I’ve looked online for information on cutting hydrangeas, but I’m still not really sure what I should do. My plants are enormous, and I want to prune them back while preserving this summer’s blooms.
The type of hydrangea you have will determine how you prune it. While Hydrangea paniculata and Hydrangea arborescens produce flowers on growth from the current year, the traditional pompon variety (Hydrangea macrophylla) blooms on growth from the previous year, or what is known as old wood.
As they are the most common, let’s start with the traditional kind. Lacecaps and oakleaves are also a part of this category (H. quercifolia). These hydrangeas only need minor pruning. In fact, shrubs that have been incorrectly clipped may not blossom at all. By removing old flower heads and trimming back any dead wood to the ground level in late winter, you can tidy up the plant. Wait to prune until after the latest frost date if you reside in a location that has erratic springs with warm periods and cold snaps. Cut the faded blooms all the way back to the first set of leaves or leaf buds when pruning. It is a good idea to cut around 1/3 of the oldest stems from a mature shrub if the center has become crowded. While some of the summer’s blossoms may be lost as a result, the plant will be exposed to more light and blood flow, which will make it happier and healthier.
When the plant is shrunk, things become a little more challenging. You are given two choices. The plant can first be pruned back in late winter. The hydrangea won’t blossom until the following year as a result, but I feel that now is a much better time to prune because the shrub’s bones are easier to see. Simply remove about a third of the mature stems. Cut all the stems back to around 1 1/2 feet tall if the plant is entirely out of control. To prevent crowding, thin out the emerging shoots during the summer.
The second choice is to trim your traditional hydrangea as soon as the summer flowering period is through. The plant requires enough time for the new shoots to harden off before the first fall frost, so timing is crucial. For this kind of summer pruning, trim roughly a third off the undesirable height.
Because they bloom on young wood, pruning H. paniculata and H. arborescens is a considerably simpler task.
Popular H. paniculata cultivar “PeeGee” is available. Large cone-shaped, milky white blooms appear in the spring and fall before fading to a lovely coppery pink. PeeGee is sometimes cultivated as a tree or as what is known as a standard. The growth on this one stalk is weeping down from the top. Cut the stems back to two buds above the stem base in the late winter.
In my garden, I cultivate H. arborescens ‘Annabelle’ In the late summer, it blooms in enormous, white pompon-shaped blossoms. Both residents of cold and warm climates might consider “Annabelle.” It is more adaptable than H. macrophylla, which is only hardy to zone 5 and struggles in regions without a dormant season. I just pruned the plant back to various heights of 1 to 3 feet from the ground in late winter. The plant will be able to keep its unstructured shape thanks to this.
How do I deal with an overgrown hydrangea?
Myers believes excessive trimming can be harmful, even though deadheading your hydrangeas can be beneficial for fresh growth. The energy held in the roots of “Annabelle” cultivars will all be used to produce above-ground growth, which is frequently insufficient to support the blooms, according to the author. The older stems can help sustain the new growth while a late winter 15 to 18 inch cutback will promote new development from the roots up.
If chopped, will a hydrangea grow back?
If you have hydrangeas like panicle and smooth hydrangeas, which set bloom buds on current season wood, you can be more liberal about pruning. Winter or fall are the optimum times to prune them. Even if you trim canes to the ground when the bushes are dormant, they will grow back and flower in the spring. However, cutting stems all the way to the ground over time weakens them, so you might need to stake the plants to keep them standing. This severe trimming could eventually make the plant grow back weaker.
How far back can hydrangeas be cut?
Remove up to one-third of the older living stems from the hydrangea each summer, cutting them all the way to the ground. The plant will recover as a result. Before the end of July, if required, prune back the plant to regulate its growth and give the buds time to grow. Usually, the plant grows back to its previous size right away.
What occurs if hydrangeas are planted too closely together?
The most often query we receive when building a hedge is, “How far apart should I space my hydrangeas? The answer to this question relies on a number of variables, including the type of hydrangea you’re using, your location, and the style you want to achieve. As a general rule of thumb, focus on the plant’s width first. For instance, Incrediball smooth hydrangeas (seen above) mature to a height and width of 5 feet. As a result, plants can be planted with their centers 5 feet apart such that they will almost touch as they mature.
You might want to think about planting them a little closer if you don’t want to have to wait too long for your hedge to fill up. Plants can grow to their maximum size over a number of years, and in colder climates, this process might take considerably longer. When they are planted closer together, individual plants will eventually touch and overlap. The end product is a beautiful wall of blooms and greenery that is difficult to resist!
Although it may be tempting, be careful not to plant them too closely together. As a result of the restricted airflow caused by their near proximity, disease is more common. Maintain a sufficient distance between plants to allow for airflow and healthy plants (and happy gardeners). On every one of our plant pages, under the “additional information” heading in the “how to grow” tab, are spacing suggestions. You can put Incrediball hydrangeas 3 feet apart if you choose. However, it is recommended that they be planted 3-5 feet apart.
Depending on the plant spacing, you’ll need a certain number of plants for your hedge. To estimate how many plants you need for your area, try using our plant calculator!
When should hydrangea cuttings be taken?
Late July is the ideal time to take hydrangea cuttings. These cuttings are semi-ripe, which indicates that they come from the growth of the current season, yet they are old enough to have a woody base but are still soft at the tip. When the cuttings are added to compost, the woody foundation keeps them from decomposing.
How to take hydrangea cuttings
Use secateurs to gather material from the hydrangea stems and a knife to trim each cutting when taking hydrangea cuttings. You must place hydrangea cuttings into a pot of grittier compost because water cannot be used to proliferate them due to their woody nature. To keep your cuttings moist until the roots have formed, keep them in a propagator (usually after about six weeks). Winter in a frigid frame or anything comparable. Then, plant the cuttings when they begin to grow in the spring.
Can I relocate my hydrangeas yet?
The majority of people are aware that “transplanting” refers to the act of digging a plant up and planting it in another spot.
The BEST TIME to transplant hydrangeas, according to experts, is when they are dormant, or after the majority of their leaves have dropped. Hydrangeas were transplanted when I lived in South Carolina in late November or early December, but if your ground isn’t frozen, January or February work just as well.
Are you able to mold a hydrangea bush?
In the late winter, early spring, or just above a big bud known as a heading cut, trim back stems. The flower heads of these plants have a conical form. I wait to prune these until late winter or spring because I advise leaving the dried, tan flower heads on the plant to add some winter beauty to your garden. Favorite panicle hydrangeas include:
- H. paniculata ‘Bulk’ PP16, 812, Quick Fire
- (H. paniculata ‘Limelight’)
- Berry White (H. paniculata ‘Renba’ PP28, 509) first editions
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.
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A mature hydrangea can it be divided?
A hydrangea’s roots shoot can be cut off from the mother plant and planted somewhere to produce a new (and free) hydrangea.
Q: In front of my house, there is a really enormous hydrangea. It receives morning sun and is flourishing. I want to split it in half and move a piece of it to another area of my yard. Can you divide hydrangeas? If so, when would be the ideal time to do it? Do they thrive in the shade?
A: Hydrangeas are an exception to the rule that not many shrubs may be divided like perennial flowers, and they are probably one of the simplest to “create kids” this way. Comparable to splitting a perennial flower, the procedure.
The greatest option is to search for shoots that are poking through the plant’s outermost layer. These shoots typically have their own healthy underground root system at their base a year or two after they first appear.
Sever the stalk with a spade to check for a piece with roots. If you succeed, you will have a young plant that is prepared for replanting.
This type of viable perimeter shoot is common on mature hydrangeas, and it can be dug up and divided. It’s the major method by which hydrangeas increase their range.
Whole hydrangea plants can be pulled up and divided into two or more parts if you don’t notice any shoots or are obtaining portions with no roots.
Look for naturally occurring divisions in the root ball, such as intersections where the main stems are protruding. A wishbone from a turkey can sometimes be separated by simply pulling apart the parts. To divide the plant, you could occasionally require a fork or a shovel.
In either case, you now have two plants to replant once you have two sections with roots connected to each.
Early spring is the ideal time to divide bigleaf hydrangeas, when the stems’ fresh green buds are just beginning to swell and unfold. A few while ago, that was. Mid to late October is an excellent period as well.
Treat divisions like a fresh plant by keeping them continually wet. These divisions’ smaller, weaker roots can’t draw as much moisture from the soil as a mature hydrangea’s large, well-established root system.
Your hydrangea’s placement in the early-morning sun is ideal. The majority of hydrangea varieties thrive in rich, moist soil with good drainage that receives early and afternoon shade.
Although they will live in heavy shade, they might not bloom at all or only slightly. Choose the native smooth hydrangeas, botanically known as Hydrangea arborescens, for heavy shade.
By the way, another question I’ve been getting lately is how hydrangeas will fair after many of their new leaves were destroyed by the almost record-breaking cold weather we experienced the third week of April.
Only the young leaves sustained the harm that I saw. In June, I predict that fresh leaves will emerge and the flower buds will unfold gracefully.
The flower buds weren’t developed enough, in my opinion, for the late cold blast to cause them significant harm.
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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.
Can hydrangeas be cut all the way down in the fall?
Maintaining your hydrangea can greatly impact its blooms the next year. When given enough time and the right care, hydrangeas are resilient and can recover from virtually anything.
See our comprehensive growth guide for hydrangeas here after reading the fall maintenance advice below!
Because some hydrangea kinds do not like to be clipped in the fall, it is crucial to first identify your variety.
If you have hydrangeas in your garden, you should be aware that there are two different varieties. Both types develop blossom buds, one on new wood and the other on old wood. If a stem has remained on the plant since the previous summer, it is referred to as old wood. Stems that form this season are considered new wood. The majority of hydrangea species that are found in gardens are old wood bloomers, including as Mophead, Big Leaf, Lacecap, and Oakleaf types. Check your variety once more at the neighborhood garden center.
Hydrangeas can grow for many years without being pruned, but it’s time to cut them if they become unkempt, take over a portion of the garden, or stop producing new growth. But when should they be pruned?
After the summer blooms on old wood bloomers or fall blooming hydrangeas, prune them. Old, woody hydrangeas that are pruned in the fall will not bloom the following season.
Hydrangeas that bloom in the summer or those that do so on fresh wood are clipped in the fall, after their flowering season has ended.
Early in the season, hydrangeas are brilliant and colorful, but they are difficult to preserve after being cut. Once they begin to dry on the bush, they are simpler to maintain.
Your plant will have weak, wispy growth near the bottom. Reduce them. They will consume energy that could be used by your plant to produce blossoms.
On your stems, look for any dead stumps. They won’t have sprung any buds or new wood from the original old wood. To totally remove the dead stumps, cut them to the ground at the base. This will give the new growth below a chance to flourish.
To make way for new buds to emerge, old and dead blossoms must be eliminated. To promote flowers for the following summer, remove the flower head immediately above the first few leaves.
Observe the plant’s shape from a distance. The shrub should be pruned into the shape you desire; a spherical is the traditional shape, but you can prune it however you like!
Clean up any leftover debris from the plant’s foundation. Make sure your soil is devoid of all weeds, dead flowers, and leaves.
Feed your blue hydrangeas with Holly-tone to maintain acidic soil and vibrant flowers. Alternatively, choose Flower-tone.
Feed your hydrangeas two to three times each week from spring till fall for the greatest results.
Your hydrangeas will remain healthy and vibrant for many years if you follow these simple instructions.