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Hydranga Niko Blue - prune now, transplant later?

14 years ago

We had a large pine tree removed this spring and the extra sun has become too much for my hydrangeas this summer. They are not only wilting, but the blooms have fried in the sun. If I prune them now, but wait until fall to transplant (too hot to transplant at this time) will I have blooms in the spring, or will the move keep them from blooming this coming spring?

thanks

molly

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Comments (6)

luis_pr
14 years ago
Hydrangeas will begin to develop blooms in July here in Texas. If you still want blooms in Spring 2010 then your window of opportunity lasts thru the end of this month. Anytime after June is risky. For example, accidental pruning in mid-July caused all my plants to only produce a total of 2 blooms the following year.

Transplanting is best done when the plant is dormant so you may want to wait until December-February for that. Transplanting always causes transplant shock and this could result in no blooms all on its own; that is why transplanting a dormant plant is better.

In the meantime, you can cover the plant with anything that will provide some shade and protect the leaves (burlap, a shade cloth, a screen, etc).

The good news is that there is some anecdotal evidence that says Nikko Blue sometimes acts as a hydrangea that blooms on new wood. Some people who have pruned it very late in the Fall every year have claimed that pruning has not caused a problem. The problem, of course, is no one has done a scientific study (did they get a mislabeled plant that blooms on new wood? for example) so oh, well. You can always hope.
jardineratx
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you so much for the information, Luis. I went out this morning and pruned the hydrangeas, cutting the stems at different heights to create a nicer, fuller bush....I hope. I will wait till December to move them and hope for blooms in the spring. I have no choice but to move them out of the hot Texas sun.
molly
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ditas
14 years ago
Good morning - As Luis suggested: "In the meantime, you can cover the plant with anything that will provide some shade and protect the leaves (burlap, a shade cloth, a screen, etc)."

Several years ago I took down an old problematic tree and Nikko lost the perfect dappled shade she enjoyed for years. I solved the prob. with an arbor & a Sweet Autumn Clematis that climb, faster than lightning over ... I did use a shade cloth for a short while just until SA-Clem did her job - old Nik was happy!

Last Fall a tornado like storm, passed thru and took the arbor & the entire massive SA-Clem down. Tired of the enslaving, coddling Nik requires (Winter & Summer in our Z) armed w/ 4 - 8ft stakes & created a temp. arbor with plasti-coated garden fencing for SA to climb over this season ... old Nik will be dug up & relocated! Still using shade cloth for a few hrs over the temp arbor.
For insurance, I decided to root a few cuttings & ground layering, as Luis also suggested (in another post) ... all are doing fine - signs of new growth! Â;) ... incase 19y/o Nik does not survive the damage that I expect, will occur in digging & relocating.

Wishing you & me both, all the best in the feat we are to embark!!!
kxdel
14 years ago
Molly,

I live in a strata complex and in the spring of 2008 I planted 7 Nikko Blues in front of my townhouse. By the end of the summer, they were 3 feet tall with nice flowers. This past April (2009), to my dismay, the gardeners pruned these plants to about 1 foot high. I didn't think I would see blooms until next year, but this June, I was surprised to find numerous buds forming (all on new growth)....and some have started to bloom. I'm no expert, but there you go.

Kasandra
jardineratx
Original Author
14 years ago
It's interesting you mention getting blooms off of new growth from your Nikkos, because when I removed all the blooms a couple of days ago (due to the sun's damage) it appeared that several of the blooms were from new growth this spring. I wonder if anyone else has experienced this.
molly
ditas
14 years ago
Hi - Yes mine did too last season - at least the largest (dinner plate size) blooms came from what looked like new canes from the ground. All the old canes that survived produced only small pom-poms, at best, baseball size ... baffling!!!

This season, here in our Mid-West zone - we are suffering from the killing freeze effect of past Winter that started very early & fluctuating! Nikko's canes are all green & new, despite the serious Winterizing she got - none of her old canes survived. 'Have yet to see clusters to show up & she is so far, only 3'x3' compared to her much taller/wider growth, same time in '08! Â:(

However, as explained by some experts the new canes perhaps are off shoots of the old canes barely under a layer of soil or heavy mulch, particularly those that have been in the soil for years.
se
The baffling phenomena are part of the gardening fun, right?!!!

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