Hello
I have a hydrangea tree and the flowers are huge the tree is gorgeous but so much rain, that the flowers are too heavy and the
Branches are going down and down because of the weight of the flowers. What can I do to fix it or not?
Thank you
I am located in Oshawa ,sun in the afternoon.mixed soil.
Thank you for contacting the Toronto Master Gardeners with your inquiry.
There is nothing more frustrating than seeing your long anticipated shrub finally flower just to be knocked down by heavy rains. Gardeners are constantly on the look out for larger, bigger blooms, however these larger-than-life flowers can be a downfall, literally. Large blooms capture the rain and become burdened with the extra weight.
Have you tried shaking off the excess water after the rains? Once the hydrangeas have dried out did they bounce back?
Hydrangeas make excellent cut flowers, however depending on the type of hydrangea you have by cutting off the branches you may not get blooms next year. Before you cut your hydrangea check whether your hydrangea blooms on old wood or new wood. Hydrangeas, such as panicle hydrangeas (H. paniculata) and smooth hydrangeas (H. arborescence) bloom in the summer on new wood. Other varieties, such as bigleaf (H. macrophyllas) and oak leaf (H. quercifolia) hydrangeas, bloom in the spring on old wood.
Judith King, a member of the American Hydrangea Society put a website together called: Hydrangeas, Hydrangeas! which helps with pruning techniques for each type and offers further general information: https://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/
Your tree is more than likely a paniculata type of hydrangea which means that it blooms on new wood. The above website qives the porper techniques for pruning your hydrangea as well as prolonging the life of your cut flowers.
If you do not wish to cut your blooms you could remove some of the secondary branches that aren’t blooming to take the weight off of the branches.
Putting stakes into the ground and then tying and supporting the branches is also helpful.