Hydrangeas are one of the most popular blooming plants. And for good reason! Their spectacular white, blue, pink or red flowers provide a splash of color to the landscape. Most varieties are super long-blooming, offering months and months of stunning flowers.
Hydrangeas are easy to care for. There are a couple tricks to making sure you have the best-looking plants on the block.
Hydrangeas should not be pruned in the fall because the flower buds for next year are being formed now. If you cut the plant back, you are cutting off next year’s flowers. If you want to reduce the size of the shrub, it’s best to thin out about one-third of the largest, oldest stems by cutting them to the ground.
The fall is an ideal time to add amendments to the soil to intensify next year’s bloom color. Add ammonium sulfate to the soil to make blue hydrangeas bluer or to turn pink hydrangeas blue. Garden lime can be added to make pink hydrangeas pinker or to turn blue hydrangeas pink. These organic materials will work their way into the soil throughout the winter months and be available to intensify the bloom color next year. This trick will not work with white-blooming hydrangeas. They will always be white.