The Best Place to Plant Hydrangeas in Your Garden

Hydrangeas are a mainstay of the garden, thanks to their easy-care nature and their gorgeous, dramatic blooms that make a major statement. While hydrangeas can do well in a variety of lighting and soil situations, if you want your hydrangeas to really thrive, you need to find that Goldilocks, just-right spot to place them in your landscaping. You’re in luck: With these tips from gardening experts, you’ll be able to locate the right place for your hydrangea bush to bloom.

Find the Right Light for Your Hydrangea

You probably already know that hydrangeas are plants that can do well in shadier spots—especially oakleaf hydrangea, which can do decently in full shade. But to really help your hydrangea thrive, they need a certain amount of sun. “Hydrangeas are known for needing shade, but they can get too much shade,” McConnell says. “Sun is needed to get an abundance of blooms. The best combination is direct morning sun, but shade from the afternoon sun. Dappled shade is preferable to deep shade.”

If you’re game for providing your hydrangea with a bit of additional TLC, they can sometimes thrive in less-than-ideal light situations. “With ample irrigation and good mulching to cool the roots, they can perform in full sun,” Lakatos says. “This is especially true if you live in a region with mild summers. In exceptionally hot, long summer regions, like Texas and Florida, full sun may result in scorched leaves, droopy leaves, and reduced flowering.”

Choose a Great Spot in Your Garden Design

Hydrangea can be a very versatile addition to your garden design. Where you place hydrangeas within your landscape depends not only on the lighting, but also on the other plants you plan to grow and how large they will likely get in comparison with the hydrangea.

“Plant taller varieties at the back of the border, where they have lots of room to grow to their full size and provide a lush backdrop for smaller growing shrubs and perennials,” Lakatos says. “Small hydrangeas can be used closer to the front of the border in the same location as or in lieu of herbaceous perennials.”

“Hydrangeas look quite striking in large mass plantings along the edge of a lawn,” McConnell says. “They are also great as a foundation planting, perfect for the east side of a house where they will be protected from harsh afternoon sun. But of course they are also wonderful as part of a larger planting, with lower, lush perennials in front of them.”

Make Sure the Soil Is Right

While hydrangeas aren’t as fussy as some other plants regarding soil acidity and quality, there are certain conditions that’ll help ensure your bush grows and blooms. “Hydrangeas perform best in moist, well-drained, slightly acidic soil,” Lakatos says. They prefer a slightly loamy soil, and some hydrangea varieties—such as bigleaf and mountain varieties—can have their blooms change color from pink to purple to blue, depending on how acidic or alkaline the soil is.

To make your hydrangea more blue, opt to add aluminum sulfate to the soil, while garden lime can make them pinker.

Give Your Hydrangea Enough Space

Research the variety you’re planting to ensure you leave enough space in your landscaping to account for your plant’s final size. “Not all hydrangeas grow to the same size. While some stay around 3 to 4 feet tall and wide, such as Seaside Serenade, others can reach 6 to 8 feet,” McConnell says. “Make sure to check the mature size of the variety and put it somewhere with enough space.”

You’ll also want to make sure that you leave room between your hydrangea and your house or fencing. “When planting near a foundation or fence, give the plants up to an extra foot for air circulation and so that their stems won’t grow into a structure, which can cause wounds on the stems,” Lakatos says.

Pruning can be done to help keep the landscaping in line. “Pruning is key to managing size,” Lenhart says. “But hydrangea are generally best maintained as mid-sized shrubs.”

Be Cautious About Using Them in Containers

While hydrangeas can be planted in a container, you do need to be mindful of choosing a variety that tends to be smaller and ensuring that they can overwinter in a container. “To be truly winter hardy in a container, your growing zone needs to be two zones higher than the plant’s coldest zone,” Lakatos says.

Don’t Worry About Planting Them Near Water or Sewer Lines

Some plants and shrubs, including willows and oak trees, have hearty roots that can penetrate and actually damage water or sewer lines, wreaking havoc with your plumbing. But fortunately, hydrangeas aren’t one of them. “Hydrangea roots are slender and fibrous and aren’t strong enough to damage pipes,” McConnell says. “They could grow into a damaged, leaking pipe, but that is true of any plant.”