Hydrangea question

I noticed that my neighbor has cut all her hydrangea bushes (mophead, lacecap, etc.) down to about 5" tall. I remember reading or hearing somewhere that if you did that, you sacrificed blooms the following year. Any advice? I'm confused....
Thanks,
Deb

she just lost a lot of her blooms - i do not trim mine until the late spring when i can tell what is alive of died over the winter.

Thanks Wha.
Do you wrap your bushes in burlap? I was thinking of doing that this year since one of mine gets a lot of wind during the winter. It comes back to full size in the summer, but blooms are sparse. I'm a novice when it comes to hydrangeas so any advice is welcome.

I have never bothered covering them, but it would help, Deb.

They should be pruned, if needed, right after blooming since they bloom on old wood.

tamberlin, here is a great site. http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/pruning.html

In the past I have trimmed a few of next years blooms in error too on my lacecaps. My favorite hydrangea is the oakleaf hydrangea that can get huge. Here is a collage of one of them. We prune them but we only take out about a third of it at a time to ensure that we don't destroy all the blooms. I leave 2/3rds of the branches uncut and then cut down the rest to the height I want to actually keep the plant at and then the next year I cut out the tallest ones and so on and on. It keeps them at a height that I want. I also cut out any old stuff or crossed branches or just crowded ones. Seems to work. I love the fall color. No one on Nantucket seems to wrap any types and we get wind galore, but we are not as cold as you. Patti

i do wrap some of mine - although this year i will not wrap the endless summer's just to see how they fair- i will wrap two that get a lot of wind - and if we have a lot of snow i also shovel some inside the burlap if i think of it.

What a great pruning method Patti!

Wha, we get lots less snow than you too. So that makes sense in areas where they would get big drifts blowing them over.

Dahlianut, I learned the hard way and now I do it more carefully, no more off with their heads! Patti

Oooo! I just bought an Oakleaf last month and planted it! Looking forward to seeing it get big! Yipee!!

Love them! I have not pruned any of mine. I might prune my Pee Wees next year. They were supposed to reach three feet high. Now that they're in full sun, they're well over five!

Deer love oak leaf hydrangeas. They don't touch my hydrangeas, which are macrophylla, but they eat my neighbor's to the ground, and they are oak leaf hydrangeas.

Yes - the deer do eat my oakleaf, but don't seem to bother the macrophylla or paniculata.

The deer don't bother my hydrangeas - they prefer the roses and fruit trees.

deer nibbled a bit of my oakleaf as well last winter - and they like a couple other noid's i have here too.

Someone told me I should put epsom salts down under my hydrangeas to color up the blooms. I have one that's supposed to be red, but blooms white. I thought it was a nursery error. Anybody know about epsom salts? What are these salts anyway and I thought salt was bad for plants?

have not heard about epsom salts - i did try and spray lime under my lady in red - not enough apparently as it was a dirty white this year.

Red?? Usually that means deep pink. If it's a macro, it will be affected by pH. Epsom salt is a source of magnesium - it's good for adding that. There is some sulphur in it, so it might lower the pH some (which would make the blooms more blue, not pink!), but aluminum sulphate is much better for that. Sure it's not a paniculata?

I cut a 20 year mophead to about 10 inches right after it bloomed in early August.
Between then and now it has put up shoots that will carry next years blooms, these shoots will be considered old wood.

my neighbor sticks rusty nails around hers to make them bluer

i use aluminum sulphate as victor mentioned

But would that make my white ones turn red? The nursery said they were red, not dark pink, but red like scarlet.

What kind is it?

It's a macrophylla. Let's see if I can find the tag. Give me some time.

It's "Royal Red". http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/82150/

http://henryfields.com/product.asp?pn=66095&bhcd2=1258234304

http://gurneys.com/product.asp?pn=66095&bhcd2=1258234257

http://springhillnursery.com/royal-red-hardy-hydrangea---4-pot/p/53090/quick_order/true/script_name/search.asp~ss=hydrangeas/buy_from/%5B%5BCatURLText%5D%5D/

http://images.google.com/images?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=royal%20red%20hydrangea&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

harper the aluminum sulphate would make them blue - i read that you should do a heavy dose of lime to keep them red - i will do it next week on lady in red and pinky winky that was not so pink this year and then again in the early spring - they have a spray that now that is instant lime in the soil that does not have to break down like pellets - kind of confusing directions on the container as you can spray just water or turn on the lime - i think i watered mine last year based on the results.

Thanks Bill!
It will make them red if they start out white?

Also, I have a hydrangea that came with the house that blooms dark purple. I guess some aluminum will turn that one blue, for sure.

both henry fields and springhill say to add lime

we are cross posting - my lady in red was kinda white so lime should help - i would not be bashful about how much - wood ash will work too.

Oh, okay. I didn't read that. I will add lime. Do I have to wait until spring? Wish I had a fireplace. I do have a chiminea, but don't use it often enough to produce much ash. Here's a photo of the plant in '08

So how do you explain this one? We added nothing, but our soil is pretty acidic. It was a gift of a friend and the tag said it was Glory Blue " but that may be another name for Nikko Blue. I am kind of happy with it's many colors. Patti

Hydrangea Glory Blue

Could be from where it was grown, Patti. How long is it in the ground?

Surprised if your soil is not already acidic, Harp. Mine is. Lime can be added any time of year. It takes a long time and many doses to change soil pH. Don't expect immediate results.

Don't get the white business on a macro.

Yeah, the white business. Hmmmm...

You're not fertilizing with Clorox, are you?

Is it a mophead or lacecap?? Some lacecaps have white florets.

On changing the color of hydrangeas...

http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/colorchange.html

Victor, it came to my house about 4 years ago from my neighbors house. She had it in a big container and another just like it. I snagged them both when she sold the house.

WaterCan2, thank for the information on color changes. Mine must be just a tad slow to adjust. Patti

Mophead Victor. Well Bill, that didn't make me very happy. I'll try adding fertilizer more regularly. Some years I forget.

Don't think that I will bother with them. We had a small white when I was a child in Milwaukee, but there were other plants which I preferred.

mine will get limed today!