Fluffy Mopheads or lacy Lacecaps, Panicle and Bigleaf; Hydrangeas are some of our absolute favorite shrubs!
By now your Hydrangea shrubs are in full bloom and starting to show their late-season color. But what do you do when your Hydrangeas haven’t bloomed yet?
While disheartening, it’s most likely temporary and easy to fix!
Check out the top 5 reasons your Hydrangeas may not flower this year.
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Reasons Hydrangeas Can’t Bloom
Keep the blooms pumping reliably each year by remembering the five main techniques that will keep your Hydrangea shrubs full of blooms!
Choosing the right Hydrangea in the first place for your growing zone and for your planting location is an essential first step in enjoying flowers from late spring until autumn!
1. The Right Amount Of Sun
Hydrangeas, like many flowering shrubs and plants, need the power of full sun to flower best. Hydrangeas planted in less than 5-6 hours of direct sun a day will see reduced flowering, smaller flowers, and even weaker stems that can cause the flowers to flop. In full-shade locations, you’ll have a nice, small green shrub but no blooms.
- Move Hydrangeas that have been planted in locations with less than 5-6 hours of sun per day. Young shrubs can be transplanted when dormant and moved to a sunnier area.
- Perhaps a tree that was young when you planted your Hydrangea has now grown taller and is now shading your shrub too much. It's time to trim away a few branches and let the light through.
The best locations for Hydrangea in hotter climates appreciate morning sun with afternoon shade. The morning sun also helps dry the leaves of dew and reduces foliar issues.
2. Pruning At The Right Time
Pruning your Hydrangea at the right time, depending on the type of Hydrangea, is vital to prevent cutting off next year's blooms.
- Panicle Hydrangeas and Smooth Hydrangeas (H.arborescens) flower on new wood (this year's growth) and need to be pruned in early spring. Panicle types should be pruned to reduce last year's growth and old blooms as well as any crossing branches or thick old stems that are not blooming as well anymore - before they start to leaf out. The Arborescens types can be cut to the ground, but many like to leave a foot or more to help hold the stems up some as the flowers develop.
- Oakleaf Hydrangeas, Mountain Hydrangeas, and Bigleaf Hydrangeas (H. serrata) are very woody and flower best on last year's growth. Pruning should be done only to remove the old flower heads, and renewal pruning should be done to cut out the oldest stems to the ground right after they bloom. Bigleaf and Mountain Hydrangeas also bloom on last year's wood so be careful to remove old flower heads and any tip damage from winter leaving the older wood in place for best bloom.
Don’t forget to snip some of the fresh blooms for bouquets or save the trimmed dried blooms for dried decorations!
3. Consistent Moisture & Well-Drained Soil
Ensuring your Hydrangea starts life in the right location is essential for a stress-free shrub!
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Plant your shrub with Nature Hills Root Booster for lifelong symbiotic support
- Ensure your shrub is well-watered, while some types of Hydrangea shrubs are drought tolerant once established, you’ll get the best flowering display when they have consistent moisture access
- Choose a location to plant your Hydrangea in enriched, spongy, and highly organic soil that drains well. Compacted soil will limit root growth and decrease their ability to access nutrients and moisture.
- Top-dress the entire root system around the shrub with 3-4 inches of arborist mulch chips to enrich the soil, insulate the roots, and hold soil moisture in consistently.
- Provide drip irrigation or soaker hoses around your shrubs to deliver moisture directly to the roots. This will save you time lugging a hose around!
Hydrangeas are one of those ‘magic’ plants that can be wilting one moment and then after being watered, spring back to life. But you don’t want your shrubs to get to that point because it can cause stress, and create brown tips on the leaves or lead to leaf drop.
4. Too Much Nitrogen
Too much of a good thing can have the wrong effect on your Hydrangea. Most flowering shrubs should be carefully fertilized with a balanced slow-release fertilizer geared towards flowering plants.
Lawn fertilizer and high-nitrogen fertilizer will encourage lots of nice bushy green growth … but no flowers. Take care when applying lawn fertilizer around your flowering shrubs like Hydrangea because over-application can take a while to leech out of the soil and allow the plant to flower once again.
5. Physical Injury
From winter injury, and an early spring frost, to deer browse, the terminal buds of Hydrangea can be easily damaged due to a number of factors beyond your control.
- In lower marginal growing zones (USDA zones 5 and 6), plant your Hydrangea in a protected location away from drying and icy northern winds. For Hydrangea that blooms on new wood an early spring freeze can kill the flower buds. Likewise, an early freeze in the autumn or unexpected low temperatures before Hydrangeas that flower on old wood have had a chance to harden off can also kill next year’s flowers.
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Avoid planting your shrubs in low areas where cold air can pool and form pockets
- Wrap shrubs in burlap to protect them from deer and frost damage over the winter, removing the wrapping in the spring (you can also create a wire cage and fill it with clean leaves over the winter)
- Spray plants with deer repellant regularly according to package directions.
- An excessively dry winter with little rain or snow cover will lead to winter injury, so ensure you’ve watered when there’s been a winter drought (when it’s above freezing of course) and top off that layer of mulch before winter.
Squeeze The Most Blooms Possible From Your Hydrangea!
Proper care and location mean the world when it comes to enjoying every Hydrangea flower possible!
Check out our Garden Blog on keeping cut Hydrangea flowers looking their best in a bouquet and how to dry and design with dried Hydrangea flowers too!
Want to see Hydrangea flowers in your landscape? Check out all the fantastic varieties available at NatureHills.com, including the new French Manicure™ Panicle Hydrangea!
Happy Planting!
