Hydrangea Care from @YouCanDoItGardening
Every once in a while you find a resource you connect with online. Someone who takes an approach similar to yours with gardening. In this case it's "try it, learn from it, and try again." That's one of the reasons we're thrilled to be working with Instagram influencer @YouCanDoItGardening! Hydrangeas are popular but often cause confusion ... When do I prune? Will my hydrangea grow in shade? What is the best hydrangea type for my Zone? We'll provide the answers to these frequently asked hydrangea questions in this 3-part series of video shorts.
Jess @YouCanDoItGardening is a self-taught garden coach in Zone 6 who tells it like it is, makes you smile, and gives great garden advice. So watch these insightful hydrangea care videos, find the right hydrangea for your garden location, and share your photos with us. Nothing makes us happier than seeing our plant offspring thriving in your garden.
Limelight Panicle Hydrangea
Video Transcription: This my showpiece in this little area here. This is my Limelight hydrangea which is hardy in Zones 3-9. So, it’s incredibly versatile. It can tolerate a lot more sun than some of the other ones.
It blooms on new wood which means that it’s the new growth for the current year. So I’ve just cut this back super hard and each place I made a cut, new stems are going to come out like this (motions upward). So, this is four feet from the house. It’s important not to plant these things too close. This was a shrub actually in 2013. I’ve pruned it into a tree form but you can just as easily prune them down lower. If yours is out of control, I suggest you bring it in. I cleaned out all the clutter: anything that’s growing down, crossing, broken, ripped, or going back into the plant. I want to foster a shape that is kind of going up and out. Again, you can do a little bit shorter and wider if you want.
Oakleaf Hydrangea
Video Transcription: This is the Oakleaf hydrangea, one of my absolute favorites especially right now because I’m very focused on high maintenance. People always want things low maintenance. This is the lowest of the low maintenance. You barely need to touch it except if it’s overgrown or you have some broken branches. It’s gorgeous in the spring when it starts to grow.
Summer is amazing and then fall is like this gorgeous red color which I love and I’m really into it. This is a fairly shady spot. These plants are hardy Zones 5-9. I have one also in a lot of sun and it does great. So it’s extremely versatile, it’s very unusual looking, and the foliage is amazing and it’s super low maintenance and it’s native to a lot of parts of the US. So, for me, it just checks all these boxes that I love so I recommend it heartily.
Serrata/Mountain Hydrangea
Video Transcription: These are my serrata hydrangeas, my mountain hydrangeas which I love because they are so reliable, they’re so beautiful. This is a very sunny area and they do great. They have this growth here (holding a branch) that should turn into flower buds, should appear here. Then there’s the growth off the bottom on which buds are formed and, very reliably, flowers every year. So, very low maintenance, they can handle sun.
I think they are under-utilized and under-rated. I really think more people should use these because I love them. They are just beautiful, versatile, and reliable. So, what could be better than that?
Hydrangeas are versatile and colorful shrubs. Plant them in swathes throughout your landscape or let them show off in perennial borders. Whether you're admiring the blooms in the landscpae or vase, these bold perennials command attention.
