Sprinkle This Leftover Kitchen Scrap Around Your Hydrangeas & Watch Them Thrive

Beautiful and easy to grow, hydrangeas are a great plant for adding some color to your garden. If you already have these pretty flowers growing around your space, you may be looking for some gardening tips and tricks for successful hydrangea blooms. One way that gardeners are helping their hydrangeas thrive is by sprinkling broken eggshells in the plant's soil. To learn more about this hack, House Digest spoke exclusively with Landscape Designer, Horticulturist, and outdoor living enthusiast, Melanie Rekola.

"Crushed eggshells help naturally fertilize any plant by increasing nutrient content in the soil," Rekola shared. "They're especially helpful if your soil is low in calcium." Adding eggshells to your garden can help give your plant necessary nutrients, but Rekola notes you may also notice a fun effect.

One unique effect of fertilizing your hydrangea with eggshells is that it will influence the color of your blooms. In an exclusive interview with House Digest, Rekola shared why this happens: "Crushed eggshells increase a soil's pH, making it more alkaline. This can turn blue or white flowering Hydrangea macrophylla pink. But it's a very gradual process that happens over time as the eggshells break down and release calcium carbonate."

Beyond changing your hydrangea plant's color like magic, Rekola also talked about the importance of using natural fertilizers (like eggshells) over chemical options in order to help your garden thrive. "I have never used chemical fertilizer in my gardens because most cause plants to have big blooms or leaves but don't support a plant's root system. By starting with good, healthy soil and not removing spent plants or fallen leaves, you'll naturally build your soil's heath negating any need to add chemical fertilizers. Healthy soil = healthy plants!"

Adding eggshells to your hydrangeas is a fairly simple process. When House Digest spoke exclusively with Rekola, we asked her the best way to add these leftover kitchen scraps to the garden. "I think saving your week's worth of eggshells at a time in a bag in the fridge, then crushing them well and working them into the soil is the best way," Rekola said. "Doing this once a month is plenty in my opinion." 

Rekola also shared that using eggshells as a natural fertilizer will not hurt your plants or the pollinators who visit. However, the shells will deter slugs, as they dislike soil with sharp objects in it. Growing and taking care of hydrangeas may seem intimidating to novice gardeners, but with a little love (and some leftover eggshells), you will be well on your way to creating a beautiful garden.