Should you trim hydrangeas
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:
- Cut out one or two of the oldest, weakest stems at the base of the plant to encourage new growth that will have better blooms.
- Using secateurs, carefully remove old flowerheads just above a pair of buds.
- Be careful not to cut off any of the flower buds.
- If the bigleaf hydrangea shrub has been neglected and has lots of overlapping, tangled branches, you can do a harder prune and cut the stems down to the base of the plant. However the hydrangea will then not bloom until the following year.
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.
- They produce flowers on new wood, so they can be pruned back harder without sacrificing that year's flowers.
- Prune old branches back to the lowest pair of healthy buds near ground level for a neat framework.
- 'By cutting stems to different heights, you’ll get flowerheads produced at different levels,' advises Sarah Raven
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 macrophylla, Hydrangea 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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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.
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By David Grist
Blushing Bride is a bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla), so it should be pruned in summer, after it blooms. In less acidic soils, it blooms pink. To enhance the pink color, use horticultural lime.
When do you prune hydrangeas? Well, it depends.
If it blooms in late summer
Some hydrangeas bloom on new growth and should be pruned in late winter or early spring, before the shrub begins active growth.
These include several varieties that have become quite popular: Limelight, Quickfire, Burgundy Lace, as well as the classic "snowball" types, such as Annabelle.
Another one that can be pruned in late winter is the classic PG or PeeGee, which produces creamy white flowers in late summer that age to rosy pink.
The botanical names help identify the winter-pruned varieties: Hydrangea arborescens and H. paniculata.
The Limelight hydrangea blooms on new growth, so it should be pruned in late winter, before new growth begins. Although the florets look similar to those of bigleaf hydrangeas, Limelight has teardrop-shaped bloom clusters and blooming starts later in the summer.
For more on this topic, read: Early Season Pruning
If it's blue, or blooms in summer
Most of the other hydrangeas should be pruned in summer, once they have finished blooming. Most of these bloom on what's called "old wood" — growth from the year before. If you prune them in early spring, you risk cuting off the dormant flower buds. By pruning right after the blooms have faded, you allow the plant time to set buds for the next year.
Oakleaf (H. quercifolia) and bigleaf hydrangea (H. macrophylla), including Nikko Blue and all the other pink- and blue-flowering cultivars, bloom from buds set the previous year. If they need pruning to maintain size or shape, do it in the summer, preferably before August.
The so-called ever-blooming hydrangeas, such as Endless Summer and Blushing Bride, should be treated the same. These bigleaf hydrangeas are unique in that they bloom on old wood and new wood.
Blue Billow should be pruned in summer, after it has finished blooming. To enhance the blue color, use a soil acidifier (garden sulphur). To learn more about hydrangea color, read the article Growing Blue Hydrangeas.
How to Tell the Difference Between Hydrangeas
| panicle hydrangea, PG hydrangea, | Hydrangea paniculata | late winter, before growth begins |
| bigleaf hydrangea, mophead, hortensia, lacecap | Hydrangea macrophylla | after bloom in summer |
| mountain hydrangea, lacecap | Hydrangea serrata | after bloom in summer |
| smooth hydrangea, annabelle, snowball | Hydrangea arborescens | late winter, before growth begins |
| oakleaf hydrangea | Hydrangea quercifolia | after bloom in summer |
| climbing hydrangea | Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris | after bloom in summer |
Presented by Laura from Garden Answer
More ways to tell what you have
- If it blooms blue, it's a hydrangea that should be pruned in late summer, as necessary.
- If it doesn't have blue flowers and it blooms later in the summer (after July 4), it's probably a good candidate for late-winter pruning.
- Still not sure? Ask a good gardener in your neighborhood to help identify your shrub. Another option is to take a photo or bring a sample to a good garden center in your area.
Last updated: 01/24/2021
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Proper hydrangea pruning: the subtleties and nuances of
Lush and proud hydrangea, pleasing to the eye with its luxurious flowers, can decorate any garden. But in order for the bush to look aesthetic and attractive, it needs periodic pruning.
We will tell you when and how to do it, how spring pruning differs from autumn pruning, and how best to do this procedure in autumn.
Timing and types of hydrangea pruning
Hydrangea pruning is carried out both in spring and autumn. Spring is the time for cardinal haircuts and the formation of a bush. And at the end of the season, when nature falls asleep, and the plants are preparing for winter, there is no need to radically cut hydrangeas. Now it is important for us to thin out the bush and free it from diseased, dried and improperly growing shoots.
Autumn pruning is carried out late, usually after leaf fall, because in September the plant changes color and is as beautiful and charming as in summer.
There are several types of correct pruning for hydrangeas.
- Traditional annual pruning in order to obtain a stronger and more abundantly flowering plant.
- Formative pruning, which allows you to give the bush the desired configuration and optimally position the skeletal branches.
- Sanitary cleaning, which is the removal of old and damaged shoots, dry inflorescences.
- Finally, the rejuvenation of hydrangeas with cardinal pruning, which is carried out on aging or badly damaged bushes.
Features of autumn pruning of hydrangeas
Although the main part of the work takes place in the spring, pruning of hydrangeas in the autumn is also obligatory. It is needed in order to divide all the work on the formation and improvement of the plant into two periods. In this case, the hydrangea will endure the entire procedure safely.
When pruning hydrangeas in autumn, you need to pay attention to old, damaged branches, as well as those that grow inside the bush. They are removed, but young shoots are not touched in the fall. Also, shoots are cut almost to the ground, which for some reason were broken in the summer.
The air temperature during this period should be plus 5-10 degrees. For different regions, this is the beginning - the end of October.
The further north the region is located, the more gentle pruning of the plant should be in autumn, since hydrangea does not like severe frosts, and shortened branches will be less protected from cold temperatures. This is especially true of large-leaved hydrangea, which is thermophilic. The remaining species are considered relatively frost-resistant.
Important! It is not customary (especially in cold regions) to carry out autumn pruning of the plant for the first three years, since the seedling needs strength to withstand and survive the adverse winter conditions. During this period, only forced sanitary cleaning is done.
In the southern regions in autumn, you can act more decisively with the expectation of the next year. Experts believe that in warm climates, autumn pruning is even more preferable.
All varieties of hydrangeas have their own specifics for autumn pruning.
Peculiarities of hydrangea pruning by species
All varieties of hydrangeas have their own specifics of autumn pruning.
- Paniculata hydrangea. The shrub blooms on the shoots of the current year, so don't be afraid to accidentally cut off a branch with flower buds. In autumn, you need to remove flower stalks, cut off dry and lodging branches.
- Tree hydrangea. This species also blooms on the current year's shoots. The rules of the autumn haircut coincide with the pruning of the paniculate hydrangea. It is necessary to remove flower stalks, cut out dubious, broken and dry branches.
Let's dwell separately on pruning large-leaved hydrangea. The haircut of this beauty in the fall should be carried out carefully, remembering that she blooms on the shoots of last year. That is, right now we can accidentally cut off all the future beauty.
All the large-leaved hydrangea needs now is the removal of peduncles and unproductive branches. It is necessary to cut out all damaged and dry shoots, because in snowy winters they quickly break and injure the bush. If the branches grow inward or cross, they are also removed.
In northern regions, hydrangeas should be covered after pruning. How to do it right - we will tell in the following publications. In the meantime, we invite you to look at the hydrangeas in our assortment. Large-leaved, paniculate, tree-like, oak-leaved - the choice is very large! The seedlings are delivered in containers and are well tolerated by shipping.
Author of the article: Oksana Artemenko
Published: 21 Sep 2020
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terms, principles, rules and a detailed video from our specialist.
Hydrangea is a versatile shrub that many have been growing in the garden for decades, but not everyone knows how to properly prune hydrangeas, whether the techniques depend on the species, and what time of the year is best to devote time to this process.
Many people ask the question: is it necessary to cut the hydrangea?
If in all the years of the existence of this shrub on your site you have never approached it with a pruner, then we can say with all confidence that you have never seen this particular variety in all its glory! It is the correct pruning that helps abundant flowering, prevents the inflorescences from shrinking and provokes the correct development of the crown.
With timely top dressing and good watering, the very next year after pruning, you literally won’t recognize your hydrangea and will be able to feel all the magic of transformation!
When should hydrangeas be pruned?
Like all fruit or ornamental crops, hydrangea will require attention at a time when the plant has already prepared for winter or when it has not yet had time to wake up after it. There are many opinions about the correct timing for such events, but we recommend pruning twice: in the fall and in the spring. At the end of the summer season, there are already a lot of worries, but it still makes sense to allocate quite a bit of time for your favorite shrub, because in winter, under a decent weight of snow cover, fragile shoots can break or even break. Even if the shrub does not die (and this is possible), then its decorative effect can be seriously affected. Therefore, we make gentle pruning in the fall, and when the snow melts, even before the start of sap flow, we will carefully correct our own sections or even cut them into a kidney.
It is worth mentioning that some people prefer not to cut, but tightly tie the shoots together for the winter, but this is done, as a rule, so that the shoots cut off in the spring can be used as cuttings for propagating shrubs.
Which types of hydrangea should be pruned in autumn and spring?
Only those that bloom on the shoots of the current year. They definitely do not include most varieties of large-leaved hydrangea, which grows twigs for a whole season, so that next year they will be crowned with unearthly beauty inflorescences. By making an autumn or spring pruning of shoots that have not yet bloomed, you will not destroy them, but you will only wait for flowering in a season. Paniculate, tree-like, oak-leaved and rough hydrangeas can be pruned every year, forming a crown and stimulating the growth of new shoots.
Hydrangea pruning in autumn
When the leaves on the shrub have already turned yellow, or maybe they have fallen off, when the charming inflorescences have begun to dry out, changing color to brownish - it's time to take up the pruner! Pruning a tree hydrangea, like pruning a paniculate hydrangea, has the same principle, despite the fact that these species have a different bush shape and grow according to their own rules.
It is important to understand the essence of the process. We simply shorten the shoots to the second, third, fourth or even fifth bud from the base, regardless of whether it grows from a branch or directly from the ground, like a tree hydrangea. The main nuances to consider when pruning hydrangeas:
- we form a neat hemispherical shape of the shrub, for which it is possible to cut the outer shoots a little shorter than those that come out of the middle of the crown;
- it is best to do autumn pruning for 3-4 buds, so that in the spring, in case of damage to the shoot, it would be possible to cut the branch stronger;
- Quite often, at the very base of tree-like hydrangeas, you can see one or even two buds very close to each other. We count the buds for pruning the shoot already above, without taking them into account. Having made a strong pruning of the shrub, we risk waking up these low buds, and then from the very base a strong thickening of the crown can result, which will negatively affect both the health and the decorative effect of the hydrangea.
- if the declared height of the hydrangea bush of your chosen variety is from two to four meters, then the distances between the buds will be large (from 10 to 20 centimeters), which means that pruning can be done on the third, and if necessary, on the second kidney. True, do not forget that adjusting the bush in the spring will be more difficult to do if there are too few buds left.
We have prepared a video of pruning hydrangeas in the fall for clarity, and after watching it, you definitely should not have any questions on this topic.
YouTube video: Hydrangea pruning: timing and rules
In this publication, we have analyzed in detail how to properly cut a hydrangea so that it only pleases with its beauty from year to year, attracting not only your attention, but also the enthusiastic looks of your guests. In fact, if you do not prune this shrub every year, nothing bad will happen to it. The most important thing is to plant in acidified soil, fertilize from time to time and ensure abundant watering.
You can buy hydrangea seedlings directly in our online store or choose the variety you like on the trading floor of our garden center in the Moscow region.
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