28 September 2020
You don’t have to stop appreciating your hydrangeas because October has arrived! You can complete a variety of duties in the fall, such as pruning, flower trimming, and general cleaning. What you can do with your hydrangeas in fall depends on the type of hydrangeas you have or would like to have in your garden or landscape.
Drying the Blooms
Deadheading and pruning are not the same thing. The various trimming requirements that each hydrangea type has are covered here. Deadheading is necessary to get that lovely, organic home décor, though it just costs you the time it takes to remove the spent blooms and dry them.
It’s crucial that you wait to cut the blooms now if they’re still vibrant and active. During the winter, this can impede growth and lead to possible issues. It’s vital to let blooms start drying on the plant even if you might be tempted to cut them off at the height of their color, according to Southern Living. When the petals start to get less lush and perky, it’s time to clip the blooms. The best chance for further fall-themed hues will be provided by waiting until they have dried on the plant.
The easiest approach to preserve the color of your cut hydrangeas is to leave some of the stem on them, place them in a vase or jar of water first, and then let them sit there until they are completely dry. Avoid placing these cuttings in direct sunlight for the best outcomes. In contrast to other cut flowers, you may simply let the water evaporate without having to refresh it. If the blossoms have not yet dried, only add additional water.
You can display your dried hydrangea blooms in numerous ways. On the long stems, you can leave them in a vase. Another choice is to trim the stems to a few inches below the bloom and arrange them in a centerpiece or small container with other elements, such as pinecones, to create a little (or huge) decorative item for a tabletop arrangement. Even wreaths can be made with them!
Pruning
As was already mentioned, your favorite flowering shrubs can benefit from deadheading and dead wooding your hydrangeas at any time of year. By removing spent blooms, stems, and foliage, you can improve ventilation, let more light into the plant, and prevent dead plant clusters from obstructing the root system’s ability to absorb water.
Although there are numerous varieties of these flowering bushes, hydrangeas are divided into two groups. There are hydrangeas that flower on both new and ancient wood. As stated by Espoma, “Old, woody hydrangeas that are pruned in the fall will not bloom the following season. We have personally witnessed this. While the foliage on your hydrangea will be gorgeous, it won’t bloom completely the next year, so that wonderful pop of color won’t be present. Hydrangeas with new wood that bloom can be pruned as soon as they do, usually in late summer or very early fall (essentially up until the autumnal equinox depending on how long the weather stays warm).
Serrata Hydrangeas and Macrophylla Hydrangeas, sometimes known as bigleaf, mophead, or lacecaps, do not like to be pruned thus late in the season (late September). This poses a threat to both their ability to grow and endure the winter. Pruning late in the fall, according per Missouri Botanical Gardens (or MOBot), results in them “not reach the right level of maturity. In the late summer, this variety’s blossoms need to be trimmed (August). You can prune them when the blossoms have faded. Simply cutting the flowers shouldn’t cause any harm if your blossoms have lasted further into the season than usual. For Macrophylla and Serrata Hydrangeas, severe trimming should be avoided at this time.
Our garden center provides a number of different Macrophylla Hydrangea varieties, including:
- Bloomstruck
- Bride in Blush
- Continual Summer
- Bright Embers
- Paris Cityline
- Dance to Blue Jangles
- Preziosa
- Everlasting Revolution
We offer the following Serrata Hydrangea varieties:
- Tiny Tuff Red Stuff
- Tiny Tough Stuff Pink/Blue
The Arborescens Hydrangea is another kind of hydrangea that can be grown in Missouri (or smooth hydrangea). The size of these white blossoms is what makes them famous. If this hydrangea is still young (less than 3 feet), it can be pruned back to the ground in the winter or the first few weeks of spring. If a larger shrub shape is preferred (existing at 3 feet or more), less severe trimming is required. MOBot does advise completely cutting back part of the stems to the ground, though.
The following are benefits of Arborescens Hydrangeas:
- Annabelle
- Incrediball
- Invincibelle
- Indestructible Spirit
- White Invincibelle
Panicle hydrangeas may really glow in the fall! Panicle blooms range from bright white to extremely pale pink over the summer. However, they turn mauve and pink in the fall. See our extract below on Panicle hydrangeas’ propensity for changing color! These hydrangeas can be clipped as part of their care regimen in the late winter or early spring. It does, however, respond well to deadheading. Thinning out the growth from the previous season and removing any dead branches are all parts of pruning these. Hydrangea panicles are fresh wood bloomers. This plant’s blossoms usually dry out in the fall, but they still have gorgeous pink hue for prolonged seasonal color.
We plant several varieties of panicle hydrangeas, including:
- Dwarf Bobo
- Sweet Apple
- Little Jane Lime
- Limelight (Also available in tree form)
- Baby Lamb
- A Few Quick Shots
- Phantom
- A pinky-winky (Also available in tree form)
- Rapid Fire (Also available in tree form)
- Sunday Strawberry Day
- Espresso Strawberry
Quercifolia Hydrangeas are yet another well-liked type (also known as oakleaf). This cultivar is renowned for its spectacular fall foliage. Oakleaf hydrangeas are turning right now, just like ours at the nursery, if you have any in your yard. Early April is the time for pruning. The ancient wood blooming oakleaf is another.
We have the following kinds of quercifolia hydrangeas:
- Alice
- Miniature Dwarf
- Little Dwarf
- Dwarf Ruby Slippers
- Snowflake
- Snowqueen
- Dwarf Sykes
The Anomala Hydrangea, commonly referred to as climbing hydrangeas, comes last. This hydrangea produces its blooms atop aged wood. They have lacy white blooms. The dried flowers in the fall have a reddish-brown tint, displaying fall color. This hydrangea should be planted in a more protected area for the best results. In order to prune plants, they must be dormant, which occurs in late winter or very early spring.
The only variation of Anomala Hydrangea we carry is the hardiest kind for St. Louis, which is:
Petiolaris
Want to Know More?
No of the variety, hydrangeas are such a wonderful plant! They are the ideal flash of color for creating a hedge, a statement plant, or a cluster! These flowering shrubs are adaptable when it comes to integrating them into a huge landscape setting or a small shade garden because the majority of the categories offer a dwarf variety.
Visit our garden center to see our hydrangeas in their beautiful fall colors and to plant your own this weekend while the weather is still ideal.
Need assistance from a designer to plan your hydrangea-filled flower garden or landscape? For a consultation and a free estimate, contact the company office right away.
If you need assistance with caring for your hydrangeas and other garden plants, our maintenance crew can create a special lawn & shrub care plan for your environment.
When should hydrangeas be pruned?
Depending on which group the plant belongs to, the timing and extent of pruning are determined:
Advice on Pruning for Group 1:
- As the days get shorter and the weather gets colder in the late summer and fall, buds for the following year’s blooms start to form.
- Typically, removing dead, diseased, or damaged branches is all that is required to preserve shape, size, and a healthy plant. Otherwise, gentle pruning ought to be practiced.
- In the summer, trimming should begin as soon as flowering ends, but no later than August 1. Pruning should not be done in the fall, winter, or spring because you risk removing fresh buds.
- Tip-pruning the branches in the spring as the leaves begin to appear can promote more numerous, smaller flower heads as opposed to fewer, larger flower heads.
Advice on Pruning for Group 2:
- On the growth of the current year, flower buds form.
- Early in the spring, as the leaves are starting to emerge, prune.
- Just above a node, prune branches back by half to a third.
- After that, prune any fragile or spindly branches.
- Minimal trimming encourages huge, strong bushes with many of tiny flower heads in H. arborescens. Hard pruning between 12 and 18 inches from the ground, or even all the way down, will result in fewer but larger flower heads that may flop if unsupported.
- For H. paniculata, remove the surrounding smaller wood while leaving the larger stems in order to establish a sturdy foundation.
Pruning may be connected to flower head size. Shoots will grow more vigorously and flower heads will be bigger and fewer with more rigorous trimming. Smaller but more numerous flower heads may result from less aggressive or tip pruning.
Consideration of hydrangeas’ mature size is the best piece of advise. Place them in a location where they won’t outgrow and won’t need a lot of pruning to keep them in check. Hydrangeas don’t need to be pruned precisely or often; as long as dead wood is removed, they will remain healthy and continue to develop and bloom.
Cut back these shrubs in late winter before new growth begins
Shrubs that flower on young wood typically start blooming later than old-growth bloomers, beginning in June and continuing until the first frost, because they need to grow and set buds the same year that they bloom. As long as you avoid trimming when the flower buds are opening, these shrubs are understanding if it is not done at a specific period.
1. Trim the flowers all the way back for larger blooms.
These bushes can be completely removed from the ground in late winter or the beginning of spring. If cut severely like this every year, smooth hydrangeas will produce much larger flowers, but many gardeners prefer smaller blooms on stronger stems.
2. Maintain an old growth foundation to lessen flopping
Especially after watering from above or after a heavy storm, the branches of some hydrangeas frequently topple over from the weight of their blooms. Cutting the stems to a height of 18 to 24 inches will help to reduce this flopping by creating a strong framework for fresh growth.
Janet Carson is the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service’s horticulture specialist.
Receive our most recent advice, training, and tutorial videos in your inbox.
Should hydrangeas be pruned annually?
Only prune these hydrangeas in the summer after bloom, not in the fall. In August and September, old wood hydrangeas begin to form their bloom buds for the following year. It is advisable to delay pruning your hydrangeas until the following year if you don’t do it right away. If not, there won’t be any blossoms the next spring.
Should hydrangeas be pruned back during the winter?
If and when you prune is the key to happy, healthy hydrangea flowers. Of course, fertilizing and offering the ideal environment have a lot to recommend them. However, if you don’t prune properly, your efforts will be in vain. Deadheading is not the same as trimming. Pruning refers to more drastic cutting to preserve shape or remove dead growth. However, feel free to discard spent blossoms or cut fresh ones to use in arrangements.
Hydrangeas can bloom on either fresh wood or old wood, depending on the species. The wood from which they blossom determines whether and when to prune.
Old wood-blooming hydrangeas do not require pruning and benefit from it. They’ll blossom more abundantly the next season if you leave them alone. But feel free to deadhead or gently thin. Just keep in mind that while new growth may appear, it won’t bloom until the following season. In our region, four different species blossom on aged wood. Additionally, they are not limited to the hues displayed here.
Climb using suckers. On your wall or trellis, resist the desire to remove the dormant growth.
The flower heads are more conical in appearance, and the leaves are large and resemble oak leaves. It’s a pleasant surprise for a hydrangea when its leaves turn reddish-orange in the fall.
They are very comparable to lacecap types, but smaller and with more compact leaves.
Pruning should be done in late winter or early spring on hydrangeas that bloom on new wood. Trim back to two feet to prune to shape. The next season’s blossoms are produced by strong, fresh growth that is encouraged by trimming. In our region, there are two types that bloom on fresh wood. They are also not restricted to the colors displayed.
Oakleaf variants are not included in cone-shaped blooms. Keep the blooms on throughout the winter to provide interest; even dried out, they are quite lovely.
regarded as a wild kind. They often have smaller blooms and leaves than Bigleaf variants and are completely white. They enjoy full sun and can grow very tall.
Knowing whether or when to prune now will help you avoid the disappointment of a hydrangea that doesn’t blossom. Don’t forget that a robust shrub will produce more gorgeous blossoms if it has well-draining soil and good organic fertilizer. Come on in, and we’ll show you where to go to develop your green thumb.
Should I remove the brown blooms on my hydrangea?
Your hydrangea shrubs’ blossoms appear to be withering or turning brown. No need to worry—this is merely a signal that it’s time to deadhead—remove the blossoms from the plant.
Deadheading hydrangeas doesn’t cause any damage to the plants at all. Flowering shrubs stop producing seeds when the spent blooms are removed, and instead focus their efforts on developing their roots and leaves. You will be doing your hydrangeas a favor by deadheading because this strengthens and makes plants healthier.