Hydrangeas defy winter months. It is therefore, very essential for you as a hydrangea owner to protect your delicate hydrangeas from the harsh winter conditions. We are genuinely concerned about your desire to winterize hydrangea.
Proper winter care not only helps your hydrangea to withstand winter damage but also encourages your plant to grow healthy with abundant blooming flowers. In this guide, we are determined to provide everything you need to know about protecting and caring for hydrangeas.
Hydrangeas are in general robust flowering plants. But despite their hardiness, hydrangeas need special care and attention if you expect them to flourish vibrantly in the late spring. For winterizing hydrangeas, you must ensure they are well-prepared to cope with the coming winter months.
Below is a guide on preparing your hydrangeas for the winter months:
It would help if you made sure hydrangeas are pruned properly before the winter. In general, late fall or early winter is regarded as ideal for pruning hydrangeas. You need to eliminate all the dead or damaged branches from the plant so that strong growth of hydrangeas is encouraged.
In addition to that, it has been suggested to follow the 1/3 pruning rule and make a 45-degree cut while pruning. Keep in mind to cut just above a bud so that new growth is promoted. You should know that pruning is an important preparation strategy for your hydrangeas to tolerate harsh winter conditions.
The approach to cutting hydrangea plants for the winter depends upon the hydrangea type. There are two general types of hydrangea, the one that blooms on the old wood and the other that blooms on the new wood.
It has been suggested to avoid heavy pruning in the late fall to the ones that bloom on old wood as it may hinder the buds that are to bloom in the next season. You can simply cut and remove dead and damaged elements from the plant. While to the new wood hydrangea, you can prune more aggressively to about 1/3 of their size.
Mulching is another essential thing to consider for your hydrangeas. It has been proven that mulching helps to regulate soil temperature and moisture which are crucial for hydrangeas during the cold winter months. Learn more about mulching practice below:
If you place organic mulch around the base of your hydrangeas, it will act as an insulator so that the roots and stems of the plant are secured from the harsh winter weather. It has been recommended to use straws or fallen leaves as organic mulch which works best for your hydrangeas.
You can simply purchase straws and collect the fallen leaves from your garden to be used as mulch. Before applying the mulch, make sure to check for any signs of insects or bugs on it which may harm your hydrangeas.
Yes, you should apply mulch in late fall or early winter, once the ground gets frozen. You should know that mulch is found to harbor rodents during the winter so you need to avoid applying mulch very early, minimizing the risk of rodent infestations.
Additionally, it depends upon your local climate whether to mulch your hydrangeas or not. If you live in a warmer climate or a mild cold climate, late fall and early winter respectively work best but in the case of a very cold climate, mulching is not necessary at all, your hydrangeas will require separate shelter.
While applying organic mulch, you need to make sure they are placed around the base of your hydrangeas. A thick layer of mulch about 6-8 inches should be enough to protect your plant throughout the winter.
Keep in mind to scatter your mulch materials on the ground around the base of your hydrangeas, making them at least 6 inches thick.
Fertilizing your hydrangeas at the right time will ensure your plant gets essential nutrients and energy at the time of need. This will further make them hard and robust to face the winter challenges. Find out about the right timing and approach to fertilizing your hydrangeas:
Spring or summer is regarded as the ideal time to fertilize your hydrangeas. This will ensure new blooms thrive in the warm weather. But keep in mind to avoid fertilizing when the winter is very near which will encourage the growth of fragile and vulnerable blooms in the cold.
Moreover, you should also stop feeding your hydrangeas in the fall if you want your plant to withstand unfavorable winter conditions. You have to be very careful while fertilizing your hydrangeas and make sure not to over-fertilize them out of excitement, this will encourage foliage development rather than the flowers.
It has been recommended to apply slow-releasing compost in the fall or early winter so that your hydrangeas can feed on them in the spring when they need it the most. Compost is found to break down rather slowly.
You need to apply 2-3 inches of compost on top of the soil. You can make use of the rake or your hand to gently till the compost. If the ground has been frozen, you can simply lay the compost on top of it. You can make use of the fruits and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, leaves, and grass cuttings to make organic compost for your hydrangeas.
Watering is another crucial aspect of preparing your hydrangeas for the winter. It has been recommended to water your plant regularly within a couple of days before cold air starts to roam. Your hydrangeas are found to require ample water for them to stay hydrated and healthy, of course.
When the winter is near, a good deep watering usually in the late fall is highly adored by your hydrangeas. You need to make sure water reaches the depth of the plant to its roots every 2-3 days. This practice is suggested to be performed 1-2 months before the arrival of winter.
Cleaning your garden is another important thing you should not neglect and ignore while preparing your hydrangeas for the winter. You need to make sure all the dead leaves, unwanted weeds, and organic matter are eliminated from your garden.
In general, one last cleaning and weed-removing task is considered best when done in the late fall before winter frost comes. The unwanted weeds are found to consume a lot of water and you wouldn't want your hydrangeas to share it with them. Keep in mind not to allow the seeds of the weeds to overwinter which will germinate and crowd your garden in the spring.
Before you let your hydrangeas into their dormant winter phase, you need to make sure one last time your plants are pest and disease-free. If your plant had any infestation earlier during the summer, you may want to give your hydrangeas one last round of pesticide or related chemical-free remedies.
You should know that hydrangeas are susceptible to fungal diseases so they are likely to harbor pests and rodents. Providing them with the necessary anti-disease doses before winter will make sure your hydrangeas are free from any remaining spores.
Once you've done the necessary preparation of your hydrangeas for the coming winter months, there's some more attention you need to give during the actual winter months. Winter care for hydrangeas is very important to minimize winter stress and promote winter safety for the plants.
Follow us to learn about protecting hydrangeas during winter:
If you want to give some extra and solid protection to your hydrangeas, you can try building separate shelters for them a month before the first anticipated frost, this will prevent your plant from coming in direct contact with the cold winter environment. Scroll down to learn about building a shelter on your own:
You should begin by collecting four strong wooden stakes that are at most 4 inches longer than your hydrangeas. Pick the stakes and insert them into the ground at least 4 inches from the base. Place the stakes vertically into the ground around all sides of the plant, if necessary you can use a hammer or millet to drive the stakes.
You need to make sure the stakes are placed at least 3-4 inches apart from each other and secured into the ground. After inserting them into the ground, check for the stature of the stakes, they should be about the height of your plant. Keep in mind not to allow the branches of hydrangeas to rest on the stakes.
While building a shelter, a major concern should be given to the air circulation. You should know that hydrangeas must be provided with proper air circulation and this can only be achieved using a burlap. Yes, you now need to wrap burlap around the stakes and create a cage for your hydrangeas.
This cage is found to allow proper air circulation for your hydrangeas while also offering protection during winter conditions. Make sure to wrap the burlap material around the outside of the wooden stakes until it covers every side of the plant. You can also make use of garden fleece as an alternative to burlap.
After wrapping the fencing material to create a cage around the stakes, you need to use the staple to fix the cage. For this, you can simply pick a staple gun and press the trigger to insert the staples firmly into the wooden stakes.
Make sure to position the mouth of the staple gun directly over the cage material and wooden stakes behind it. You need to staple every wooden stake at its top, middle, and bottom section securing the fencing material and making a firm cage. This will help to protect your hydrangeas from strong wind or heavy snow during the winter.
It would be better if you did not leave any void in your effort to protect hydrangeas from the winter. After building a cage, you have certainly done the necessary winter care for hydrangeas but still, you can give a final touch to your shelter by offering an insulator.
If you live in a very cold climate where winter is unbearably severe, you can use the leaves to give extra insulation to your hydrangeas. Once the cage has been set up, you can simply place the leaves on top of it so that it provides an additional barrier for the harsh cold to reach your hydrangeas. For this, pine leaves could be an option.
Hydrangeas are water-loving shrubs. If your hydrangeas are growing in the cold and dry weather, they are more likely to struggle during the winter months. For this, a delicate balance in the watering is necessary to keep them moist.
Yes, even during the dormant phase of hydrangeas in the winter, they will require occasional moisture for a healthy root system. Therefore, watering frequency should be reduced but not completely stopped during the winter months.
It has been recommended to water your hydrangeas once every week to prevent them from dehydration but still, you need to monitor and check for soil dryness. Water your hydrangeas just enough to dampen the soil without causing waterlogging, minimizing the risk of freezing damage through excess watering.
Anti-desiccant sprays are sprays usually applied over the foliage of evergreen plants with the motive of preserving their leaves from drying during winter. During the dormant phase where they are not actively growing above the ground, plants are found to release water from their internal tissues.
Your hydrangeas can also benefit from the anti-desiccant sprays which can help to prevent your plant from drying out in the winter. You can simply purchase them from the nearby store and apply them over your hydrangeas following the labeled instructions.
If you are to deal with the potted hydrangeas then you need to move them indoors as soon as winter comes. Hydrangeas that are growing outside in containers or pots are more prone to roots freezing as they're found to deal with much colder temperatures.
Therefore, it would be best if you move your plant into a warmer location such as a garage or any shaded spots. You can also try burying the entire pot into the ground choosing a location that receives less severe winter winds, covering the pots and top of the soil with some leaves or organic mulches.
During snowy winters, heavy snow or ice is found to build up on hydrangea branches. If you are unable to manage this snow, it can lead your hydrangeas to bend or snap. You can use a soft broom to gently brush off the ice from your plant.
While doing this, you need to make sure you do not further harm delicate hydrangeas. Make sure to carefully remove the piled-up ice and leave some of them to melt naturally unless they are stressing your plant excessively.
Winter can bring strong winds which may damage tender stems and branches of your hydrangeas. Watch out for your plants closely, if they are showing any signs of winter burn such as brown, dry edges on leaves or stems and excessive swaying of your plant.
If the strong winds are causing too much stress to your hydrangeas, you seriously need to consider external protection like that previously mentioned shelter or screens or wrapping. While providing external protection, make sure to give proper attention to the air circulation around your plant.
During the dormant period of your hydrangeas, you can observe their physical appearance which has a lot to say about their health. If you happen to detect weak, dry, or brittle branches, you should know that your plant has been under stress resulting from the winter conditions.
You can assess your plant structure before and after winter and act accordingly to mitigate the issues as early as possible. You need to work on their uneven growth and crowding branches in the early spring to encourage the new growth.
Providing winter care for hydrangeas will only be successful if you've enough information about your hydrangea type. You should know that some hydrangeas bloom in mid to late summer instead of late spring, producing flower buds in the spring season. They are smooth or panicle hydrangea that do not need extra winter care as they produce buds and blooms in the same growing season.
Winter care is required by the hydrangeas that are found to bloom in the spring and early summer which produce flower buds in the previous summer or fall. They are often likely to be bigleaf or oakleaf hydrangeas.
