Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Neil Sperry in the Star-Telegram has written a good article about The challenges of growing hydrangeas that you might like to read.

Here's some of what he says about Hydrangeas in East Texas....

In my own experiences, hydrangeas grow best where they receive morning sun (until 10 or so) and shade the balance of the day. In areas with black, alkaline soils, they should be planted much like azaleas. Dig a hole 15 to 18 inches deep and 3 feet wide for each plant.

Remove all of the native soil. Fill the hole with a mix of half sphagnum peat moss and half finely ground pine bark mulch, and mound more of that mix to 12 or 15 inches above the surrounding grade. That will give your plant good drainage and an acidic growing medium. You will need to water it slowly and carefully, however, because the mound will tend to shed irrigation and rainfall.

Hydrangeas dry out more quickly than almost any other shrub that you’ll grow. That’s partly because they prefer moist soils and cooler summer weather, but it’s also because of their very large leaf surfaces. It simply takes a lot of water to keep them plumped up and happy.

And since local irrigation water tends to be highly alkaline — not the friend of hydrangeas — you may see signs of iron deficiencies showing up. Iron is insoluble in alkaline conditions, and it’s a critical part of the chlorophyll molecule, so when alkaline irrigation water combats the original acidity of that planting mix you prepared, you can expect iron chlorosis to appear after a few years.

On the plus side, very few insects or diseases bother hydrangeas.

You’ll want to trim and reshape the shrubs only after they finish blooming. Try to do as little pruning as possible, though. Strong vegetative growth made late in the growing season can come at the cost of having no flowers the following spring.