A few years ago a couple of our hydrangeas were in the perfect spot and seemed as happy as any hydrangeas could be. A full morning of sun
every day mixed with cool shade in the afternoon. A 50' white pine was the sole shade provider for our hydrangeas. Then came the ice
storm of all ice storms. Let's just say that the ice storm won. With no more pine tree to shade our hydrangeas, they started to
suffer from being exposed to full sun every afternoon the next summer. So naturally, we had to transplant the hydrangeas to a more ideal
location. Maybe you've become the owner of a hydrangea by gift or just need to move your hydrangea to another location as we had to.
Hopefully, we'll help make the process of transplanting your hydrangeas as simple as possible.
Best Time to Transplant Hydrangeas
The absolute best time to transplant hydrangeas is in early to late fall. If you're located in one of the northern states you may want
to shoot for late summer to early fall to give the plant time to establish itself before winter arrives. The next best time for
transplanting hydrangeas would be during early spring. We wouldn't recommend transplanting during the heat of the summer months unless
you want to sit around and worry and wonder for several weeks if your hydrangea is going to make it or not. Transplanting hydrangeas
during summer is risky business, especially if you don't have the time to baby it back to health. Transplanting during summer can be done
and has, but it just takes a lot more immediate care for the plant than when performed during cooler weather.
Preparing Your Hydrangeas for Transplanting
You could just dig up your hydrangeas and replant and hope for the best. Or you can improve the odds that your plant will survive the
transplanting procedure in much better shape if you prepare ahead of time. If you have a few days to prepare for transplanting, grab your
garden spade and head out to your hydrangea bush. Pierce the soil with your spade all the way around the plant at the drip line. You don't
need to turn the soil over. Just pierce the soil as deep as you can, but you need not go any further than the depth of the blade of your spade.
What you are basically doing here is cutting off any stray, long roots and giving the plant time to recover before transplanting. When you've cut
the soil all the way around the plant, go ahead and give it a good soaking with the garden hose. This will help the plant be well hydrated
prior to transplanting.
Preparing the Planting Hole
Preparing the soil in and around the planting hole is pretty simple. If your soil is compacted, you need to loosen the soil in
the area around the planting hole so the roots will have room to grow unrestricted. It wouldn't hurt to add some organic matter to the
area and then work it into the topsoil with your spade. This will help feed your hydrangea as the newly formed roots grow in search of nutrients.
The planting hole will need to be deep enough to accept your hydrangea plant as it is in its current location. You'll also need to
dig the hole wide enough so that the roots of your plant aren't crowded and bunched up when you place your hydrangea in the hole. Dig around
the sides of the planting hole to help loosen the soil to give the roots loosened soil to start growing through. And mix in a small amount
of organic matter with the soil in the bottom of the planting hole to get your plant off to a good start and to help retain moisture.
Transplanting Your Hydrangea
Hopefully the day that you've chosen to transplant your hydrangea will be cool and partly cloudy with a few days of light rain in the weather
forecast. Though it rarely works out like we might wish, this would be an ideal scenario for transplanting. The best time of day to transplant
your hydrangeas is in the early morning, with late afternoon coming in a close second. Once the plant is out of the hole, try to keep the root ball
of the plant out of direct sun as much as possible. Move the hydrangea to the planting hole without delay. If something comes up where you
need to delay transplanting, lightly mist or spray lightly the root ball of your hydrangea with the garden hose to prevent the fragile
roots from drying out. Place the plant in the hole and backfill the soil around the roots making sure not to leave any air pockets around the roots.
The top of the root ball should be at the same height it was in its former location. If you have a small amount of soil left over when you're done
backfilling, you can make a small ridge around the edge of the planting hole to use as a barrier to hold in water while you're watering the plant
in the first year. Go ahead and water the plant deeply when you have finished planting. Now would also be a good time to apply mulch around your
plant to keep the soil cool around the base of the plant, prevent weeds and help conserve soil moisture. The only thing left at this point is
backfilling the other hole and caring for your hydrangea until it has established itself in its new home.
