LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Flowers and ornamental plants can beautify a space and bring you joy. But if your plants start to wilt or die, you might need help to determine what’s wrong with it to bring it back to life.

Jeff Wallitsch with Wallitsch Gardens helped answer some viewer questions.

Question: Are hydrangeas easy to take care of?

Wallitsch: "They are very easy to take care of. You just need to know if you have sun or you have shade to determine which type to get."

Question: I recently planted a new hydrangea but it seems that the leaves are turning brown on the ends. Is it bugs or the sun doing this and what can use to prevent it from dying. It has no blooms yet. I use Sevin insect dust. 

Wallitsch: "To me that sounds like it's more of a sun issue. It could be a possibility they planted a shade variety in more sun than it needs to be."

Question: What is the best fertilizer for hydrangeas?

Wallitsch: "So for the blue and pink varieties -- to keep it blue you're going to change the pH levels and you want to use aluminum sulfate. And to have them more pink, you want to use lime. But you want to use just an acid fertilizer like Hollytone for these guys (white hydrangeas) and you do that in the spring and then again around Thanksgiving."

Question: How do you make petunias bloom? I have them in large pots on the porch. Lots of sun in the mornings. I pinch the old blooms off but, I’m not getting many new blooms.

Wallitsch: "It says its just in the morning, so it could potentially be that it's not getting enough sun. Full sun plants are typically 6 plus hours of sunlight. So I would make sure you're checking your sun and that you're getting enough and I would fertilize on a weekly basis. You can bring a clipping into the garden center and get our magnifying glass out and look to see if it needs to be treated for insects."

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