Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea for Sale - Buying & Growing Guide

Planting and Care

by Mary Van Keuren | Gardener (30+ Years Experience) – last update on July 26, 2022

Planting instructions

Site your vanilla strawberry hydrangea carefully. If you live in a northern state (USDA hardiness zones 4 through 6), place it where it will get at least six to eight hours of direct light a day. In southern states (USDA hardiness zones 7 through 8), it will do better with light afternoon shade. It grows best in rich, well-drained soils, although it is not picky about soil type.

Unpot your hydrangea when ready for planting and tease out any encircling roots, which can girdle the tree and slowly kill it. Dig a hole that’s as deep as the root ball and twice as wide. Place the shrub in the hole, spreading out the roots. While holding it upright and steady, fill in around the roots with topsoil, tamping down as you go to eliminate air pockets. Water thoroughly. Apply a 2- to 3-inch layer of an organic mulch, such as bark chips, around the root zone, being careful that it does not touch the shrub itself.

Watering and nutrients

For the first growing season after planting, water your vanilla strawberry hydrangea every week, giving it an inch of water each time — or more if conditions are very dry or hot. In subsequent years, you can taper back on watering, giving it supplemental water only when you’re experiencing drought-like conditions. Fertilize your hydrangea with a slow-release, balanced product designed for landscape trees and shrubs or with a product that is higher in phosphorus, such as a 10-20-10 formula, to encourage blooms.

Pollination

The vanilla strawberry hydrangea has both sterile and non-sterile flowers, which are attractive to pollinators such as bees and butterflies. They are not naturally occurring shrubs but were created by horticulturalists in a controlled setting, and they will not grow true to seed.

Pruning

Prune your vanilla strawberry hydrangea in late winter or early spring, cutting back old wood to allow for new growth. Blooms occur on the current season’s growth, so thinning out older branches is necessary to encourage flowers. You should also monitor your shrub for broken, damaged, or diseased branches, which should be cut out whenever they are seen.

Pests diseases

The vanilla strawberry hydrangea isn’t bothered by many insect pests. Occasionally, you might see aphids or mites on the plant. If they become too numerous, try releasing beneficial insects, such as ladybugs and lacewings, to control them. Diseases of the hydrangea include bud blight, bacterial wilt, and leaf spot. Keep the area around your shrub clean of leaf litter and water at the roots rather than the leaves to help keep your bush healthy.

Achieving maximum results

The vanilla strawberry hydrangea is a versatile, sturdy plant, but you may not know that it is also easily grown as a container plant. Imagine a matched set of two on either side of the entrance to your patio, for example. A container-grown plant will probably not get as large as a garden-grown specimen, and they can be kept shorter with judicious trimming. Choose a container for your hydrangea that is about twice the size of the root ball, with good drainage in the bottom. Plant your shrub in a good-quality potting mix, and water thoroughly. Container-grown plantings need more watering than those in the garden, so keep an eye on your hydrangea, especially when it’s hot out. You will also need to feed it faithfully through the growing season. Every few years, you may want to unpot your hydrangea, trim back the roots, and refresh the soil.

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