This week Eagleson Landscape is going to tackle an old time favorite of the gardening world, hydrangea. These shade adoring garden bouquets offer a beautiful arrangement of options. Varieties of hydrangea range in size, shape, and flower color. Some grow into miniature trees, others get beautiful fall foliage and some get huge flowers. This makes fitting the plant into the landscape seamless.

The best conditions for a hydrangea are moist, well drained soils in partial or full shade. Common flower colors are generally white, blue and pink. White flowers can never be changed to a different color, but the blue and pink flowers can!  The flower color can vary due to pH levels in the soil, hydrangea variety and other conditions. You can attempt to vary your hydrangea’s color by adding aluminum to the soil around the hydrangea, lowering the pH. This change to the soil will cause your flowers to turn blue! To get a pinker flower, a much harder achievement, aluminum must be kept away from the plant and the soil pH raised. Add dolomitic lime or fertilizer with high amounts of phosphorus in it to make this change to the soil.  Both of these items can be purchased at your local gardening center!

These soil changes should be done starting in the spring, so now is a good time to plan for this part of another fun year of gardening!

Questions about hydrangeas or other plants? Send us an email or give us a call at 317.997.4803.