Question on Size Control
(Sorry, I forgot to give this thread a title
)
I got a hydrangea from Lowe's in the clearance section. It was very saveable with some leaves dried out completely and others with crunchy edges and still plenty of healthy leaves and stems. I pruned out the dried leaves and removed the dried edges and gave it some natural, slow release fertilizer granules. It had no recent or spent blooms when I bought it.
This is what it looked like the day I bought it, after removing the dead stuff.....
These shots are today:
It's growing
Should I completely prune out the additional leaves with dead edges or leave them and remove just the dead edges?
Buds are showing up
It had no tag, so the cultivar is a mystery. I am no hydrangea expert, but my guess would be Endless Summer, since Lowe's sells a lot of those, and the leaves seem to be correct. 🤷 Any identification opinions are definitely welcome.
The original location I planned for it is full all day sun, and that garden is large enough to handle a full size plant. After reading questions and advice on this forum, I want to plant it in a location with the proper amount of sun at the proper time of day. My other gardens are small (I'm in the city. 42' x 150' lot). I have two possible locations, but I would have to control the size of this hydrangea to about 3 to 4 feet at least in width. Personally, I would prefer to keep it in a sphere shape. My question is it possible to control the size by pruning (not with hedge clippers) on the regular without killing it and it would still bloom? It's a young plant so it would seem I could keep it at the necessary size after it reaches that size. If so, suggestions for a pruning regimen would be greatly appreciated. I am not a chemist gardener. I use natural slow release fertilizer for all my plants, so the flower color does not matter to me.
Thanks gang!
