A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Hydrangeas

I'm moving my Hydrangeas to the shady side of the house where they'll get a few hours of early morning sun, because they've been in a spot that gets full sun for 3/4 of the day & were always turning brown. (Somebody told me they were burning, from too much Sun.)

Right?

More than likely...yep.

My 5 hydrangeas are in in the same position as yours....early morning sun and shade the rest of the day and they are beautiful and very healthy and like that location a lot. I'm sure they'll like their new location a lot!

How big are your hydrangeas? I've always heard they were hard to move if they've been in one spot a long time.

Do they like their roots wet or dry? The area right behind my house which may get a bit of morning sun (but I doubt it) is very damp all the time it seems.

In Greek, Hydrangea means water tub.
Hydra= water
Yes, they like it wet!
Hydrangea care

Oh yeh...when it's hot and dry out for weeks on end in the summer I soak them good every day.....

Thanks Bill. Going to invest in one of them for sure then!

You mean how tall? Ummm... up to about --here--!

They don't get much taller than up to my waist (long legs/high waistline!) (I want to wait for Hubby to dig it out for me, because I don't have the weight or strength to get the shovel in deep enough to get as much root as it might have to offer... I'm assuming that it's important to get as much root as possible, but don't even know if Hydrangeas have a Tap root or not...)

Which leads me to ask, how much root does a section need, to survive? (I'm thinking that if this plant is propagated by cuttings, then it should be able to thrive if there is any root involved at all, during a transplant.)

Thanx for the link, Bill.
Last fall I tilled up the spot where I want to relocate these Hydrangeas & dumped Dolomite into the soil -- in varying amounts across the area... as an experiment, to see if I could change the pH & get different colors of blossoms from each plant. (Comments, please.)

I have to laugh at myself a little, as I'm so new to gardening that I barely know what I'm doing in the first place, yet I take off on a wild adventure to try to change the colors of flowers!! HEY, can't hurt anything... CAN IT?

Patty I think that the roots extend almost to the edge of the plant. Two years ago we had 3 trees fall and crush our deck and all the plantings around it (put there by the previous owner because I'm pretty useless in the garden) and in spite of being crushed the hydrangea came back beautifully and continues to send out new shoots. It's probably hardier than you think it is.

PS I think size refers to how round it is not how tall it is.

I think they do send down pretty deep roots to get to the water. I'm not sure though because I've never dug mine up....

Here's one of my 5 hydrangeas...3 are great big established ones like this, and 2 are smaller ones that I planted a few years ago.

Stunning loz!!!

Thanks Lynne, they're so beautiful when they are in full bloom .....I just wish they'd last longer than they do...they get so top heavy we have to tie them up after a while or when it storms it flattens them... :p

Hey guys. I love hydrangras. The mopheads are great but there are a couple of new varieties like "Endless Summer" that bloom off the old and new wood which extends the blooming in my area. Also, there is a variety "Lady in Red" which changes leaf colors in fall and is a marvelous addition to the garden.

Gorgeous pic! Do you ever add anything to the soil to change their colors?

Thanks Triss....I've never tried to change the color before....I actually like the white to be honest....it just looks so fresh and bright against the green of the leaves.

The 3 established ones were the only plants here in the yard when we bought the house other than the 2 red maple trees, and a blue spruce.

You can't see in that picture but Mark made big wooden boxes to go around the base of them....

Does that help them stay upright?

Nah but it looks nice and neat in the winter when they've been cut down. We usually have to rope them up to the chain link fence in the back....some of the t-storms in the summer can be bad and I learned my lesson a few years ago...I didn't tie them up that year and they were totally flattened...all of the big beautiful flowers were pretty much ruined.....

That is too bad, but at least you know now and I bet that makes it easier. How far back do you cut them every year?

I could them all the way down to the ground in late fall.....since the ones I have blooms on new wood it doesn't hurt them one bit! They grow that big every year!

And yep, trial and error is what works best in the garden....LOL

It just amazes me that things grow so big in just one year!

I have a few hydrangeas
I got oak leaf(pretty fall colors.dry years are the bomb!)
and another one but has pretty pale liliac blooms and then got a nikko blue.
I root my cuttings off too.and I moved one from SIL house.so the roots aren't too bad i dug out about 1 1/2 ft out from plant and we wiggled it around.It had a tap root,but we really didn't pay that much attention to it.I'm sure it will do nicely as it DID have roots in mass to boot.
Mine get more sun than shade,but the oakleafs WERE in shade till Rita retreescaped my yard.My shade beds changed lighting wise& my heavy shade bed now just has a shade spot,but not deep like before.I do water them well.There are pictures in yahoo,but don't think i have a shot of niko.

Patty- we dug up our hydrangea to move it to another place that I thought it would like better. I tossed out all the old branches-trimmings etc into the woods.. Well they came up beautifuldidn't do anything to them-just tossed them out. Now of course I am out there getting all of those little plants and moving them around the border of our wood. preety stubborn things there! but cool! more plants!

I love these plants... I've made it my mission to have one of each kind, I think! lol
As for changing colors, if you wait until just before the buds start opening, then add lime (or tsp or 2 of dish soap mixed with water, so I've heard) to make them red/pink, or (used) coffee grounds to make them more blue/purple. Add it around the drip line, and water it in. That should cause the colors to change for you. You can play with the amounts of additives to get what shade you want. These are such gorgeous plants!

Hello.. How big do they get? I was thinking about putting one on each side of my front stairs. Are they green year round?

As for the size, it depends on what type you have. Some stay around 3-4', others will grow into small trees. Here in z8 they usually lose their leaves in the winter, but I'm not sure if they in warmer climates. Hope this helps!

Mine grow to be about 4 - 4 1/2 feet tall, and get really wide....if you look on the first page you'll see a picture of mine. In the late fall, or early spring I cut mine all the way down....mine grow from new growth, and not old growth.