How to prune hydrangea flowers


When to prune hydrangeas for best bloom

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Hydrangeas are one of the most popular blooming woody shrubs in Minnesota landscapes and, as you’d expect, people often ask how and when to prune these beloved shrubs.

Heading cuts redirect growth or shorten small branches. The high point of a heading cut should be about 1/4" above a bud.

Hydrangea paniculata, panicle hydrangea

Prune back stems to just above a fat bud — called a heading cut — in fall, late winter or spring. These plants have conical-shaped flower heads. I recommend leaving the dry, tan flower heads on the plant to provide some winter interest in your landscape, so I wait to prune these until late winter or spring. Some favorite panicle hydrangeas:

Hydrangea macrophylla, big leaf hydrangea This original Endless Summer inspired a large series of other H. macrophylla developed by Bailey Nurseries.

These plants produce buds in late summer to early fall (August-September) that will form next year’s flowers. So prune these shrubs after they finish blooming before August (again, make a heading cut).

An exception is the Endless Summer® The Original Bigleaf Hydrangea (H. macrophylla 'Bailmer' PP15,298) and other cultivars in the Endless Summer series from Bailey Nurseries such as Blushing Bride, BloomStruck® , Summer Crush®, and Twist ‘n’ Shout®.

The H. macrophylla bloom on last year’s wood and new wood that grows this year. So it will bloom whether you prune it or not. Protect H. macrophylla in winter from rabbit browsing on the stems with a large, 4-foot tall ring of hardware cloth.

The Endless Summer hydrangea made a huge splash on the Minnesota landscape plant scene because of its pink to blue color flowers (achievable with proper soil amendment) and because it blooms on old and new wood.

Hydrangea arborescens, smooth hydrangea

Let these plants grow a season or two before doing any serious "hard" pruning. 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.

Some favorite smooth hydrangeas: 

Hydrangea petolaris or climbing hydrangea

This tough, gnarly vine needs little to no pruning ever, except for removing any dead wood that develops.

Plant this vine in full sun on a solid trellis or fence where you want a long-living, dense screen. It is a dickens to get rid of once it gets established.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ Quick Fire® hydrangea. Notice the wall color matches the late summer bloom color. This was intentional! Annabelle, a tried-and-true fixture in Minnesota landscapes

Author: Julie Weisenhorn, Extension educator, horticulture

Reviewed by Debbie Lonnee, Product Development Manager, Bailey Nurseries.

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How to prune hydrangeas: to keep them healthy and flowering

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Popular flowering shrubs, we must learn how to prune hydrangeas correctly to get the best from them, maximize blooms and to ensure that they can survive through winter.  

Hydrangeas make a great statement piece in a bed, border or in containers. They put on a spectacular display of flowers in the summer, and then die back in winter. Tolerant of a wide range of soil and light conditions, apart from a little pruning, hydrangeas require almost no maintenance. 

While learning how to grow hydrangeas is relatively simple – make sure you know when to plant hydrangeas and when to prune hydrangeas too – they can be disappointing over time if they are not correctly maintained through pruning and deadheading. Luckily, this is an easy skill to learn.

They range in color from white to pink, pale blue to deep purple. Their large, clustered flower heads, made up of lots of smaller flowers, make them a highly attractive and decorative plant, and there are many choices for what to plant with hydrangeas. Some of the flower heads are also wonderful for enduring floral displays indoors if you learn how to dry flowers. 

The way that you prune your hydrangea will depend on the variety that you have. Here we will look at the different types and how to prune them hydrangeas.

How to prune hydrangeas – for beginners

(Image credit: Leigh Clapp)

Hydrangeas are generally pretty low maintenance shrubs, and among the best flowering shrubs. Once you have identified the variety that you have in your garden, it's easy to get to grips with how to prune hydrangeas. 

Some of these fast growing shrubs flower on old wood and some on new wood, so it is important to prune them the correct way so as to not detrimentally affect their flowering. 

'Pruning hydrangeas will help the formation of new flowers and promote good shape,' explains Ian Wright, garden consultant at National Trust , which boasts dramatic displays of hydrangeas in many of its gardens as flower bed ideas.

(Image credit: Future)

Pruning mophead hydrangeas and lacecaps

(Image credit: National Trust)

The method for pruning mophead hydrangeas and lacecap hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla)  – also known as bigleaf hydrangeas – is the same.

Mophead hydrangeas are a common choice for gardens with their full, roundish heads of large petals in shades of blue, pink, green and white. This makes them a popular shrub choice for cottage garden ideas and they also make good shrubs for shade.

Lacecap hydrangeas are identified by tiny flowers in the center of the bloom and an outer border of larger petals.

These varieties should be pruned in late winter or early spring. 

As a way to winterize hydrangeas, 'it’s best to leave the faded blooms in place over the winter to protect tender new buds from frost damage,' advise the experts at Thompson & Morgan

When pruning mophead hydrangeas and lacecaps in early spring:

How to prune climbing hydrangeas

(Image credit: Getty Images/ Catherine McQueen)

Climbing hydrangeas, such as Hydrangea anomola subsp. petiolaris, Hydrangea seemannii or H. serratifolia are pruned in summer, after flowering.

The reason that climbing hydrangeas are pruned in summer is because the flowers are produced on the previous year's wood. If they are pruned earlier in spring, before flowering, the blooms for that year will be sacrificed. 

'Prune Hydrangea petiolaris immediately after flowering to shorten any branches growing out from the wall or support, otherwise only light pruning is required to remove dead or damaged stems,' advises gardening expert Sarah Raven .

Most flowers appear at the top of these flowing climbers, so the RHS advise to leave as much of this unpruned as possible.

How to prune Hydrangea paniculata and Hydrangea arborescens

(Image credit: Annaick Guitteny)

Hydrangea Paniculata with its cone-like heads of blooms, and Hydrangea aborescens with its spherical flower heads, are also pruned in early spring.

Other types of hydrangea, including Hydrangea aspera and Hydrangea quercifolia, need only light pruning in spring. Simply remove dead flower heads and overlong or crossing stems.

(Image credit: Stephanie Klepacki / Unsplash)

What happens if you don't prune hydrangeas?

If you don't prune hydrangeas then they can eventually resemble a tangled mass of woody stems, and the flowers will become smaller and less showy. If your hydrangeas are not blooming, lack of pruning is often a reason.

Regular pruning of hydrangeas helps to maintain their shape and also encourages new growth and a better display of blooms. 

'It's this strong, new growth that ensures you have lots of large, healthy flowers to enjoy in the years to come,' explain the experts at Thompson & Morgan.

(Image credit: National Trust)

Do you cut off dead hydrangea blooms?

Deadheading hydrangeas – or removing spent flowers from the stem to encourage better blooming later on – can be done with some hydrangeas but not all.

The RHS recommends that dead blooms should only be removed from mophead hydrangeas after flowering in mild areas. Their advice is that it is better to leave the flowerheads on the plant over winter to provide some frost protection. 

In addition, by leaving the dried flowers on the plant, they will provide interest in the garden through to spring, and can be a stunning sight when covered in a coating of frost.

The flowers on the hardier lacecaps, however, can be deadheaded after flowering.

How far back should you prune hydrangeas?

Hydrangea macrophyllaHydrangea serrata, Hydrangea quercifolia, and Hydrangea aspera can be cut back, in spring, as far as the first pair of buds. You are essentially removing the dead flower heads. You can also open the plant up a little and improve its shape by cutting back one or two of the oldest, largest stems. Cut these back right to the ground to encourage new growth. 

Hydrangea aborescens and Hydrangea paniculata produce flowers on new growth and can therefore be cut back harder after flowering. You don’t actually need to prune these varieties, but you can do it to keep them from getting too tall. 

(Image credit: John Swithinbank)

What is the best way to prune hydrangeas?

The best way to prune hydrangeas, as with all pruning, should be carried out with a sharp, clean pair of gardening tools. This is to create a clean cut that is less prone to infection. The way that you prune your hydrangea will depend on the variety that you have, and to some extent the condition of the plant. 

If you find that your way of pruning is not yielding good blooms or a healthy plant, you may want to change your approach. Observe your plant through spring and summer to determine where it flowers from, old or new growth. Then prune according to this guide. 

This feature was created by H&G sister brand, Period Living magazine

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Period Living is the UK's best-selling period homes magazine. A subscription provides you with all you need to know about caring for and improving a traditional house and garden

Rachel is senior content editor, and writes and commissions gardening content for homesandgardens.com, Homes & Gardens magazine, and its sister titles Period Living Magazine and Country Homes & Interiors. She has written for lifestyle magazines for many years, with a particular focus on gardening, historic houses and arts and crafts, but started out her journalism career in BBC radio, where she enjoyed reporting on and writing programme scripts for all manner of stories. Rachel then moved into regional lifestyle magazines, where the topics she wrote about, and people she interviewed, were as varied and eclectic as they were on radio. Always harboring a passion for homes and gardens, she jumped at the opportunity to work on The English Home and The English Garden magazines for a number of years, before joining the Period Living team, then the wider Homes & Gardens team, specializing in gardens.

What must be done with hydrangeas after they bloom in autumn

 

Hydrangea is the favorite flower of the majority, so finding it in flower beds is a common practice. The popularity of the hydrangea is so great that for many it is not difficult to recognize it among the many plants in the flowerbed, because the incredible beauty of the inflorescence of this beauty is difficult to confuse. The only thing is that differences and some features are possible only by referring to the various types and varieties of plants.

The flowering period is the climax for each flower, therefore it is the most long-awaited. The beauty and value of hydrangea lies in the fact that it blooms for a very long time, in comparison with other plants. So, you can enjoy the incredible beauty of the inflorescences already at the beginning of summer and this period will last, right up to the first frost. Due to its unconditional duration, it cannot be re-blooming this season. What to do with hydrangea when it has faded, how to properly care for the plant during this period? Let's figure it out, because flowering next year depends on the correct care.

Dealing with faded peduncles

First of all, you need to determine whether your hydrangea blooms on old shoots or not. To understand this is very simple, you just need to follow a certain algorithm of sequential actions:

In the autumn interval of the year, slightly open the bud.
Look closely to see if there is a new inflorescence with new petals. If yes, then we conclude that the laying of new flower buds occurs at the ends of last year's shoots.
Hydrangeas with this feature mainly bloom at the beginning of the summer season, and finish by the middle of it. From this moment, flower buds begin to form in the flower, from which new inflorescences will appear, only next year. Hydrangeas with such features include the following species:

  1. large-leaved mountain;
  2. oakleaf;

Hydrangea pruning is also carried out in the summer, when the plant begins to rot, around July. In general, the traditional time for pruning a flower is the interval between the beginning - the middle of spring, gardeners are guided by the swelling of the buds. No pruning is done before the buds begin to appear, because they indicate the location of fresh shoots and will help beginners prune the plant correctly in the future.