Grow a beautiful climbing hydrangea in 7 steps

If you have some shady spots and limited time, you'll love the care-free loveliness climbing hydrangeas. With these seven simple tips, you could have a healthy vine growing in your garden.

• Strong aerial rootlets help the climbing hydrangea attach itself to trees, walls or buildings.
• The rootlets will not harm masonry, but make sure there are no existing cracks where roots can invade.
• The thick vines and foliage retain moisture and can cause wooden walls to rot.
• Put up a sturdy trellis 30 centimetres (12 inches) or more from a wooden wall. This lets air circulate behind the vine and prevent rot.
• Select a permanent site with plenty of room, as climbing hydrangeas reach a mature height of 20 metres (66 feet).

• Easy to plant and care for, climbing hydrangeas repay a good start.
• A site in full sun is acceptable in cool-summer climates if the soil is moist.
• Partial shade is better in hot areas.

• Climbing hydrangea is a natural for a woodland garden, where leaf litter creates a slightly acidic soil pH.
• Alkaline soil causes leaves to yellow and keeps the vine from thriving. If your soil is alkaline, add garden sulphur to create a slightly acidic soil pH before planting.
• Test the soil annually to ensure the soil isn't too alkaline.

Planting a climbing hydrangea can be done in three easy steps:

1. Prepare a hole in spring, making it as deep as the vine's nursery container and twice as wide.
2. Add a balanced, controlled-release fertilizer at the rate suggested on the package.
3. Set the plant in, fill around it with soil and water.

• You'll need to help vines climb for the first year or two, until the aerial roots grab the support.
• For a masonry surface, pound in "rose nails," which have a soft metal head that you can bend around a stem to hold it to the support. Tie the stems to a trellis with soft twine.

• Water as needed to keep the soil moist during the growing season.
• Apply an eight-centimetre-thick (three-inch-thick) mulch of organic matter, such as chopped leaves, to retain moisture.
• Climbing hydrangea is virtually untroubled by either pests or diseases.
• The plant will need little pruning.
• At the limits of hardiness, it grows best on an east-facing wall.

Climbing hydrangea is easy to propagate from cuttings. Here's how:

1. Early in the growing season, take 15-centimetre-long (six-inch-long) tip cuttings. Choose from unwanted branches that aren't attached to a support.
2. Remove leaves from the bottom half of the cuttings.
3. Insert each halfway into moist sand or well-drained potting soil.
4. Keep the soil moist and set the cuttings in a shady site.
5. Move the pots into a cold frame or to a room that remains above freezing through the winter.
6. The following spring, plant the cuttings outdoors.

With lush green leaves that yellow in the fall and clusters of white flowers, a climbing hydrangea is a great choice for any garden. They take some extra care and maintenance, but the extra effort is often rewarded with a healthy and beautiful vine.