I have 6 Endless Summer Hydrangeas and last summe they did not bloom as much as previous years.   Should I cut them back at the beginning of the spring or wait and see what has blooms

Your answer

Your name to display (optional):
Privacy: Your email address will only be used for sending these notifications.
Anti-spam verification:
To avoid this verification in future, please log in or register.

1 Answer

Last year was my first year with an Endless Summer Hydrangea. I swear to you that I read, on a special Endless Summer site, that when you get a new plant, you should be hard-hearted and cut off all the buds so that the plant can produce bigger flowers.  I did that and all I had was a lovely green Hydrangea and a husband who will never let me live it down!

 

Over the winter, I covered the plant completely with crushed maple leaves and weeds but no evergreen clippings.  And here in southern NH, Zone 5, we had a very snowy winter.

In the spring, I took off all the crushed leaves but not until after our last frost, even though the plant was up and looking very healthy and showed signs of blooming.

I waited a few weeks and then I was able to see which old wood had blossoms or green leaves on it.  I cut the old wood above that point.  Some of the old wood had no green leaves but I was amazed at how many old shoots had leaves and beginning blossoms on it.

I covered the small garden in which I have just the hydrangea, with mulch but I made sure there was an area about 3" out from the main stems that had no mulch on it.

I mixed a couple of handfuls of Aluminun sulfate into the soil around the plant because the numerous flowers that were coming out weren't as purple as I would like.  I don't know if it was that or time but they're turning a pretty purple but still not as dark as they were supposed to be.

I've been feeding it Miracle Gro, on and off, although early on, I gave it some Super Bloom on it, early on, which is 12-59-6.  A guy told me that everything blooms better with it, again, my husband doesn't agree.

At this point, to my delight, I have about thirty blossoms on this plant and I think I shall cut the small ones off of it today so it use its energy to form more large blossoms.  I might be wrong so wish me luck.

Oh, and I try to keep it evenly moist although we've had a couple of periods of nothing but rain.  And last year, I mixed coffee grounds with the soil it's in because it was supposed to help.. 

 

Hope this helps you!  They are such a pretty plant and up until now, it was hard to grow any hydrangea in southern NH.  Oh, and I forgot that early on, we mixed quite a bit of sand with the soil we were planting the Hydrangea in because it had too much clay.

Good luck and enjoy your flowers and remember, don't cut off any dead wood until next year, when you're sure it's really dead or it's actually got green leaves on it.

 

 

Related questions

322
view
1 answers
anonymous asked May 25, 2013
322 views
374
view
0 answers
anonymous asked Jul 3, 2013
374 views
1.2k
view
1 answers
anonymous asked May 30, 2013
1,195 view
855
view
0 answers
anonymous asked May 22, 2013
855 views
263
view
0 answers
leonard asked May 26, 2014
263 views
483
view
0 answers
Kimberly Stein asked Dec 4, 2013
483 views
577
view
0 answers
anonymous asked Sep 21, 2013
577 views
911
view
0 answers
anonymous asked Jul 15, 2013
911 views
212
view
0 answers
anonymous asked Jun 30, 2013
212 views
Welcome to InTheYard.org. Please ask and answer yard and garden questions and help build a great gardening community.

Intheyard.org is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Categories

Most popular tags

please help how to take care of yellowing leaves best time to prune how do i get rid of them harvest please help asap! browning leaves picking growing tips please help asap how to grow. how to grow pruning tips will it survive identify please identify not sure what to do yellow leaves transplant harvesting how to prune best time to plant help! freezing might not survive no flowers what do i use to rid them advice needed info. when and how to transplant get rid of invasive brown edges please help. help curling leaves should i remove i need growing tips no blooms please advise how to transplant what causes should i cut it back? pruning best way to transplant and when first time leaf drop buds falling off what can i do when to cut back best time to transplant should i cut it back advise on planting will it grow tomato plants what to do dying leaves turning brown leaves falling off ripe leaf problems caring for plants soil type watermelon what does it look like seeds planting gardenia plant mango and avacado tree propagation questions cuttings planting schedule melon ripeness brown leaves what are these worms hibiscus plant advise needed gardenning need advice were should i plant it how to treat tomatoes root depth get rid of fungus distance between plants dying leaves when to pick tomato plants leaves curling up how do i get rid of it when to harvest vegetables how short never bloom buy seed to plants please help! need help will they survive get rid of mushrooms permantely freezing fresh veggies get rid of mushrooms yellow and dropping leaves