Rampant Hydrangea!

[Oddquine]

Not long moved, and the heavily weed overgrown garden has some nice stuff in it.....but it also has a ginormous Hydrangea.

Now I don't particularly like Hydrangeas, and definitely dislike pink ones...............but the neighbours seem to appreciate it even if I don't...................so can anyone give me some hints on how to reduce the spread of it, as I can only find instructions about pruning for height.

Just so I can put in something I like as well!

[trinkie]

Oddquine - Just cut it to the size you want. I take plenty off the sides of mine each year in an effort to keep it in order.
It will flower only on last year's growth, so you wont have flowers where you have cut back, but there will be plenty green!

I love it because one flower head will last for about two weeks indoors in a vase, also they 'take' very easily from cuttings.

Unlike you, I dont like the blue ones at all !

Good luck
Trinkie

[htwood]

I love the blue ones best. You can turn your pink ones to blue by making sure your soil is acidic (pH 5.5 or lower) so that the natural aluminum in the soil is available. Or you can dissolve 4 tablespoons of aluminum sulfate into a gallon of water and drench the ground at base, then do it again in 3 weeks. Might take a year for color to change, but worth the wait.
Seems to me my grannie used to bury pennies around her hydrangea to make the flowers blue, but not sure whether copper is the right thing. good luck!

[Torvaig]

How about digging it up if possible; chopping the roots into smaller pieces; giving most of them to the neighbours or anyone else that likes them and just replant one small root for yourself! Worth a try?
P.S. I love them; the big heads make a wonderful display in a big old jug!

[paris]

Did some gardening at my friends last month and chopped a huge hydrangea down ( her request ) Its now growing nice and compact instead of leggy. Jan x

[Oddquine]

Thanks, folks........I'll take my courage in the hand without the secateurs, and hack back with gusto!

And if I kill it completely..................it's your fault!

[Rheghead]

Does anyone know if pink hydrangeas will change colour into blue ones? I'm a bit concerned, my soil is more acid than acid and I like to keep the pink ones pink, I'd like a blue one as well, it is just that I often see them with pale green petals and I thought they might be planted in the wrong soil and I don't want them to turn bad.

[Torvaig]

Yes, they will change colour if soil conditions dictate. Here is a useful link to peruse..... http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/colorchange.html
Good luck!