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Ensure Stunning Hydrangea Blooms This Spring With An Important Step
By LAUREN KRYSTAF
Hydrangeas can be a gorgeous, low-maintenance shrub for your yard. Properly pruning and fertilizing them in the spring can help ensure their blooms impress all season long.
They grow best in part-shade and loamy, acidic soils. Measure the pH of the soil, ensuring that it’s between 5 and 6, and add lime to raise it or sulfur to lower it as needed.
Smooth hydrangeas are hardy in zones 4 through 9, panicle hydrangeas in zones 4 through 8a, and most cultivars of bigleaf hydrangeas are only hardy down to zone 6.
Use a balanced slow-release fertilizer in early spring or late winter. Avoid using too much nitrogen or overfertilizing them, as that can encourage excessive leaf growth or scorch.
All species should be pruned in the spring since autumn pruning can risk winter injury. Panicle and smooth hydrangeas bloom on new growth and should be pruned around this time.
Bigleaf hydrangeas bloom on old wood, so use caution when trimming back last year’s growth. Remove dead and damaged branches after dormancy when you can see where the buds are.