Location

• Plant your oakleaf hydrangea where it will receive afternoon shade. The soil should be fertile and retain moisture, so be sure to work a lot of compost or rotted manure into the soil. Oakleaf hydrangeas form clumps wider than they are tall and don't like to be crowded. Give them an area where they can reach 3 to 4 feet tall and spread 6 to 8 feet wide. Due to their size, oakleaf hydrangeas should not be used in foundation plantings. They do, however, excel as backdrop plants for smaller shrubs and perennials and look best when seen from a distance. With that in mind, plant your oakleaf hydrangea behind perennial borders or at the edge of your property.
  
  

Characteristics

• Oakleaf hydrangeas have deeply lobed leaves reminiscent of oak trees. The leaves start out a medium gray-green with a fuzzy underside. As the leaves mature, they grow to 3 to 4 inches long and become dark green; the lobes become more prominent. The leaves begin turning orange or reddish-purple in late September and remain on the plant until mid-November. In June, white, single or double flowers bloom in 4 to 12 inch long cones. The flowers persist well into winter, fading from white to pink or purple and finally brown. The bark on mature oakleaf hydrangeas is shaggy and a reddish-brown color.
  
  

Companion Plantings

• Oakleaf hydrangeas are good foils for plants with light colored leaves (yellow, gray, cream) or yellow or white variegated foliage. The dark green of the oakleaf hydrangea makes the lighter leaves pop. For a more subtle look, use dark red or purple foliage plants. Be sure to stagger plants with medium green leaves in with the yellow, purple and variegated foliage to keep the planting from becoming shrill. Choose plants with red, pink, orange, yellow and pale blue flowers. Dark blue and purple flowers will become lost in the dark green of the hydrangea while red, yellow, orange and lighter colored flowers will make the plantings look closer and the flowers will be more visible. Try to avoid plants with white flowers, or limit to just one or two, to keep the planting from looking plain. Group plants that like moist soil toward the oakleaf hydrangeas and plants that are drought tolerant on the edges. If you are planting your hydrangeas under trees, choose trees with deep roots, most nut trees (oaks, chestnuts, hazels) work well, as well as pines. Smaller trees, like dogwoods, Japanese maples and birches look good peeping over the top of oakleaf hydrangeas. Clematis, roses and honeysuckle will happily use oakleaf hydrangeas as support, and their foliage and flowers add another dimension to the hydrangea.