put the fence up and move the hydrangea plants out of the veggie bed they are currently in and over to the fence.

Best Time of Year to Plant Hydrangea Plants

As we researched, we saw that the best time to plant/transplant a hydrangea is in the Fall. This is when the plant goes dormant and isn’t putting any energy into its blooms or foliage.

So it can focus on the new root system it needs.

A strong root system, like any foundation, is the building block for a beautiful and thriving plant.

If you don’t want to wait until Fall or you missed your opportunity, the next best time of year is early Spring.

I’m on the fence about planting this Spring or just waiting until the Fall. But I’m leaning toward the Fall.

I want to do what’s best for the plant, but I’m also impatient haha!

Best Location to Plant Hydrangea Plants

This was something I didn’t know before I started my research. Hydrangeas prefer early morning sun with a little bit of shade in the afternoon.

The afternoon sun is the most intense and can cause your hydrangeas to wilt during hot Summer days.

In the location where the hydrangeas are now this is happening.

They receive sun from sunrise to sunset in the middle of the veggie garden. Last Summer I was constantly going out there to water them in the morning, because I knew by the time the evening came, they were going to look sad.

New Plan

Originally, I planned on planting them on the west side of the garden, but now I’m thinking I should plant them on the east side of the garden, where the chicken coop with give them afternoon shade.

Best Soil for Hydrangeas

The word hydrangea has hydro as a root word which indicates that this plant LOVES water. But it loves it in moderation.

Moist soil is fine, but if the soil isn’t well draining then the hydrangea can become water logged and get root rot.

Compost

We’ve been learning about the power of a good quality compost.

We used compost in our veggie beds last year and were generally happy with the turn out.

We did run into one problem, but it had nothing to do with the compost though. Remember the PESTS from last year?!

Hopefully the neem oil helped take care of that for this season, but I’ll keep you posted!

A good quality compost does all kinds of wonderful things for the garden and the plants you put in it.

It’s packed full of nutrients that rival fertilizer (at least that’s what Mike says). We have been listening to him for over a year now and LOVE his podcast! He has really helped us grow as gardeners and is pretty entertaining too!

Okay, back to compost. The chunks of wood in compost also help to keep your soil aerated and not too compact.

Lastly, but not least, compost can help prevent weed growth!!

This is something that I can attest to. After we put compost down on our veggie beds my time pulling weeds was SIGNIFICANTLY diminished.

Taking Care of Hydrangea | Pruning

Now for the really important thing! The thing that is so controversial…

Pruning a hydrangea plant!

Pruning is a tough thing because you need to know a little bit about your particular hydrangea. As far as pruning is concerned, knowing your hydrangea type is very helpful.

But if you’re like me then you have no idea what you’re working with.

GOOD NEWS!!

You don’t have to know what variety you have to know how to care for it when it comes to pruning!

There are 6 main types of hydrangea’s that grow in North America.

Of those 6 varieties, some will bloom on old wood, and some bloom on new wood.

When and if you prune is 100% dependent on this variable.

If you have a hydrangea that blooms on old wood that means it set its blooms for this year last season. Crazy right?!

That’s why sometimes if you prune back your hydrangea your plant will look fine but oddly have no blooms. When you pruned your “dead” old wood you cut off some of the buds for that season!

Now, if you have a variety that grows and blooms off new wood each season then pruning is less stressful.

You can prune in the Spring.

The general rule of thumb is:

1. Prune off 1/3 of the old wood
2. Prune off any broken/damaged old wood

How can I tell if my hydrangea blooms on old or new wood?

You won’t be able to tell if your hydrangea blooms on old wood or new wood until the Spring. In the Spring you will see the plant begin to bloom and it’ll be clear if it’s blooming on old wood or growing new from the ground.

If it is growing up from the ground and not on the old hydrangea growth from last year, then it means you can prune without fear of losing blooms.

If you see green buds up and down the old steams from last year it means your hydrangea will be blooming on old wood so do not prune in the Spring.

When should you prune hydrangea bush?

That being said, there are two schools of thought for pruning a hydrangea.

1. Don’t ever prune. This is a shrub that can remain healthy and strong without pruning. So if you’re nervous about the old wood vs. new wood situation, it’s totally fine to just let it go.
2. If you know you have a hydrangea variety that blooms on old wood, wait until the hydrangea blooms in the Summer. Once the blooms pop you can easily see where there is deadwood and wood that isn’t blooming. Prune these stems.

Keep in mind, the hydrangea that blooms on old wood sets it blooms for next year during this time. So you don’t want to prune back too much from these hydrangeas.

Simple Identifying Characteristics

Smooth – Large white round flowers? (Bloom on new wood)

Climbing – climbing vine instead of a bush? (Bloom on old wood)

Bigleaf – Pink or blue flowers in the shape of balls? (Most bloom on old wood)

Panicle – White, green, or pink flowers in the shape of large cones? (Bloom on new wood)

Oakleaf – leaves that resemble oak leaves (Bloom on old wood)

Well, that’s all I have for the care of hydrangea plants. BUT I wanted to have you take a look back at the garden last year.

I’ll be sharing the whole garden with you soon! I’m soo excited about our new fence that’s coming!

Pin for later!

I hope this helped you know how to take better care of your hydrangea plants!

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Have a great week! XoXo

Open Your Doors,
Aliya