Easy to care for, Easy to Love

Hydrangeas are one of the most popular shrubs we sell at the Farm at Green Village. It’s full headed clustered blooms and big green leaves are a reminder that summer is here. There are many varieties such as the endless summer, snowball, majestic oak leaf, dwarf bomb shell, limelight, mop head, lace cap and climbing Hydrangea.

With the exception of lace cap and climbing, most hydrangeas need at least 6 hours of full sun. Most Hydrangea will benefit from some shade. Lace cap and climbing hydrangea prefer part sun or part shade. When planting your Hydrangea shrub, dig a hole 1.5 times the size of the plant. Place the plant in the hole and fill with existing soil and compost such as Bumper Crop. Add 2-3 inches of mulch to retain moisture. Keep the soil evenly moist, not wet and don’t let it dry out. Hydrangeas in acidic soil produce blue flowers because acidic soils allow aluminum to be taken up into the plant from the soil, producing the blue color. Most soil contains enough aluminum to make the plant blue unless the PH balance in the soil is too high.

If your Hydrangea is not flowering it’s usually attributable to two major problems – too much shade and improper pruning. Hydrangea pruning should only be done immediately following bloom time to avoid harming next year’s flower buds, which form in late summer. When pruning, remove the faded flowers and any weak extraneous shoots to encourage additional branching and fullness.

Fertilize hydrangea’s in the late spring, mid-summer with a slow release, balanced fertilizer, such as Espoma Plant Tone or 10-10-10 – only once per year is necessary.
Come out to the Farm at Green Village where we have a huge selection of Hydrangeas, soils and fertilizers for all your planting needs.