I was wondering why my blossoms on my Hydrangea are purple this year when the last blossoms were pink. I fertilize with Miracid and thought that may be the reason. How do I keep the blossoms pink? Also, these are supposedly dwarf hydrangea...not to exceed 2 to 3 feet. Do I need to cut them in the fall? If so, how do I go about that? Thank you. Margaret
Answer
Hi Margaret,
The Miracid fertilizer you are using is specifically designed to make the soil more acidic. Acidic soil causes hydrangea flowers to be blue. In order to have pink flowers, this fall you need to add a couple of handfuls of lime to the soil around the outside of the plant (but not under it) and work it into the soil. Water the soil well to help the lime leach into the soil. Add more lime and water in April and again in May. To maintain pink flowers, you should fertilize with Flowertone once a year instead. Flowertone is a slow release, organic, granular fertilizer that will not make the soil acidic.
There's no need to cut the hydrangeas in the fall. In the spring, remove all the dead stems at the base of the plant. They should break right off. That's about it. You should not have to prune a dwarf hydrangea at all.
The brown leaves you have look like drought or transplant damage. Remove any leaves with brown edges or spots. Good Luck.
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About Linda Lillie
Linda K. Lillie is the President of Sprigs & Twigs, Inc, the premier
landscape design and maintenance, tree care, lawn care, stonework, and carpentry
service provider in southeastern Connecticut since 1997. She is a graduate of
Connecticut College in Botany, a Connecticut Master Gardener and a national
award winning landscape designer for her landscape design and landscape installation work.
