How to Plant New Hydrangeas
- 1). Schedule the planting of a new hydrangea when it is dormant and it has none of its leaves, typically late fall or winter.
- 2). Clear a spot in your garden that will allow your plant to mature without pruning, approximately 4-feet square, and is not in full shade.
- 3). Amend the soil with pine bark mulch if the soil is heavy. Hydrangea require well-drained soil.
- 4). Check the pH of your soil using a garden testing kit. Amend the soil depending upon the color of the flower you desire: pH 5.5 and lower for blue flowers, pH 6.5 and higher for pink flowers, and between pH 5.5 to 6.5 for purple flowers or the possibility of blue and pink flowers on the same plant. Use lime to decrease the pH and aluminum sulfate to increase the pH.
- 5). Dig a hole deeper and larger than the pot you purchased the plant in. Unpot the plant and roughly measure the depth of the soil that was in the pot. Add soil back into your hole until it reaches the same depth. Place the hydrangea in the hole and backfill, making sure the final height of the soil is at the same level of the soil in the pot.
- 6). Water the plant and allow the soil to drain.
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