Identification and am I killing it!

Hi all! New to gardening and was a bit slapdash with buying my plants. Didn't make notes of names or anything, but I have caught the gardening bug and need some help!

Can you identify this plant for me and help me understand how to care for it properly!

 

Hi and welcome to GC!

That is a hydrangea. They can grow in sun, or semi-shade. They don't like to dry out. But neither the soil or grass in front look too dry. The flowers do fade after a time, and seem to more on younger or new plants. Maybe just stress related? (I'm in my first year of hydrangea growing too, so will wait for experts to comment on this!!)

 

It's a very nice looking shrub but it like's moisture and will benefit from an Autumn/ Winter mulch and feed. I would gently fork in a bit of Blood, fish and bonemeal.
When those flower heads get tatty, just snip them off - down to the spot where the left the main stem. This will make the plant look better visually,
Jenny

 

So shall I nip off all those heads as they are looking tatty to encourage new growth?

 

The dead heading won't generate more flowers this year - just make the shrub look more attractive,
Jenny

 

That's a hydrangea alright. Never seen one with blooms that are white(ish) though.

They're all pink or blue around here and always thought the colour was down to soil PH/acidity levels but apparently adding aluminium powder can make the pink type turn blue.

A white one though. That would be like rocking horse manure around here

 

A small Hydrangea for sure. I've never seen that colour before though... it will look very pretty in a couple of years!

Pruning is simple... wait for the flowers to die. They will turn into pom poms which look and feel like dried leaves. Then in late winter or early spring, cut the stems back to one bud after "old wood". ie, work out which bits are the new shoots and cut it off leaving only one bud from where it started growing. Cut it as close as you can to those shoots to get bigger growth.

You can prune back further if need be to give a more uniform shape.

Have fun!

 

The bonus with white Hydrangea is that you get what you paid for, ie they don't change colour according to your soil type I've just bought a similar one - Madame Emile Mouillere.

The RHS recommends : "Dead blooms on mophead hydrangeas can, in mild areas, be removed just after flowering, but it is best to leave them on the plant over winter to provide some frost protection for the tender growth buds below."