Alan Titchmarsh shows off his hydrangeas
Hydrangea are beautiful blooms known to brighten up any garden, but unfortunately, they will begin to go brown as September arrives and the cooler autumn weather sets in.
Knowing the best way to care for hydrangea in the autumn time will help keep them healthy and sure to bloom next year,
Tom Strowlger, an expert gardener who enjoys sharing his best gardening on social media, explained hydrangea buds and steams should not be pruned at this time of the year.
In a TikTok video, Tom said: “If you leave them on, they’ll make great ornamental and decorative flower heads over the autumn and winter period. They will look great in the winter with the frost settling on them.
“My advice now is to not cut them off. Leave it as bare leaf but keep on those flower heads and make the hydrangea look magical in those darker months.”
READ MORE Six ‘super simple’ gardening jobs to do now to prepare your garden for autumn
It is important for gardeners to be careful when pruning hydrangea in autumn, and it’s likely best to leave the plant alone as it can risk destroying potential buds and the hydrangea not flowering in the spring. Knowing when your hydrangeas blossom and what type of species is in your garden will help you know when to prune it.
However, hydrangea can still be deadheaded in autumn. Some hydrangea can topple over if they have heavy blooms, and deadheading them can encourage them to grow stronger for the upcoming colder season.
Pruning a plant involves cutting branches off in order to promote growth, while deadheading is less aggressive. Deadheading involves removing spent flower petals in order to help encourage healthier growth and not direct energy to the dead or spent part of the flower.
According to Tom, hydrangea should be deadheaded when they are “discoloured and spent.”
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@garden_with_tom ‘How To’ care for Hydrangea, for all Hydrangea fans ������������������ #hydrangea #hydrangeas #hydrangeaflowers #hydrangeas✿ #hydrangeaseason #hydrangeas������flower������ #garden #gardening #gardening101 #gardeninghacks #gardeningtips #gardeningtools #gardeningtiktok #gardeninghack #gardeningideas #gardeningtipsforbeginners #gardeningforbeginners #gardenersworld #gardeners #gardenersoftiktok #gardenerslife #gardenersofinstagram #gardenersfriend #gardenersofthegalexy ♬ original sound – Tom Strowlger
Tom explained: “We do that by just giving it a snip below the first set of big leaves underneath the flower. We can do that up until mid-autumn. After that, just allow all your flowers to become ornamental decorations in your winter garden.”
If you are worried about protecting your hydrangea in colder weather, there are two ways to prepare now to help your flowers thrive in the springtime.
You can add mulch around the plants in the autumn to keep the soil moist and help retain moisture.
Mulch is a thicker layer of material on the surface of soil, and can be used to keep weeds at bay as well as give you hydrangea another layer of protection. Natural materials such as straw and dead pinecones are ideal for mulching.
If you expect wintertime temperatures in your area to reach -10 Celcious then it is also best to create a barrier around your hydrangea to protect it from severe frost.
It is ideal to buy a horticultural fleece cloth or material made from frost protection fabric now as it can be loosely draped around the plant to protect it from the worst temperatures
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