#Quickfire hydrangea pruning full#
#Quickfire hydrangea pruning plus#

If you want to test this, scratch any stem with your fingernail. What’s happening is the plant is in a dormant stage as it rests up for next season. Many gardeners have the same concern this time of year. “I can understand why you might think your plant is in trouble. We asked Lorraine Ballato, the author of this blog and she said: So if all things go right, getting flowers in 2022 will be a bonus.

#Quickfire hydrangea pruning full#

Most gift plants are produced for their one-time show which takes enormous energy to the point that the plant needs a full season to recover. But if this is a gift plant, it most likely flowers on old wood: it needs to set its buds later this season and then retain those buds through the winter until spring 2022. If the plant pushes new flowers this season, be very grateful. Try to water deeply and intermittently to encourage the roots to go deep to seek the water. When you stick your finger in the soil, it should be damp at your second knuckle. The objective in the short term is recovery Īdd compost which is always a good idea as the microbes can do wonders for soil and plant health.īe sure to mulch the plant well so it doesn’t dry out. Amend as necessary based on the results and recommendation from that test ĭO NOT FERTILIZE as you don’t want to push new growth. Then have the soil tested where the hydrangea is now planted. If this is a gift plant, don’t expect much as these plants are produced for their one-time show.įirst inspect the roots to be sure there are some that are alive That could have happened long before purchase. The soil issue is highly unlikely unless someone poured something into the pot, unbeknown to Samantha. It takes a few days or so for it to show up. The herbicide possibility could have been something that was applied before you bought the plant. Leaves brown out when a plant is either hit by a herbicide or has some serious soil issues. If so, the browning is highly unusual as these plants are meant to be enjoyed indoors for a couple of months. “It sounds like this was a “gift” plant that maybe was around for Mother’s Day, Easter, etc. We asked author Lorraine Ballato your question and here is her response… Here’s to a benign winter and hydrangea happiness! As always, the choice is yours.Ī few of the newer Hydrangeas from NGB members include Hydrangea Diamond Rouge™ and Hydrangea Miss Saori

#Quickfire hydrangea pruning plus#

Plus I think the newer introductions are stunning and are better plants on all counts. Voila! Now when old man winter deals me a bad hand, I still get flowers, albeit a little bit later than June. In came newer reblooming cultivars and hydrangea serratas which are much more bud hardy. I wanted to simplify my life so I donated all of my old wood hydrangea macrophyllas. All of this old-wood blooming angst was too much for me. True confession time: I don’t do any of this anymore. You might have to provide artificial shade for a few days as the plant adjusts to bright daylight. Remember that the plant might have broken dormancy beneath the leaves so be careful of the tender buds. Do it on a cloudy day when all chances of late season frosts have passed. When you wrap your plant, it’s imperative that the removal of your protection in spring is well executed. Hydrangea macrophylla buds are killed by icy winter winds which desiccate tender flower buds. You can protect your plant by erecting some kind of temporary windbreak. You can build an A-Frame from a discarded pallet as shown in the photo or buy one. It still allows the snow to build up at the base of the plant which can be a good insulator. In view of that, one thing to consider is an A-frame to shunt off the snow. Snow can be a protective blanket in some cases or it can break and distort the stems when it is heavy and wet. What this all comes down to is the one kind of plant that needs your intervention: bigleaf hydrangea ( macrophylla).

In my zone 5 gardens, when my bigleaf hydrangeas have suffered winterkill, my oakleaf and climbing have flowered profusely with no protection. Their flowers have been forming on the plants since August and those are the buds that you need to protect.įor the most part, climbing and oakleaf hydrangea flower buds are more winter hardy than those of bigleaf plants. But the good news is the only ones you really have to worry about are your hydrangeas that flower on old wood. If your hydrangeas live in a cold climate, late fall weather is the perfect time for them to harden off, you can use this same time to prepare them to make it through the coming winter.Įxactly what you do depends on what kind of hydrangea you have and where it lives. #YearoftheSunflower Video Contest Winners.