Should you cut back hydrangea bushes?
Bigleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) These bloom on old wood. Prune only dead stems and lightly shape right after blooming. Avoid spring or fall pruning or you may remove next year’s flower buds. Smooth hydrangeas should be left to grow for several seasons then can take a hard pruning down to the ground in the spring, says Dillon. Old wood hydrangeas can be cut back by one third. Don’t prune these hydrangeas down to the ground, but, if you’re trying to reduce the size of the plant, trim it down by one third.Trim bigleaf hydrangeas back to a set of healthy buds after the flowers have faded in late summer before the plant begins to go dormant. Use sharp, clean trimmers to cut stems just higher than a pair of leaves, says Becker. For a heavier prune, remove the gray, older, or dead stems during winter.As Paul explains, the ideal time to trim a hydrangea largely depends on its type, although autumn is never the right time to prune these ostentatious blooms. This is because most hydrangeas already have new flower buds on their stems. By cutting them back now, you would remove the buds and spoil next season’s blooms.Hydrangea arborescens Smooth Hydrangeas are a breeze to care for – when the plants have gone dormant, take a hedge trimmer or pruner and cut all the stems down to between 6” and 12” in height. Do not prune them during the growing season or you will remove the flower buds and may miss out on the flower show.If you have had problems in the past with your hydrangeas not blooming, it may be because you have pruned them at the wrong time or the frost has killed your blooms. Now is the time to prune them. September will be too late.
Can you cut hydrangeas right back to the ground?
Pruning lacecap hydrangeas Remove any dead, damaged or crossing stems. On older plants, cut back one or two old stems to ground level to encourage the plant to produce new growth. The summer months require no pruning for your hydrangeas, but they will eventually require you to deadhead. As the summer progresses, your hydrangea blooms will start to fade. Once this happens, feel free to remove the spent blooms by using a process called deadheading.Once the shrub is established and has a couple of growing seasons under its belt, prune these hydrangeas in the spring down to the ground, or not at all if you want a larger shrub. Flower buds will grow on this season’s growth or new wood.The solution, fortunately, is simple: just don’t prune hydrangeas that bloom on old wood at all. It’s okay to selectively remove a branch here or there, or to prune out old wood, but you should never trim, shear, or cut them back.Big leaf, oak leaf, mountain, and climbing hydrangeas all bloom on old wood. So any pruning that you do in the fall, you’re cutting off next year’s blooms. You can, however, deadheads spent blooms as long as you cut before the first leaf node.For example, Hydrangea macrophylla (lacecap or mophead hydrangeas) bloom on “old growth” wood and should be pruned in the fall by removing 1/3 of its older branches at the base and pruning the remaining stems just above the top set of healthy buds.
Which hydrangeas should not be cut back?
Rule of thumb: If your hydrangea blooms in summer on old wood → only deadhead in fall. If it blooms on new wood (Annabelle, Panicle) → you can leave major pruning for late winter/early spring. Keep your garden healthy and ready for spring with the right care this season. If you enjoy puttering in the garden or like a neater appearance, go ahead and deadhead your hydrangea as needed. But you won’t harm the plant or affect blooming if you don’t, says Hirvela.What month do you deadhead hydrangeas? It’s better to leave the flower heads on hydrangeas over winter. Lacecap hydrangeas are hardier than mophead types and can be deadheaded after flowering, but it would be best to do this no later than August, cutting back to just above a pair of leaves.You can clip the dead flowers off the plant just below the bloom, or leave it on the plant into the winter. Most dried hydrangea flowers break off sometime in the winter and any that remain on the plant can be removed in the spring. Don’t “neaten them up”!New wood hydrangeas (panicle and smooth varieties) should be pruned when dormant in early winter, but fall pruning can be done to remove dried blooms and help shape the plant. Old wood hydrangeas (mophead and oakleaf) should only be pruned immediately after flowering in the spring and summer.
Can you prune hydrangeas in the fall?
Pruning hydrangeas in the fall helps to shape the plants and remove any dead or diseased wood. This not only improves the overall appearance but also promotes healthy growth come spring. Hydrangeas need nutrients to bloom, but just any fertilizer won’t do. Make sure you’re using a using a bloom boosting, slow-release, granular fertilizer and follow the directions on the packaging for how much to apply. Apply fertilizer in early spring and again in July to help promote the rebloom.Blooming hydrangeas are one of the most elegant and beautiful highlights in any garden. Starting in mid summer and continuing into September, Hydrangea paniculatas take center stage. With their fresh foliage and large cone shaped flowers, they add a dramatic accent to any garden border or planting bed.When hydrangeas grow lots of leaves but no flowers, it is often due to excessive nitrogen in the soil, which encourages foliage over blooms. Insufficient sunlight can also cause lush growth without flowers, especially in varieties that need 3-4 hours of direct light.Hydrangeas are long-lived shrubs, sometimes living for up to 50 years if properly cared for. They enjoy morning sun but afternoon shade, and they need frequent watering during the growing season.To reduce the size of an established climbing hydrangea, prune it in spring. Climbing hydrangeas can cope with hard pruning, but are likely to produce fewer flowers for a year or two afterwards.
Should I cut off dead hydrangea blooms?
Yes. Hydrangeas should have the spent blossoms removed, a process called deadheading, because otherwise, the plant will put energy into seed production instead of blossoms. Ideally, the goal is to keep the plant producing lots of large, showy flowers, rather than seeds. Pruning hydrangeas that flower on new growth arborescens flower on shoots made in the current season of growth. It’s best to prune these shrubs in February-March so that there’s plenty of time for the plant to grow strong, new, upright stems on which the large flowers will appear later that summer.Smooth hydrangea is easy – simply cut all the stems down to the crown in either fall or spring before new growth begins. These old stems are completely dead and will not grow again. All the new growth develops from the crown.What Happens If You Don’t Prune Hydrangeas in the Fall? Nothing. Your hydrangea may thank you with prolific blooms next year because you didn’t prune it. This season’s flowers will slowly dry up and, throughout the winter, blow off and away.STEP 3: Know how much to prune your hydrangea. We do not recommend pruning more drastically than 30% for two reasons: Pruning it further removes too much of the sturdy framework that keeps the plant standing upright.To help prepare growing hydrangeas for winter, add a fine bark mulch to the base of the hydrangea plant. Remove the top inch of compost and replace with the mulch to add a layer of protection for the winter season.
What is the mistake for pruning hydrangeas?
Don’t make this mistake when pruning your hydrangeas! Pruning your hydrangeas to reduce their height isn’t effective because they will grow right back to their original size, or even larger because the act of pruning stimulates new growth. Panicle and smooth hydrangeas bloom on new wood and can be pruned in late winter or early spring. These types tolerate very hard pruning to control the size of the bush, and a bit of pruning in spring may encourage more flowers. The main thing to remember is that all hydrangeas, honestly, don’t need to be pruned.If you need to prune your panicle hydrangea—and it can grow huge over the years, reaching up to 15 feet (5 m) in height and spread if you never cut it back!Most pruning is carried out in late winter or early spring. However, climbing hydrangeas are pruned after flowering in summer.Endless Summer® hydrangea’s first bloom cycle lasts until about mid-July. That’s about when the blooms start to fade, and you know that it’s time to get deadheading! While deadheading can be done throughout the summer, you should make sure to stop in mid to late fall.The best time to prune old wood hydrangeas is after they finish blooming in the summer, usually in early August. Don’t wait too late, because they begin bud production in the fall, and pruning at that time can remove next year’s blooms. Once the buds form, it’s too late to cut them back.
What is the best month to cut back hydrangeas?
It’s best to prune these shrubs in February-March so that there’s plenty of time for the plant to grow strong, new, upright stems on which the large flowers will appear later that summer. October is the month of first frosts, falling leaves and dazzling colours. But it’s also a great time to prune popular garden plants to ensure your outdoor space thrives throughout the seasonal changes and into spring.