How Do I Prepare The Soil For Planting Hydrangeas? The…
Sherry Asked
How do I prepare the soil for planting hydrangeas? The east side of my house has never been landscaped.
The Gardener’s Answer
Hello, Sherry in Kentucky: Hydrangeas have been a long-time favorite among southern gardeners. As with any new addition to the garden, it is important to prepare the planting space before installation. This is especially true if you are dealing with new construction or heavy, compact clay soil. When gardening in clay soil, like we have here in Kentucky, it is sometimes necessary to loosen and amend it, allowing for better air movement through the soil. Oxygen needs to be able to move freely through the soil or the plants will not survive. Permatil is an expanded slate material that helps break up the clay and improve the drainage. It is always a good idea to have your soil tested if you are preparing a new bed. This can be done through your county Cooperative Extension Service. Your current nutrient levels, as well as the pH of your soil, will help determine what needs to be added to enrich the soil. Hydrangeas as a genus thrive in nutrient-rich, well-drained soil. If you intend on planting a hydrangea that blooms pink or blue (macrophylla or serrata) and prefer one color over the other, you might need to adjust the pH of your soil. Lower pH levels indicate a more acidic soil and aluminum is more available to the plant, producing blue blooms. With higher pH levels the soil is more alkaline and the blooms are pink because the aluminum is not readily available. Depending on the color you would like to have, you may need to add either lime (pink) or sulfur (blue). This will not change the color of your blooms overnight but gradually over time your flowers will be the color you intended them to be. If you are going to plant white-blooming hydrangeas (quercifolia, arborescens, and paniculata) you will not need to adjust the soil pH.
