When starting out gardening you may or may not have put much thought into the different ways of filling your plant containers or garden beds and the importance of choosing the right medium.

When I started off gardening, I honestly never considered the differences and grabbed whatever bag seemed right at the time based on the marketing title or picture on the bag. Sometimes I didn’t even care and potted up my plant container with whatever bag I had at the time. 

You may get away with this too, but why not understand the differences so you can make a better decision and provide your plants with the best chance of success. 

Who knew there could be so many options to use as “dirt” for gardening. Sure you have native soil in your own backyard which may be all you need, but then you find products on the shelves such as bags of compost, potting mixes, raised bed mixes, garden mixes, and even top soil among other varieties. 

So what is the purpose of all these options and how do they differ? Let me share the basics with you by providing a simple breakdown of the 2 main choices. 

What is Soil-Less Media?

As the name suggests, soilless media is a growing medium that does not involve native soil. 

Example of Common Soilless Mediums 

Soilless mediums are peat moss, coconut coir, vermiculite, and perlite to name a few. These components can be mixed together to create a growing medium that provides your plants the structure they need for stability, as well as provide the necessary water retention, drainage and airflow for the roots to grow.

Soilless Media vs Soil Amendments

Often associated with soilless media but are better categorized as soil amendments (or ways to improve the soil) are things like compost, worm castings, and composted manure. The purpose of these organic amendments is to add nutrients to your growing media. 

Inert or Near-Inert Matter

Soilless media are known to be inert or near-inert matter, meaning they contain little to no nutrition. Peat moss, coconut coir, vermiculite and especially perlite fall into this category, making fertilization important when growing plants in this media.

Understanding the medium you choose will help you be more aware of how you should amend the “soil” for the right growing conditions to meet your plants’ nutrient requirements.

What is Soil vs Dirt?

You may hear the word soil and dirt used interchangeably, or at least I treated them the same when I first started gardening.  Although they do offer different meanings, I’m not sure it really matters how you use the word as long as you understand the difference. 

Soil

When starting a garden in your own backyard you are working with native soil. This soil is made up of minerals, organic matter, and countless microorganisms. The life in your soil plays an important role in helping your plants access the nutrients they need to grow.

Dirt

When you think of the word “dirt” we are describing the soil that has been removed from its environment. This causes it to degrade and become low in organic matter. However, it is possible to bring it back to life over time by improving it with soil amendments such as compost.

When Should You Be Using Native Soil?

In Ground Gardens

Native soil is truly all you need if you are planting a garden directly into the ground, although you could benefit from additional amendments like compost or other organic materials. 

Raised Beds With Open Bottoms

Alternatively you can use your native soil in your raised garden beds as well, as long as they have “open” bottoms for drainage. If your beds are short enough, your plant’s roots may even find their way to the bottom and grow into the earth beneath as long as the soil is not too compacted for their roots to penetrate. 

Tall Raised Beds Also Count

You can also use soil in your taller beds as well. In fact that is what I did with my raised beds because I had already been saving up plenty of “dirt” from my other landscaping projects and knew I would be building my beds 2 feet high and would need plenty of dirt to fill them.

Just remember not all soil is created equal. Some soils have more clay whereas others are sandier in texture. Too much clay will retain a lot of moisture and sandier soils can drain too quickly. Understanding your soil type will help you determine what to amend your soil with to improve its texture as well as improve the nutrients available for your plants to take up.

When Should You Be Using Soil-Less Media?

Containers or Elevated Raised Beds

Soilless media is best used when planting in containers or raised beds that are elevated or have closed bottoms. In these situations, native soil can become compacted, making it difficult for water to drain and for roots to access oxygen.

Benefits of Soilless Media

Soilless growing media is lightweight and designed to maintain good airflow and drainage, which helps prevent waterlogged conditions. Unlike native soil, these mixes resist compaction over time, making them better suited for confined growing spaces.

When using soilless media you have a lower risk of disease as they are more sterile than native soils. Although not completely sterile, they still provide a cleaner and more controlled growing environment for plants offering better drainage, which is a major challenge when growing in containers or closed-bottom beds. 

If the growing media stays too wet, roots will suffocate and rot. Using a lighter, well-draining soilless mix will help you manage the moisture levels in your containers or elevated beds, which in turn will provide your plants with a healthier environment for root growth.

To Summarize: What Did You Learn?

Bottom line, it’s important to understand as a beginner gardener that not all “soil” is created equal. Understanding the differences between native soil and soilless media as well as soil amendments will help you choose the right growing conditions for your plants whether they will be in raised beds or garden containers. 

Hopefully this article has provided you with a more simplistic approach in understanding the options available today, and the best way to use them when starting your own gardens.

Why Plant Hydrangeas In A Raised Bed (And How It Saved My Shrubs)?

I feel that raised beds can serve multiple purposes in your garden. You can take an area of your yard that may seem flat and boring and bring additional character by raising up your gardens and adding height or layers that will be visually appealing when overlooking your lawn.  Not only that but it can improve your ability to provide the right growing conditions, or simply give you the option to plant in an area you may have otherwise deemed hopeless due to drainage issues (spoiler alert: this was my issue). 

Below are a few reasons why I think planting hydrangeas in a raised bed is a great idea.

Adds Aesthetics To Your Garden

Now I didn’t choose to build beds myself for this reason, but I will say that I’ve enjoyed the look it has brought to our backyard. I built my raised bed out of concrete blocks and painted them a slate blue color to match my garden shed door, and let me tell you that finding a matching color was quite the challenge for me. 

I would grab color samples based on memory, but get home to compare to the shed door and would just laugh at how wrong I was.  You should have seen me the day I found it though, as I was ecstatic and had to go tell my husband how proud I was for finally finding the right color match. 

Here is a picture I had to take just so that I could prove just how close of a match I found when comparing it to our shed door off in the distance.  It really is the simple things. 🙂 

I try not to care too much about something like this since at the time it was just my solution to keep my hydrangeas alive, but a small part of me really just wanted to see if I could do it, and it looks so much nicer because I took the time to focus in on those details.  I’ve also chosen to continue this paint color with the other beds I’ve built for my vegetable garden in my front yard, to keep things uniform, as shown below. 

I like the idea of raised beds because there are so many options to choose from, and even though I went with concrete blocks, you could really go with just about anything. Think about building your beds using lumber/wood, bricks, stones/rocks, or even recycled materials like old used tires.  

The list could go on I’m sure, but obviously you want to consider your situation and why you are choosing to add raised beds into your landscape, and what sort of look you are going for in your design. Raised beds will allow you to define your space, and how you might want to use it.  They can give a clean look as well if you choose to build them that way.  Here is how my bed turned out once built and my hydrangeas started to spring to life once planted. 

However you choose to incorporate raised beds in your landscape, it will provide you the added character in your garden, and with the added height you will be able to see the layers in your plants even without having to buy a larger sized plant to gain that extra height. 

Help Manage Soil Conditions

Another beneficial reason to incorporate raised beds into your landscape is when you might be dealing with soil conditions that are not ideal for the particular plant you want. 

I live in Minnesota and we are known to have clay and slightly acidic to neutral pH rated soils (meaning we fall around the 6.0-7.0 pH scale), which honestly works great for many plant varieties.  My hydrangeas seem to thrive wherever I plant them around my house, although this too is not a reason I chose to plant them in a raised bed. 

However, this is another excellent reason TO plant these shrubs in raised beds because if your area does not have ideal pH levels, perhaps much too alkaline for your plant, you can correct this from the start with a raised garden bed! Add in the right type of soil and amendments from the start, and it will turn the soil into the perfect conditions your hydrangeas will thrive in. 

Also, it would be much easier to maintain and likely last longer than planting directly into the ground because you can try to amend your natural soil as best you can, but unless you keep it up there’s a great chance that it will return to its original state eventually as this is where it’s supposed to be.  

Improves Drainage Issues

And here we are, the main reason and only reason I chose to plant my hydrangeas in a raised bed. I probably wouldn’t have thought to do this early on in my landscaping journey, but thankfully I had to experience it for myself, and in turn it has brought me more inspiration and confidence to include raised beds in my garden designs. 

Before building this bed, I started by landscaping around our deck, and simply planting my hydrangeas directly into the ground.  It looked really nice, until it didn’t work for us anymore. 

This was truly a trial and error garden experience too, as you will see in the pictures I’ve shared, this was not the first design attempt. I should have known it wouldn’t work from the get go as I was fully aware of our drainage issues during the spring, however we did have a french drain installed so I was hopeful that this would be our final solution to our flooded spring seasons. 

The image below demonstrates what we were dealing with after winter passed and all of the snow melted.
Note: this was before our french drain was installed. 

However when you are also working against a steep hill leading down to your house, I feel you are destined to have to deal with some sort of standing water regardless of having a french drain.  The snow will melt and in turn that water will flow downhill and concentrate where it starts to level out. 

Here is a picture the following season after a heavy rain when I was working on my first garden design.  This was one of the original garden projects I was doing when I initially started landscaping around our house, and I think I was digging my holes so deep because I thought it would help with drainage beneath the plant, since the soil in this area was so compact and I didn’t want my newly planted hydrangeas to get waterlogged.  I was still learning, and through this experience I’ve taught myself that there are multiple things to consider when landscaping, which I share more of down below. 

Because we live in Minnesota, and the snow is not going anywhere, we will always find that we are going to have to deal with some sort of standing water, at least once the snow melts or we have days with continuous heavy rain. Through experience, we’ve discovered ways to speed up the drying process.  One not so fun way was on a nice sunny day I’d go out with my bucket and scoop up water to then pour into the french drain basins, haha.  

This worked, however it took a long time, so I will share a product I found that has been a life saver for us.  I highly recommend this water pump if you deal with drainage issues of your own, or to be honest, simply need an easy way to move water from one point to another.  

I don’t like to waste water, so I decided to test it on our dog’s kitty pool at the end of a hot summer day. I grabbed our ‘WaterBug’ and tossed it into the pool, hooked up the hose, and directed the water to my plants. This worked so well too, and I didn’t have to just pour the water out into the lawn in one spot where it’d get sloppy, and depending on my dog’s mood that day, it wouldn’t become a target mud spot he’d dart back and forth in, out of excitement, getting his paws all filthy. 🙂 

Anyway, back to what may seem like an obvious reason now, but by building a raised bed I was able to lift my garden space above its flood zone and keep my hydrangeas from getting waterlogged. 

Do Hydrangeas Grow Well In Raised Beds?

You might be thinking it is not as common to landscape with raised beds, especially when you are planting larger sized shrubs or anything besides vegetables really.  The idea behind raised beds is for convenience right?  Well yes, but truthfully there are many other reasons as you hopefully learned above, that make the idea seem more appealing now, right?  

Hopefully I’ve given you a reason to want to think about using raised beds in your own garden design, but another thought comes to mind, and that is can your hydrangeas even grow well in beds?  I’ve shared my reasons down below to hopefully better persuade you, but as shown below, through my own experience, these hydrangeas are thriving in this raised bed. 

Ideal Growing Conditions

As mentioned previously, hydrangeas can do very well in raised beds because you have the ability to provide them their ideal growing conditions by amending the soil to match their needs. 

Managing pH Levels: 

Hydrangeas do well when your pH levels are falling closer to being slightly acidic, and if you are living in an area with highly alkaline soils your plant may not receive the appropriate nutrients it needs to perform like it should. 

Soils Compaction: 

Raised beds will keep the soil from becoming too compacted as well since it remains undisturbed by human (or pet) traffic. Compacted soils can become an issue if you are experiencing heavy rains, and the soil does not absorb the water as easily which will affect the plants ability to pull in water or nutrients when it needs them. 

Soil Erosion: 

Another thing you may not think about when starting a garden, is having to deal with things like wind or heavy rains which can remove the top layer of your garden’s soil and take the nutrients with it. At least in a raised bed, it has no place to go but remain inside of your planter. 

Provides Hydrangeas Added Protection

I included this section in my list because my mind instantly goes back to all of those times my hydrangea’s branches would break off because I happened to find the most fun ball for my dog to play with in the backyard, and he becomes so obsessed as well as fast with it that he pushes it all the way up the hill with his nose and charges back down straight towards my hydrangeas.  These were not in the ideal spot for this type of play and I attempted to protect my hydrangea by barricading them with a plastic garden netting as shown below, but I didn’t have the heart to take this toy away from him because it has come in so handy when needing to tire him out.  

If you are interested at all I’ve linked it here because besides it being tough against my plants at times, it has been enjoyable to watch. Even my neighbor a couple doors down had to come over and ask me where I got it because they enjoyed seeing him play in the backyard and wanted one for their own dog. 

Alternatively, raised beds may help keep smaller animals away from your plants since they could be more skeptical to jump into something unfamiliar, or depending on the height of your bed, won’t be able to access them at all.  

However, do know that if they are determined, they WILL get into your bed.  This is confirmed through experience, as my neighbor next door sent me a picture of a rabbit nest full of baby bunnies, in her raised garden bed last summer, and her beds have to be waist high. 

Lastly I think raised beds will add the necessary protection to your hydrangeas or other plants when dealing with lawn maintenance. Think of the maintenance that goes into your lawn care, or perhaps you have a landscaping or lawn service that comes by to spread weed control or use string trimmers.  By lifting your plants above ground level, it can also prevent them from receiving unnecessary herbicides or harmed by a string trimmer. 

What Should You Know Before Planting Hydrangeas In Raised Beds

I know I’ve shared my reasons above as to why you should consider adding raised beds in your landscape, but there are always other things you should take into consideration before fully committing, so you can give yourself the best chances of success from the start.

Here are a few things I think you should also know before you start building beds of your own.

Consider The Space

It’s important in all situations to consider the space whenever you’re going to be landscaping around your home, and even more so when you are limiting your space with a raised bed. 

Some plants may be too large for the bed you place them in, so please always check the mature size beforehand.  Hydrangeas are shallow rooted shrubs and I’ve noticed they tend to spread out near the surface, so you can imagine if they reach the outer edge of your bed they may end up becoming rootbound if it would have needed more room to spread. 

The hydrangeas you see in my bed are known as Bobo hydrangeas.  This dwarf variety is considered to be the smaller compact version of Limelights which you may know can get very large. This is why I think mine have done so well these past few years as their root balls stay fairly compact, and their size shouldn’t get more than 3 feet around. 

Think of the root ball as a mirror image of the plant you see above ground. If you know the mature width of the plant you plan to use, this will likely end up the size of its root ball.  I think that might also be the reason you want to follow the drip line when fertilizing or watering, so that you are placing the nutrients the plant needs where it’ll be most successful in reaching the active roots. 

And it goes without saying, if you are planting more than one plant in your raised bed be sure to space them far enough apart so they will not overcrowd each other. I might have gone a tad bit too close with my own, but I think they are still far enough apart to get adequate air circulation to keep from the leaves forming any fungal diseases.

Provide Adequate Irrigation

The major advantage of planting directly into the ground is that your plants have the best chance of absorbing the natural moisture in the soil.  It will not dry out too fast either, so you are having to irrigate a lot less frequently. 

Not the case with raised beds.  If you choose to plant in raised beds, you will need to know that the soil within the bed walls will dry up much faster, and in turn you will need to remember to water your plants more frequently. Consider the days you get rain too, as this does help delay the frequency of you having to water your own beds thankfully.  

You could also consider using mulch, or do what I did and plant Creeping Jenny to shade out the soil and protect the roots from the direct afternoon sun my hydrangeas receive during the day.  Just know this is a spreading ground cover and it does grow quickly.  I have trimmed it back during the summer to prevent it from entering my lawn, although it is easy to pull up if I don’t get to it in time. 

Location

Location is very important to consider as well when planning a garden design using raised beds because unlike simply planting something in the ground and moving it if it doesn’t work out, you are sort of stuck with your decision on where you build this raised bed. 

I know it can be done of course, with effort, but chances of you relocating a raised bed once it’s been built is slim. So be sure to clock the amount of sun you are receiving in the location you plan to add raised beds.  

It is always wise to consider what your beds are made out of as well, or what the outer color of the beds will be, as the sun will be absorbed into darker colors better than lighter, as well as certain materials will take in more heat. I did not build my beds very tall, so the concrete blocks, which I painted a dark color, do not see a lot of the sun during the day.  Besides, the Creeping Jenny does a good job at spilling over the edges anyway…  

Should You Plant Hydrangeas In A Raised Bed?

Now that you have read from my point of view on why I think landscaping with raised beds can certainly work, as well as what things you should consider before moving forward with a project like this of your own, it’s time to think if this is something you should do in your own garden plans.

I’ve listed a couple recap questions to ask yourself, that might help with your decision.

How Are Your Drainage Conditions?

If you are dealing with a situation like me, I say without a doubt, adding a raised bed would be a great idea and provide you the ability to grow the plants you want in this area of your yard that may have seemed hopeless before. 

Just be wise about the material you choose to build your bed with.  I deal with standing water in the spring or after heavy rains, so there was no way I’d build my bed out of wood, even if it was treated, because the water is bound to win eventually and the wood will deteriorate. 

Could Your Yard Use Some Added Aesthetics?

Some people’s yards are simply flat and perhaps boring to look at, and plants of various sizes can certainly help grab your eye and define layers in your landscape, but if you’re someone like me that likes to incorporate a little character with additional aesthetics other than just plants, I think adding raised beds can provide something extra to your design. 

In my case, I was able to add some color in my garden by painting the sides of the bed, and I framed it with stained wood to give it a more elegant look.  Now when I’m in my backyard, I get a sense of pride to see how nice my raised bed compliments the flagstone patio and path I installed, to help from walking on the wet ground until it had a chance to dry up. 🙂 

If you’ve made it to the end, thank you so much for spending the time to read my post.  Hopefully I was able to provide you with enough to think about to help you decide if adding raised beds into your landscape is the right choice for you.

If you like what you see, or learned anything, please tell me about it by commenting down below!

Happy Gardening!🌿

Of course, there is a right time to start and for some reason every year I have to sit and recall back to what I had done the previous season. Is it too soon to begin? When can I start, and what are the steps I need to remember so my plants and shrubs have the best chance to thrive?

Are You Ready to Begin Your Spring Cleanup?

I hope my list of 5 things to remember when caring for your panicle hydrangeas this Spring become a good resource for you to fall back on when we just need that friendly reminder on how to start. 

This list will be targeted towards your panicle hydrangeas because not all hydrangeas are the same, and panicle hydrangeas need different care then let’s say the big leaf type. 

1. Plan Your Pruning Around The Ideal Temperature

If you live in Zone 4b like I do, Spring seems to arrive at a later time than we all hoped it would.  There’s always that slight chance that we could get hit with more snow, so it’s important to pay attention to your last freeze date.  

When Should You Start Pruning Your Hydrangeas?

Even though panicle hydrangeas bloom on new wood, meaning the fresh green stems that emerge from your shrub that year will be the very stems you will receive those beautiful cone-shaped flowers on, it is still important to prune them annually.

So when is the right time?  The way I like to look at it, when it comes to pruning some of my plants is to imagine that they are in a deep sleep, so I like to try and make sure that any serious pruning is done before it has a chance to fully wake up.  However you also want enough time for the hydrangea to begin to form this season’s buds which will show you where you can start pruning. 

Look for Signs of Bud Formation

Panicle hydrangeas should start forming buds around the 50 degree mark, so when you begin to see your temperature steadily rising and keeping around this temp day to day, take a walk through your garden to inspect your hydrangeas.

If you notice they are starting to bulge then get out your pruners and get yourself ready for your first step in caring for your panicle hydrangeas this Spring. 

2. The ⅓ Rule: How Much to Prune

You may have heard or read others talk about the ⅓ rule in pruning because this is what the recommended amount that you remove from your shrub to be without causing too much shock or stress to the plant. 

If you do cause additional stress to the plant, there is a chance it may slow its growth that season and none of us want that. Also by cutting too much away, there could be less foliage, and with less foliage your hydrangea won’t absorb as much energy from the sun. Which in turn could cause it to limit the amount of flowers it would otherwise have provided you. 

What Is the ⅓ Rule?

So when you have your pruners in hand take a good look at the size of your shrub, and simply shorten it by ⅓.  Find the stems you plan to keep, with the shape of the plant in mind, and simply look for the nearest bud around the ⅓ mark and snip right above that at an angle. 

3. Shaping Your Hydrangea for Better Growth

Now that you know how much you can cut off of your panicle hydrangea, you can begin to decide if it will require some shaping. 

I like to consider panicle hydrangeas to be a low maintenance shrub, and they really are, in my opinion. You certainly don’t have to spend a great deal on shaping these, and you could just let them be. Although by doing so, you give them the best chance of thriving and becoming a strong plant in your garden. 

Cutting Back Fragile Stems and Encouraging New Growth

I like to begin by assessing the current stems, and picking out the ones that look most fragile. Go ahead and cut those back at the base if you want, so you can encourage the energy from your shrub to focus on its strongest assets. 

This will also help you get better access to the stronger stems you plan to keep, if you need to get back in there and snip a few more branches that might be a little more unruly like shown in the image below. 

An Exception to the Rule: Shaping Your Shrub for Stronger Growth

I know earlier I had commented on not cutting back too much to prevent shock or stress on your plant, but if it’s necessary to cut away a bit more than you’d like so that the stems aren’t growing against each other, I consider this the exception to that rule. 

You want to allow the plant stem room to grow and air to circulate, so you are providing it a better chance of success by snipping off those ugly branches that will eventually thicken and cause more disruption with the shape of your hydrangea. So what better time than any to sacrifice the plant for better health in the end.

4. Clean Up the Area Around Your Hydrangea

After all that pruning you have accomplished, unless you were cleaning up along the way, you should now have a mess of sticks and debris surrounding the base of your panicle hydrangea. 

Why Cleaning Up Is Crucial for Your Plant’s Health

Regardless of pruning or not, it is important to clean up the area around the base so that you prevent any fungal diseases or insects laying nests near your shrub.  I sometimes like to surround the base of my plants with fallen leaves during the Fall season to provide extra coverage so the ground around the roots of these plants stay warmer during our cold winter months. 

Not always do I get the chance of protecting my plants this way, but even still, the wind will likely have blown leaves and debris or even trash on occasion, so it is always best to clean up or pull away from the wood base so nothing is sitting against it. 

How to Break Up Stiff Mulch for Better Soil Aeration

I personally use wood mulch in my beds to keep the soil moist and prevent too many weeds from appearing, but there are times that this mulch can start to stiffen.  If you’ve worked with wood mulch you may already know what I mean, but if not, it basically becomes matted above the dirt and no longer easily moved.  When this happens I grab a garden fork or some sort of tool to break up the mulch to allow the soil beneath to breath. 

You will come to notice, I’m not a gardener that likes to purchase fresh mulch every season to replace or top dress, in order to make my beds look fresh and beautiful. Mainly because it’s added expense, extra work that takes time, but personally I don’t think it’s needed.  Yes it will look so much nicer, but is it helping the plants any more than simply mixing up the existing much I already have, as long as it hasn’t fully decomposed yet?  I think I’ll stick with what has been working and save myself the time and money. 

So whatever you may do in your own beds, just provide your hydrangeas a clean space to start growing, and this will give you a better chance of a good and full growing shrub that performs well in your landscape.

5. When to Fertilize Your Panicle Hydrangeas

Depending on when you got around to pruning, you may or may not be ready to start fertilizing your panicle hydrangeas.  Wait, why do I say this you ask?  Wouldn’t it make more sense to get all the Spring cleanup accomplished in one go? Sure, but there is a chance the fertilizer you spread could be wasted if it’s still too soon and the plant wasn’t ready to absorb the nutrients yet. 

Personally gardening isn’t perfect, and the only way we are all going to learn is by finding what works for you. I think I’ve fed my hydrangeas at all different times the past few seasons since they’ve been planted and I’ve had a successful year – however I’ve also learned a bit more each year and it starts to make more sense to me as time goes on. 

The Best Time to Fertilize Your Hydrangeas for Maximum Growth

If you want to provide the best chance for your panicle hydrangea to perform well this season, I would time your fertilizing out when the buds start to green up.  This shows you that your hydrangea is beginning to wake up, and beginning to actively grow.  When it reaches this phase, it will begin to absorb the nutrients and will need the energy to continue with its growth cycle. 

Choosing the Right Fertilizer: What Works for Hydrangeas?

I don’t have strong opinions on what makes the perfect fertilizer to use with your panicle hydrangeas at the moment, but I have started to use Epsoma’s Rose Tone Fertilizer this past Spring with guidance I received through YouTube’s Garden Answer channel where Laura has recommended this type since she’s been using it on her hydrangeas. 

Bonus Tip: The Importance of Soil Testing

Performing a soil test is always recommended when you don’t know what your soil conditions are, and having a soil test done will provide you with the best starting off point. With a soil test it will provide you the insight you need to determine what fertilizer your soil and plants will benefit most from. However I know not everyone will want to go through that added step, so if you find something that allows an equal N-P-K balance, you should be just fine. 

Should You Test Your Soil?

The fun and sometimes not so fun thing about gardening, is you get to know a little more about the science behind it all. If your plant is deficient in a nutrient there is a good chance it will show you through its foliage, or possibly stunted growth, so it is always good to pay attention through the growing season. 

If you are unsure what it may need, try snapping a photo of the plant as well as a close up of the foliage to show the exact coloring, and take it to your local garden center and ask if they are able to help you find the right nutrient that it might be needing to correct that issue. 

Feeling Better Prepared to Care for Your Panicle Hydrangeas this Spring?

Well there you have it, my 5 things to remember when caring for your panicle hydrangeas this Spring, and I hope that it gave you enough to think about so that you can easily jump in and begin your gardening season with success!

If you like what you see, or learned anything, please tell me about it by commenting down below!

Happy Gardening!🌿

I have a few of the varieties myself, and each of them have their pros and cons.  Some need more care than the rest, but I love having these in my landscape. Now that they are starting to get accustomed to the growing conditions my yard offers, they are beginning to thrive and grow much more than the prior years. 

Do your Hydrangeas start to flop once they’ve bloomed?

This year I noticed one of my varieties began to flop much more than usual.  For good reason too as these shrubs produced way more blooms than I’ve ever seen on them. 

Here is a picture of my Bobo Hydrangeas, that receive part-sun in our backyard. 

The first couple of years there had been fewer blooms, so I never had to address the floppy stems.  I also did not believe this variety to be so floppy, since I always thought only the ‘Smooth Leaf’ variety like the Annabelle was notorious for this… not a Panicle type. 

What Should I Do When My Hydrangea Stems Start To Flop?

Be Patient

If you notice after your hydrangeas start to produce blooms, and begin to lean away from the base towards the ground after a good rain, you may just need to give it some time for the water to evaporate during the day.  Most often your hydrangea will perk right back up on its own. 

*Caution* But Try Shaking Them Slightly

You may be thinking, I can just shake the excess water off to speed up the process and allow your hydrangea to spring back up much more quickly. 

This is correct in a way, but if you choose to go this route, be very gentle.  The stems, even though they can produce a very large bloom, are more than likely first year stems and not quite thick or strong enough to keep from snapping. 

Try Giving It A “Haircut”

This year when I noticed that my Bobo’s were not springing back up after several days of no rain, and nothing that should keep them weighed down like they were, I realized this plant just couldn’t handle all the blooms it had produced. 

I began to grow concerned about the shape my hydrangeas might be left with at the end of the growing season.  I did not want this to develop an unsightly shape next Spring, since with the panicle variety, you should really only prune off about a third each year. 

Step Back to Assess Your Situation

Looking my hydrangeas over, I could see many of my branches with first year stems had produced incredibly large flowers.  I grabbed my pruners, and began to snip off the entire bloom, right above a couple leaves, from the thin stems. 

This was hard for me to do as I wanted to keep these beautiful flowers, but I knew by removing the added weight, these stems had a better chance of growing stronger. 

Keep Only Part of The Bloom

Another thing I tried was snipping only half of the bloom off the stem, and it worked!

I still had a couple months of the season to enjoy these Bobo Hydrangeas, so I didn’t want to snip off all of the blooms just yet.  I began to start finding the stems that appeared thicker than the others, and snipped off only part of the bloom. 

Panicle blooms have the cone shaped flowers which gave me a decent length to work with, where I could just take my pruners and cut the bloom off from the middle, as shown in the picture below. 

This worked well in my opinion, and now I was left with ball-like blooms, which were still pretty. 

I also started to notice as I was giving my hydrangeas a good haircut, the stems slowly started to spring back up in place.  

They started looking even better the following day. My hydrangeas were much happier looking and I was no longer worried about the shrub having a permanent cascading arch of branches for the following season. 

Other Reasons Your Hydrangeas Could Be Flopping Over

Should You Water Them?

Maybe your hydrangeas are flopping over for other reasons that have nothing to do with heavy blooms, weak stems, and/or rain. 

Sometimes a hydrangea may simply be floppy because it’s thirsty.  If you know it’s been warmer with little to no rain, you could just be dealing with thirsty hydrangeas. 

If you know your hydrangea could use some water, just make sure to water at the base.  Watering from the top, may cause the leaves to scorch if the sun is still out. 

Some Hydrangeas Are Just Dramatic

As noted above, I have a ‘Big Leaf’ variety that appears as though it was dying during the day and if I don’t water it, the plant might just die for good.  However, later I would notice that same plant perked right back up like nothing happened after the sun moved past the trees and about to retire for the evening. 

Pay attention to this, as you wouldn’t want to be watering when it’s not needed.  If you have one of these drama plants, just wait it out and see if it’s happier once it’s shaded again.  

I still hand water a lot of my plants, so I usually keep tabs on which might need more water or perhaps need time to cool down.  Call it lazy gardening, but if I can prevent having to spend my time watering my plants each time they look like they are giving up, I’m all for it. 🙂

Whatever your reason may be, I hope my experience with my own has given you some ideas on how to fix your floppy hydrangeas. I plan to continue this pruning method, and see how it works for me in the coming years.  I may try to start earlier in the season as well and see if it can prevent any flopping to occur in the first place. 

If you like what you see, or learned anything, please tell me about it by commenting down below!

Happy Gardening!🌿