Another hydrangea query this time hard pruning

Never did!!!! All my advice has been really serious.:p

 

Considering that there is really not much greenery low on the branches right now, I would definitely wait spring for pruning. It is strange that is is so spindly after being pruned to the ground so recently. Try feeding after pruning, right at the beginning of spring and then again later, in may. Never feed after the end of june. Remove the flowers when the fertile florets are done.Unlike mopheads lacecaps produce huge amount of seeds. No need to exhaust the plant with that. How is the drainage of the ground in the place?

If I were you I would take cuttings of the plant now in any case. You are still just in time, and in a couple of years you may have a few strapping young plants to replace the old one if she remains iffish.

One of my oldest plants was sickly like that for three years once and then slowly recovered and she makes a perfectly dignified little bush now, so there is hope, whatever tweaky may say. In the worse case pack her to Germany and leave her in my care for a couple of seasons!

As for the second hydrangea it is hard to say what variety it may be. It looks remarkably like "Dr Jean Varnier", but there are plenty of pink-blue lacecaps around now, and the most common commercial strains are hardly ever named varieties.

Copper does not do a thing to make hyds blue, the necessary agent is aluminium. There are plenty of blueing products for hydrangeas. Another option is to buy fertilyzer for blue hydrangeas, which feeds while giving the necessary elements for blue flowers. However, if soil and water are very alkaline these things don´t work especially well and the colour remain wishy washy at best. Freshly transplanted hydrangeas oftne turn pink for a year or two whatever the soil. (traditional japanese gardeners almost only used white hydrangeas, considering the coloured ones to fickle. Can´t blame them)

 

HI Ivory,

I thought that about changing the colour too-my Grandad used to bury a coke can at the base of his, I can`t remember what happened I was very little at the time, but he said it changed the colour of the flowers, but not up on these plants. My Soil is neutral everywhere in the garden, and is clay, but I turned it up last yr to let the frost break it up and mixed in bag after bag of compost. I wont turn ip up again til Jan so I can get a better idea if I have been successful. BUt when I dug it in the soil there was pretty good, maybe the rains and stuff have affected it again I don`t know.

If she goes downhill you can believe I will send her out for a sabbatical LOL

 

Yes, Ivory Hydrangea Rehab Center is always open. I have been known to scream at a neighbour for leaving his "easter hydrangea" out to shrivel in its tiny pot in an Italian summer, take the plant with me (without asking) and put her back in health before giving her away (to a different neighbour). :D
You are not mistreating her, she´s just suffering from the move I think.

 

That sounds about right, the flowers are just gorgeous and the purple on has been planted at the side of her, its just a baby but when it has gone grown they should look just perfect stood together-Mr &Mrs Hydrangrea, he's her toyboy! I`m losing it big time, I was talking to the campanula seedlings the other day encouraging them on, and yesterday went out and gave the bistort a firm warning them that they had better not be Jap Knotweed or else!

I am off to Southport today to have a look for a couple of nice trees to replace my lost cherries and it is looking nice so it should be a good day. And you too Ivory, thanks for advising me and have a good day yourself.