I bought 4 yesterday at lowes the flowers that were on them are dead am planning on planting them today how far down should I cut these without killing them
When I plant a new plant I try to keep the soil level the same as it was in the pot. I dig the hole and fill it to the top with water, that's the big secret. Then after I get it out of the pot, I loosen the roots sometimes even beating the root ball to get it started. I don't think these plants are sensitive as much as they have special needs. Moisture and all the little roots need soil and air and space to get to the moisture. BTW, I don't dig that hole any bigger than I have to... I figure if I do the water and loosening of roots the plant will have strength to push through the hard soil. After all I have seen trees lift sidewalks.
Barb has given good planting instructions. Re cutting the hydrangeas back, I would just cut off the dead flowers and see what happens. Is any of the foliage dead too?
yes the leaves were dead but the stems are still green I planted them yesterday cut off all that was dead we will see
Donna, god luck with them. Be careful not to overwater though. We all have that tendency when we see a wilted stalk. Then the overwatering finishes off what the drought created!
Prune off dead flowers. Traditional hydrangea bloom blue in mildly acidic soil, 'an pink in mildly alkaline soil. Sulfer? Lime? anyone???
Donna, do you know if your soil is acidic or basic? If you hope to maintain the red color, you would need to provide basic soil. You could have your soil tested, or just add plenty of lime to the planting hole & hope for the best. I live in MA and the soil in my yard is acidic (plenty of white pine trees, rhododendrons & azaleas do very well--acid lovers). I have a hydrangea that blooms a very pretty blue. I just bought a pink and plan to liberally spread lime in the planting hole. I hope to maintain the pink color.
Donna, do you know the kind of Hydrangea you purchased? Some Hydrangea bloom on second year growth and others bloom of first year growth. To make it more confusing some bloom on both. If you prune a lace-cap then the following year no blooms. It helps to know. Jerry
Mixing potting soil with ground soil can cause various unnecessary hardships for new plants, primarily holding much less or much more water than the surrounding soil. In the future, I would encourage you to not amend planting holes for woody entities. If you have an interest in having more of these, instead of cutting them back, you could bend the longer branches to the ground and lay a brick or rock on them, preferably at a node, with the foliage tip sticking out. In time, new roots will form where the branch is in contact with the soil. When the roots have formed significantly, you can sever the branch from the mama, dig the roots, and have a new shrub to put somewhere else. Pieces trimmed off are also likely to take root, but not as reliably as layering.
