With proper timing and basic propagation techniques, you can grow new hydrangeas from simple stem cuttings. Just follow these steps to multiply your hydrangeas and their breathtaking blooms: Time hydrangea cuttings for optimal results. Gather your tools before you start.
Mature hydrangeas often have several viable perimeter shoots like this that can be dug and divided. It's a main way hydrangeas expand their territory. If you don't see any shoots or are getting pieces without roots, entire hydrangea plants can be dug and split into two or more pieces.
Nature is amazing in the way that it propagates plants almost as if by magic. Often times, the stems of hydrangeas will root on their own when they come into contact with the ground.
As rapid growers—averaging about 2 feet of growth per year—larger varieties of hydrangeas can reach up to 15 feet tall. Applicable in growing zones 3 to 9, hydrangeas are a low maintenance plant that will return year after year with proper care.
When you deadhead hydrangeas, you aren't harming the plants at all. Removing the spent blooms triggers flowering shrubs to stop producing seeds and instead put their energy toward root and foliage development. This makes plants stronger and healthier, so by deadheading, you'll be doing your hydrangeas a favor.
Prune back stems to just above a fat bud — called a heading cut — in fall, late winter or spring. These plants have conical-shaped flower heads. I recommend leaving the dry, tan flower heads on the plant to provide some winter interest in your landscape, so I wait to prune these until late winter or spring.
You can use multiple stems or use one stem for several cuttings. Cut the stem into 4- to 6-inch lengths with your knife or pruners. Cut each piece right above the node where leaves attach to the stem. These nodes are where new roots will form.
Dig a little trench about 2 inches deep and lower the branch into it and cover generously with soil. Put a brick or stone on the buried area so that it will stay under the soil. This also helps to hold the moisture around the branch. Keep it watered occasionally.
To take hydrangea cuttings, use secateurs to collect material from hydrangea stems and a knife to trim each cutting. Due to its woody nature, it's not possible to propagate a hydrangea cutting in water, so you'll need to insert them into a pot of gritty compost, instead.
Hydrangeas are long-lived shrubs, sometimes living for up to 50 years if properly cared for. They enjoy morning sun but afternoon shade, and they need frequent watering during the growing season. Prune them in the fall after the blooms fade so they can grow on strong stems the following summer.
Most common hydrangeas prefer a partial sun location - ideally receiving sun in the morning hours and shade in the afternoon. The reblooming Endless Summer® Hydrangea series prefers part shade. These include BloomStruck®, Endless Summer®, Blushing Bride®, and Twist-n-Shout®.
In addition to encouraging hydrangeas to produce more flowers, pruning these shrubs each year helps keep them healthy if they get damaged by weather and allows you to shape them however you like.
Most hydrangeas prefer partial sun with full sun in the morning, followed by some afternoon shade. This is especially true for the Bigleaf hydrangea (H. macrophylla). Some varieties are more tolerant of full sun. Most hydrangeas will thrive in fertile, well-draining soils that receive plenty of moisture.
Many people plant hydrangeas in beds next to their homes or fences. This is because hydrangeas love the warm morning sun, but they dislike the heat of the afternoon. The best place to plant hydrangeas is in a sheltered location with sunny mornings and shady afternoons.
Because hydrangeas need so much water, the best time to plant them is in early spring or fall. It's hard to keep them healthy and hydrated if you plant in the heat of mid-summer. Most of ours were planted in mid-October, when it can get chilly!
Hydrangeas are pretty flexible; they can be started from softwood cuttings (fresh new growth) taken in early spring, when the plant is just leafing out, or semi-hardwood cuttings (partly matured first year growth that may have developed a semi-woody base) in late summer.
Hydrangeas grow best in full sun (more than 6 hours sun) to part sun (4-6 hours sun). With that being said, all hydrangeas can handle some shade, but the timing and type of shade are important to consider. They can be in full shade during the hottest part of the day, as long as they are getting some morning sun.
ANSWER: You can bury the entire clay pot with your rooted hydrangea cutting in the garden for the winter if the clay pot has a drainage hole in the bottom so that the pot won't break. Simply dig a big enough hole that you can fit the entire pot in the ground and the lip is at soil level.
'As long as you move your hydrangeas at the right time of year, you should find they cope well with being transplanted,' says Lucy Searle, Editor in Chief of Homes & Gardens. 'However, moving any plant always presents a risk of over-stressing the plant and losing it, so make sure that the new spot is suitable. '
If you don't prune hydrangeas then they can eventually resemble a tangled mass of woody stems, and the flowers will become smaller and less showy.
4. No need to prune. If you trim your plants in fall or winter, you may mistakenly remove flower buds for the following year on bigleaf and oakleaf hydrangeas. Leaving the old flower heads on the plants will also add some interest to the winter landscape.
Hydrangeas that bloom on new wood can be safely pruned in late fall once the plants have gone dormant or in early spring. Next year's flower buds won't be formed until late spring the same year they bloom, so there is no risk of removing the buds if you prune in fall or spring.