Hydrangeas love this common household item that will turn blooms blue this summer
A simple trick using a household item can turn hydrangea blooms back to blue by making soil a little more acidic.
Hydrangeas shrubs are a staple in many people’s gardens as they are relatively easy to grow and look stunning with just a little maintenance required.
Most of them bloom in an array of shades between pink and purple, but but many prefer the unique but ofter difficult-to-achieve blue shade hydrangeas bloom.
Hydrangea flowers can actually change colours depending on the acidity of the soil, meaning a household item can help gardeners achieve their desired shade of flower.
Simply put, for pink blooms you will need alkaline soil, for blue, acidic, and for purple blooms, your soil will need to be neutral.
If you want to test the pH level of your soil, most garden centres sell testing kits for £5.
But you should be able to easily tell what pH level your soil is by looking at the colour of the flowers in your garden.
To achieve the desired blue flowers, a simple hack is to create an apple cider vinegar solution to water your hydrangeas.
DON'T MISS:
‘Correct’ time to prune garden hydrangeas for the best growth in summer [GARDENING]
Plants you must prune in winter to encourage a ‘vigorous display of flowers’ [PRUNING]
Flowerless hydrangeas produce glorious blooms every year if you avoid 1 mistake [INSIGHT]
David Domoney shares his summer gardening tips
Mix one cup of apple cider vinegar with 10 litres of water, and water the soil around the roots, avoiding the leaves. Doing this fortnightly can help the colour of the blooms change over time.
Once you’ve achieved the colour you want, you can reduce the amount of vinegar in the solution.
You do need to be careful to not add in too much vinegar at once as it could be harmful to your plant’s roots.