Prismatic colour, gorgeous texture, drama, romance—hydrangeas have it all! It’s no surprise that these blooming shrubs are a favourite for front yard landscaping. These beauties have serious curb appeal! Their care requirements are pretty easy to manage, so long as you plant them in the correct spot. Here are some gardening tips if you want to grow hydrangeas in Guelph.
With proper care and just the right amount of sunlight, hydrangeas will come back every year a little bit bigger and brighter than before, with long-lasting blooms that dazzle! The most important thing you can do to set your shrub up for success is to plant it somewhere that gets just the right amount of sunlight.
Here’s the thing—hydrangeas love lots of sun, but some varieties don’t love intense, direct sun. Too much bright afternoon sun can scorch their leaves and cause the moisture to evaporate too quickly from the soil. Gentle morning light is perfect. By that logic, the best place you can put a macrophylla hydrangea is by an east-facing wall or fence, so it gets lots of morning light but has shade in the afternoon. North-facing areas can also work, but if there’s too much shade, your shrub won’t have quite as many blooms. Alternatively, dappled shade underneath a breezy tree canopy is often a comfortable place for hydrangeas.
Hydrangeas like consistently moist soil, but you don’t want it to be soggy and waterlogged. Good drainage and moisture retention are key! To prevent root rot from stagnant water while also ensuring water doesn’t drain too quickly, amend your soil with plenty of fresh compost. Water your shrubs deeply, every 5–7 days, using 2 gallons of water per plant all at once—that way, the water will absorb below the root zone, encouraging deeper growth and it will prevent you soil from drying out as fast! Spreading a layer of mulch across the soil surface will help prevent the sun from drying up all that moisture. That way, these thirsty shrubs will stay hydrated for longer!
A little bit of pruning helps maintain a neat shape and remove awkward branches. The best time to prune macrophyllas depends on your chosen variety. Most hydrangeas fall into one of two categories: spring-blooming shrubs that bloom on old wood and summer-blooming shrubs that bloom on new wood. Keep in mind, there are hybrid varieties, like “Endless Summer,” which bloom on both old and new wood, continually reblooming all through spring and summer. Paniculatas, on the other hand, only need the dead, dying, and broken branches removed in the spring.
If your shrub blooms on old wood in spring, you’ll want to prune it immediately after it finishes flowering in summer. If it blooms on new wood in summer, you can prune it in late winter or early spring before its new flush of growth begins.
Not every type of hydrangea is hardy to Zone 5a, but we still have plenty of gorgeous varieties we can successfully grow! Here are some noteworthy cultivars we think you’ll enjoy:
Visit Royal City Nursery to explore all our breathtaking hydrangeas for sale in Guelph! We’re happy to help if you have any questions about proper care or troubleshooting issues.
