September, 1910 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



371 



The Hydrangea 



By Eben B. Rexford 



F ALL our shrubs, perhaps the hydrangea 

 enjoys the greatest popularity at the pres- 

 ent time. No shrub of which I have any 

 knowledge so readily responds to good 

 treatment. 



The merits of the plant are many. It 

 is among the hardiest of all shrubs. I 

 have never known it injured by the winter anywhere in the 

 north when entirely unprotected. It develops rapidly, the 

 small bush of this year's planting becoming quite a shrub by 

 next season if placed in good soil. It blooms late in the 

 season, and its flowers last till cold weather comes. Not as 

 attractive as when in their prime, in September, it is true, 

 but still enough to challenge admiration from the visitor who 

 finds little else remaining in the garden to admire. 



The hvdrangea, because of its size, is eminently fitted for 

 use as a background for smaller shrubs to display their 

 charms. It is an easy matter to secure a growth of six feet 

 from it. It can be 

 planted in rows to 

 serve as a screen or 

 as a substitute for a 

 hedge. It is most 

 effective, however, 

 when grouped in 

 prominent locations, 

 as shown in the first 

 illustration which 

 accompanies this 

 article. Single speci- 

 mens, however, are 

 very ornamental, as 

 will be seen by the 

 second illustration. 



In grouping the 

 hydrangea, a large 

 number of plants 

 should be used. 

 They should be set 

 about two feet 

 apart, each way, at 

 first. By the third 

 year every other 

 plant can be re- 

 moved, if deemed 



advisable. The aim should be to secure a dense growth 

 without unduly crowding the plants. If any open spaces 

 appear, they can easily be filled by training some of the 

 young branches into and across the gap, and tying them 

 there until they have become fixed in the positions you want 

 them to occupy. Every spring, the bushes should be gone 

 over with the pruning-shears, and cut back sharply. I know 

 of no other shrub that requires closer pruning. It must be 

 given each season if you would have your group take on a 

 compact, symmetrical shape. Left to itself, many of its 

 branches will get the start of others, and the result will be 

 far from pleasing. But a close, systematic shearing of each 

 bush, cutting it back at least half each season, will keep it in 

 satisfactory form. The weak branches may bear flowers, 

 if left, but their flowers will not be the large, heavy clusters 

 which you depend on for the best possible effect. 



Hand in hand with sharp pruning must go a yearly en- 

 richment of the soil in which the hydrangea is planted. A 



A bed of hydrangea paniculata 



generous amount of manure must be used, because what you 

 are after is a strong, vigorous growth of new branches, 

 and such a growth will only result from high feeding. 

 Barnyard fertilizer is perhaps better than any other, all 

 things considered, but if not readily obtainable, the com- 

 mercial fertilizer will give good results. Work whatever 

 food is applied well into the soil about the roots of the 

 plants. Do this in early spring before they begin to make 

 growth. Do it when you give them their spring pruning. 



The flowers are always borne on new growth, hence the 

 importance of having this growth as strong as possible. 

 When plants are grouped they should be encouraged to 

 produce a good many branches close to the soil. There 

 should be enough of these to reach up and spread out on all 

 sides, until the bushy, compact effect is secured. 



When the hydrangea is trained as a standard, it must re- 

 ceive quite different treatment from that which is given 

 grouped plants. Only one or two stalks should be allowed 



to grow from the 

 roots. I would ad- 

 vise two, so that, in 

 case of an accident 

 to one, the plant 

 would still be in 

 shape to go ahead 

 without unnecessary 

 delay. Keep down 

 all other shoots that 

 start from the 

 roots. When these 

 stalks have grown 

 to the height of 

 about two feet, nip 

 off the tops. This 

 will cause side 

 branches to start. 

 Do not allow all 

 that start to de- 

 velop. If you did, 

 you would have 

 more branches than 

 are needed at this 

 period of the 

 plant's develop- 

 ment. Keep in mind 

 the fact that you are now forming the framework of the 

 shrub, so to speak, and for this you need a few strong 

 branches rather than many small ones. When you have 

 secured a sufficient number of these large branches, the small 

 ones will come, as you need them. If the plant seems in- 

 clined to grow in a too upright form, set stout stakes about 

 it, and 'tie its branches to them in such a manner that they 

 spread out, instead of up, and keep them tied until they 

 have "set" into the spreading form you desire them to take. 

 To secure all these results will call for a good deal of at- 

 tention, but the end in view is well worth all the trouble 

 taken, you will conclude, when you have a specimen five or 

 six feet high with a proportionate spread of branches; each 

 branch bending under the weight of clusters of ivory-white 

 blossoms, much more graceful in every respect than the old 

 snowball, to which this shrub seems to be the successor. 

 Later on, these flowers will take on a pink tinge, subse- 

 quently turning to a brownish green, which will remain until 



