Easy gardening hack will help your hydrangeas to bloom bigger than ever
With spring just around the corner, it’s that time when green thumbs are gearing up to spruce up their gardens.
For those who love hydrangeas and dream of sumptuous, abundant blooms, one simple gardening task could make all the difference this season. Louise Findlay-Wilson, a passionate gardener and the brains behind Blooming Lucky, has a golden tip for garden experts: don’t discard fallen leaves but recycle them into mulch for your hydrangeas.
Louise shares her personal technique: “I mulch my hydrangeas every year in the Spring after pruning them, using home-made leaf mould.” She outlines the purpose of this practice: “This is ideal as I’m not trying to provide nutrition. I’m just trying to condition the soil and help retain its moisture – important for my thirsty old hydrangeas.”
Mulching involves spreading organic matter atop plant soil, creating a nurturing blanket that gradually enriches the earth. This straightforward yet effective method elevates plant health, beefing up soil nutrients, outcompeting weeds, and trapping essential moisture.
Especially beneficial for hydrangeas, with their superficial root systems craving water, maintaining moist soil can significantly impact the flower show they put on. Bone-dry dirt can lead to fewer and smaller blossoms, so mulching is like an elixir for livelier, more spectacular flowers. Expanding on the virtues of leaf mulch, Louise adds: “Leaf mould is brilliant on both these fronts.
Its lovely, crumbly nature adds fantastic structure to your soil and provides a great home for earthworms and beneficial bacteria. “And it’s fantastic at retaining water. Apparently, some studies have found that adding leaf mould increases water retention in soils by over 50 per cent.”
To craft your very own mulch for those stunning hydrangeas, begin by gathering fallen leaves from your garden into a sturdy plastic sack- think compost bag rather than the weaker black bin liners which might split as time goes by.
It’s a good shout to punch a few holes at the bottom of the bag for drainage to avoid any mucky situations, reports the Express. Stash the bag out of sight so the leaves can stay moist and start the decomposition process.
Gradually, they’ll transform into a fine leaf mulch perfect for spreading across your hydrangea beds to keep them lush and vibrant throughout the year.
This magic doesn’t happen overnight though; it takes a solid six months to a year for the leaves to fully break down. If you’re looking to expedite the rotting, give the leaves a chop and drive a lawnmower over them.
But if patience isn’t your virtue, pop this on your to-do list for later and opt for an alternative mulch this spring to ensure your hydrangeas kick off the growing season with gusto. Louise mentions: “If you don’t have leaf mould, well-rotted manure or compost will also do the trick. The important takeaway is to mulch. Mulching is brilliant!”
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