Leave adequate space between plants to allow airflow for happy plants (and happy gardeners). All of our plant pages have spacing recommendations under the “more information” section in the “how to grow” tab. Incrediball hydrangeas are recommended to be 3-5 feet apart, so you can plant them spaced 3 feet if you wish.
Keep good air space between the plants; don't crowd them together or against other plants. Don't give bigleaf hydrangeas too much love; if they're too comfortable (water, fertilizer, etc.), they may devote all their foliage to leaves instead of blooms.
If you're planting your Endless Summer Hydrangeas as foundation plants, space them eight feet apart from each other from the center. For a garden border, space them out four feet apart.
Transplant Shock
The hydrangea drooping after planting or transplanting is common. Even if you carefully dig out the entire root ball, damaging some of the fine roots is inevitable. Also, the plant needs time to adapt to the new soil conditions.
Recovery time may vary from plant to plant. It depends on the age, type of the transplanted plant, soil type, and climatic condition of the planted location. In the seedlings stage, it will take up to 2-3 weeks, but in matured plants or trees, it will take up to years. 3.
Of course, mulch well and if possible provide shade during the sunny part of the day. Your transplants will be wilty/droopy looking for about 2-3 weeks, but I could make a bet that if you'll follow above procedure they'll recover from transplant shock before the end of September.
Spacing your Endless Summer – Summer Crush Hydrangeas
Plant your Summer Crush Hydrangeas 18-24″ apart from plant center to plant center for a seamless planting at maturity. Space them over 3 feet apart for space between plants.
To rejuvenate the hydrangea, remove up to 1/3 of the older living stems down to the ground each summer. This will revitalize the plant. If necessary to control the size of the plant, cut back before late July to allow for buds to develop. Usually the plant will return immediately to its former size.
Hydrangea size
Some only grow to about 2 to 3 feet tall and wide, while others grow up to 6 feet tall with a 6 foot spread. Smaller hydrangea varieties are perfect for compact garden beds, patio pots and areas with limited space.
Water at a rate of 1 inch per week throughout the growing season. Deeply water 3 times a week to encourage root growth. Bigleaf and smooth hydrangeas require more water, but all varieties benefit from consistent moisture.
Although there are many types of hydrangeas, they all require similar environments. They grow best in about 4 hours of morning sun or filtered shade throughout the day. Keep in mind that do not like extremely hot conditions, so try to locate them in an area where they can enjoy some afternoon shade.
When hydrangeas are drooping, they're often expressing their dislike of local conditions. Too much sun and not enough water lead to wilt; heavy flower loads can cause tender branches to bend until they touch the ground. Even an extra dose of fertilizer may contribute to droopy hydrangea plants.
If your hydrangea is too wide for the location, you can dig it up and divide the plant, or move it back away from driveways and walks. If just a few stems are hanging into walkways, follow those to the ground or where they join another stem, and cut them off.
Though they are fast growing shrubs, it can take 2-4 years for hydrangeas to reach their full size. Some are faster to mature than others. Growing hydrangeas is simple, and they can thrive in just about any climate.
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.
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.
However, stop deadheading hydrangea shrubs in mid to late fall, leaving any spent blooms in place. This not only provides winter interest, but also ensures you don't remove the buds that will become flowers next spring.
New varieties, like Summer Crush, can produce on old and new wood. It's better leave as much old wood as possible through the winter and spring to ensure blooms.
Planting & Care for Summer Crush Hydrangea Plants/Shrubs
Pick a spot that has dappled sunlight or morning sun and afternoon shade. Make sure they are sheltered from frosty winds, which will damage blossoms. The Summer Crush Hydrangea requires six hours of full sun and partial afternoon shade.
It's a compact hydrangea blooms all summer long. The large, 3.5”-5” blooms are pink or purple, depending on soil pH. Dark green foliage takes on a burgundy-red color in the fall.
Symptom. Leaf scorch is a common symptom of transplant shock. Leaf scorch first appears as a yellowing or bronzing of tissue between the veins or along the margins of leaves of deciduous plants (those that lose their leaves in winter). Later, the discolored tissue dries out and turns brown.
If necessary you can transplant hydrangeas in July, but it is not the best time of year to do it, and you risk losing the plant. If you must move your hydrangea in July, then make sure it's not during a particularly hot spell.
Whether it happens overnight after being repotted in your cute new pot or over the course of several days after their environment drastically changes, they are great at communicating their stress with us. The telltale signs of shock are yellowing or brown wilted leaves that droop drastically.