Hydrangea quick quotes4/16/2023 The shrub then has ample time to set new growth and harden off before winter. The best time to cut back a bigleaf hydrangea is just after it is done blooming. But if your hydrangea isn’t blooming, poorly timed pruning is often the culprit. Many newer varieties actually produce buds on old and new wood, so pruning too early doesn’t stop the whole show, just a good portion of it. If you prune them before they flower, you will be removing the flower buds. Bigleaf hydrangeas grow just fine without any pruning, and making your cuts at the wrong time can actually remove the flower buds you are hoping to get.īigleaf hydrangeas typically bloom on old wood, meaning the flower buds are on the growth produced the previous season. Some gardeners also think that cutting back their hydrangea might make it bloom. The thought is often that, because they are shrubs, they must need to be pruned. And it seems that almost everybody who grows these flowering shrubs has questions about pruning them. Watch a video on pruning bigleaf hydrangeasĪlmost everybody is enchanted by the large, mophead blooms of bigleaf hydrangea ( Hydrangea macrophylla and cvs., Zones 4–9). The same method can keep a shrub from getting too tall by targeting the tallest canes for removal. Regular removal of a few of the oldest canes at the soil line can keep the shrub vigorous, producing large and abundant flowers. When a hydrangea gets old and woody, it can produce smaller blooms. To improve vigor, remove the oldest canes Gardeners who want to maintain a tidy appearance can snip off spent blooms just below the flower head and remove any wayward or straggly canes at the soil line.Ģ. Often, the earlier you get it done after bloom, the quicker the shrub can recover, producing more and larger blooms next season. To reduce the risk of removing these buds, prune just as the flowers begin to fade. These shrubs form next year’s flower buds in late summer or early fall as the days get shorter and temperatures cool off. Shrubs with this characteristic generally begin blooming in early summer and peter out by midsummer, though sporadic blooms may appear afterward. To determine if your hydrangea blooms on old wood, think about when it flowers. Prune after the flowers start to fade in late summer Bigleaf hydrangeas ( Hydrangea macrophylla cvs., USDA Hardiness Zones 6–9).Learn how to cut back and trim the most popular trees and shrubs in our Guide to Pr uning. There must be more than one hydrangea growing in your garden.Wondering about overwintering hydrangeas?.Is your hydrangea not blooming? Learn to get bigger and better blooms from your hydrangeas.Others bloom on new growth and should be pruned before they wake up in spring or as they are going dormant in fall. Those that bloom on old growth should only be pruned after flowering. Not all of these shrubs should be pruned at the same time. Pruning hydrangeas can also improve a shrub’s vigor and increase the size of its flowers. For example, you may not like the look of the fading blooms, or your shrub may be a bit too tall. Hydrangeas, though, can handle pruning (which, if done at the wrong time, may be the cause for the lack of flowers), and sometimes you might want or need to cut them back a bit. But these popular woody plants can live long, floriferous lives without ever feeling the cold blade of a pair of Felcos. The three most common reasons for their confusion are the plant’s dead-looking appearance in winter, its failure to bloom in summer, and the reasoning that because it’s a shrub it needs to be pruned. I know people are confused about how to prune hydrangeas because I get asked about it all the time.
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