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
What occurs if your hydrangeas aren’t pruned?
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.
When ought hydrangeas to 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.
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After the winter, what should you do with hydrangeas?
Hydrangeas are stunning flowering plants with showy flowers that provide color and drama to the summer garden, but if they don’t receive the right care and attention, they may be finicky. Late winter hydrangea care must be done correctly. Disappointment might result from improper pruning, other typical blunders, challenging weather, and more. Fortunately, my radio guest this week, Lorraine Ballato, is an authority in hydrangeas who can assist you in overcoming the most difficult hydrangea problems.
Lorraine is a hydrangea expert, lecturer, writer, and photographer who specializes in gardens. In fact, she wrote the book Success with Hydrangeas: A Gardener’s Guide on hydrangea maintenance. She claims that hydrangeas are one of those plants that have a bit of a diva complex and are picky about how gardeners care for them. She advises gardeners to remember that what works in one area won’t necessarily be the ideal strategy in another. The ideal winter care for a hydrangea in Washington may be the worst possible care for one in North Carolina. And various hydrangea kinds have varied requirements, she continues.
Hydrangea Care in Deer Country
In zone 5b, where Lorraine resides, March is a chilly month. There are two to three feet of snow on the ground, and she can see deer footprints there, indicating that they are out grazing.
“If you live anywhere near deer habitat, Lorraine advises that you get outside and spray as soon as it warms up and becomes dry since this is the time of year when they really start to destroy everything. Before all the snow melts and before the does give birth, you may teach the deer that your garden is not their salad bar. The deer are hungry and pregnant. Don’t wait; the does will teach the fawns where to eat.
When using sprays, make sure you are facing the wind “Lorraine advises, and she means it, “You don’t want to be downwind of any deer spray that you use.” Any clothing you are wearing should be washed as soon as you are through spraying.
There are systemic deer repellents in addition to spray repellents. When plants are actively growing, systemics are sprayed. Through their roots, the plants absorb substances like denatonium benzoate, which gives the leaves a harsh flavor that keeps deer away. These can be used on ornamental plants but are not intended for food crops.
I live in zone 7b, where dormant plants will soon begin to leaf out, which is simply food for deer. I don’t have deer fences on my land, therefore my family of 13 deer feel free to roam about. You can listen to my chat with landscape design expert Karen Chapman about how she keeps deer away from the plants on her remote property in the Pacific Northwest for fence-free ideas to avoid deer from devouring your food garden and beautiful plants.
These 13 deer like my fence-free land and will soon be enjoying the dormant shrubs that are just beginning to leaf out. Here are a few of them.
Prepare Before Pruning
Make sure you have the appropriate instruments for the job, that they are all sharp and clean, before beginning to prune shrubs. Cutting can spread infections that were on tools that had contact with infected plant material the previous year.
In order to avoid the spread of diseases, Lorraine also suggests cleaning pruning equipment thoroughly before and after each plant. She uses rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle or antiseptic wipes. She does not advise using bleach because it will corrode metal surfaces.
Pruners come in two varieties, each of which is used for a distinct job. With a motion similar to a pair of scissors, a bypass pruner passes its blades by one another. A dull side of an anvil pruner is crushed by a sharp blade that presses down on it.
Anything that is alive should be chopped with a bypass pruner. Lorraine advises cutting at a 45-degree angle since it will result in a good, clean cut. Deadwood can be cut using an anvil pruner in the meanwhile. She cautions that using one on live wood will damage the plant.
Give anything that is alive a nice, clean cut with a bypass pruner. To cut, Lorraine advises a 45-degree angle. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Bear in mind that although appearing to be dead, branches are actually alive. Some gardeners make the error of believing the top growth on their hydrangeas is completely dead, so they chop it all the way down. According to Lorraine, they pulled off all of the flower buds that were going to bloom that year, which is how they end up with a green bush devoid of blooms.
The scratch test is what Lorraine employs to determine whether a plant component is alive or dead: If the stem turns green after being scratched, it is alive. It is dead if the urine turns brown.
To see if a stem is still green, use the scratch test. It is dead if the urine turns brown. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
According to Lorraine, every cut a gardener makes will encourage new growth. In the spring, pruning before the temperature has warmed up can make a plant wake up too early. That will deprive the plant of the energy it needs to really emerge from hibernation, and the new growth will be more susceptible to the cold. The plant will be more vulnerable to pests and disease if it dies back.
Take care of that decayed, ill, or damaged wood if you’re in a warmer climate, Lorraine advises. If you don’t feel like pruning right now, she suggests going fishing instead.
Even on a 50-degree day, according to Lorraine, ice, snow, and cutting instruments don’t mix. The wait will benefit the plants the most, and it is not worth the risk.
Hydrangeas shouldn’t be pruned before the last date of the last frost since pruning encourages development, and new growth is readily harmed in cold weather. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
New-Wood Hydrangeas and Old-Wood Hydrangeas
Not all hydrangeas grow in the same ways. Some flower on the fresh growth of the year, whilst old-wood varieties flower on the growth of the year before.
A fresh-wood hydrangea will develop new buds and then bloom if you prune it in the spring. However, spring trimming on an old-wood hydrangea will eliminate the flower buds, so the plant won’t bloom that year. If you must prune old-wood varieties, do so as soon as their summer flowering buds appear. Search for the “broccoli, claims Lorraine. That is how buds appear as they approach blossoming. Leave the broccoli alone and only remove obviously sick or dead wood.
On an old-wood kind, the buds start to resemble broccoli as they get closer to blossoming. Only remove sick or dead wood, leaving the healthy wood alone “broccoli unbroken. The red-circled bud is dead and can be removed without risk. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Clues to Identify Hydrangeas
Some examples of new-wood hydrangeas include panicle hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata), such as Limelight, and woodland or smooth hydrangeas (Hydrangea arborescens), such as Annabelle, Incrediball, and Invincibelle. However, you might not be familiar with the name of the hydrangeas you have if you didn’t choose them yourself. Perhaps you received plants when you moved into a new home. In that situation, Lorraine advises against taking any action the first year, saying that it is best to wait until you have a firm grasp of your garden’s capabilities.
A significant focal point in the landscape, this Hydrangea paniculata “Tardiva” has been trimmed into a tree form. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
To tell if a hydrangea blooms on fresh wood or old wood, there are a few signs to watch for. For instance, a panicle hydrangea, a new-wood type, may have conical-shaped blooms, but it’s also important to check at the foliage. Hydrangea quercifolia, popularly known as oakleaf hydrangea, is an old-wood bloomer that can also produce conical blooms.
The conical-shaped Snow Queen hydrangea blooms on mature growth and has oak-leaf shaped leaves. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Bigleaf hydrangeas are always going to be blue or turn blue when exposed to a soil acidifier (Hydrangea macrophylla). The Endless Summer kinds of bigleaf hydrangeas bloom on both old wood and new growth, unlike most of them which only bloom on old wood.
Bigleaf hydrangeas with mopheads, or pink pompom blossoms, are sometimes mistaken for mountain hydrangeas (Hydrangea serrata). On aged wood, mountain hydrangeas bloom.
The hydrangea serrata “Blue Billow” is more than merely lovely. Additionally, it is the hydrangea kind that tolerates shadow the best. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Lacecap (flat) blooms on hydrangeas could indicate either a mountain or a bigleaf variety, therefore they are insufficient justification for taking action. To get a better sense, Lorraine advises looking at the foliage, or spending the season watching the plant and noting when it flowers and how it grows. Does it alter its color? Can it bloom again?
Japanese highlands are the source of mountain hydrangeas, which are more resilient. Even in years when it was too cold for other types to blossom, they can.
Mountain or bigleaf hydrangeas with lacecap (flat) blooms are both possible. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
How to Care for a Reblooming Hydrangea
Rebloomers should not be pruned at the beginning of spring; instead, treat them like old-wood-only hydrangeas. However, there is a way to promote additional blooms because they have the ability to set out flower buds for that season on new growth as well. Cutting off the dead stem tips will allow growth hormones to migrate up the plant when the terminal flower, which is the blossom at the stem’s tip, dies. Flowers will then grow up the stem’s sides.
Reblooming hydrangeas should be treated as old-wood-only hydrangeas and shouldn’t be pruned in the early spring. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Lorraine claims that flower buds on old wood simply won’t survive the winter in extremely cold places, like Minnesota. The correct course of action in those situations is to remove the rebloomers from the garden in April or early May and promote new growth that will bloom later, in mid-July or August.
If cold-climate gardeners grow hydrangeas that only produce new buds once a year, they might never see flowers. Reblooming or continuously blooming hydrangeas are the best option for colder climates because of this, in Lorraine’s opinion. (Blue Enchantress is her favorite prolific rebloomer.)
A rebloomer is a blue enchantress hydrangea, for instance. When the stem’s tip is clipped, fresh flower buds will grow up it. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Sun, Shade and Hydrangeas
In the past, hydrangeas were not sun-tolerant. Some more recent cultivars can survive full sun, but only to a certain extent.
According to Lorraine, it is not possible to grow bigleaf, mountain, oakleaf, and climbing hydrangeas in full light in the South. They’ll burn up. The panicle hydrangea, which adores the sun, is the only variety of hydrangea that can tolerate full light wherever it grows.
Bigleaf and mountain hydrangeas thrive in partial sunlight, ideally in the morning.
Typically, hydrangeas thrive in partial sun. Hydrangeas can burn in full sun, particularly in the South. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Wind and Hydrangeas
Lorraine claimed that it took her almost ten years to realize how crucial it is to shield hydrangeas from wind in a chilly region. A fence, a shed, or a tree or plant with winter-enduring foliage, such as an azalea or rhododendron, will shield the cold winds that damage flower buds.
It’s crucial to provide hydrangeas with winter wind protection, whether it be in the form of a fence, a shed, or a plant with evergreen foliage. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Watering Hydrangeas Without Drowning Them
Gardeners frequently flood the area with water as hydrangea foliage starts to wilt in the midday sun. Instead, Lorraine advises taking a break and coming back later. If the soil is properly amended with plenty of compost and a thick layer of mulch, the foliage will rehydrate and perk back up after the sun has been off the plants for a bit.
A plant can temporarily shelter itself from the hot sun by collapsing its leaf. Hours later, there may be a problem if the foliage has not revived. Other plants might be absorbing the water more quickly than the hydrangea can, or the soil may not be storing moisture.
Plants use droopy leaves as a defense against the intense sun. Wait a few hours before dousing it in water; the foliage will revive spontaneously after that. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Propagate Hydrangeas Through Layering
A stem that touches the ground provides a chance for hydrangeas to be easily propagated. It’s possible that anything hindered the stem’s growth or that it became too heavy. It is ready to be divided into a new plant for any cause.
Give the stem’s underside a cut in the spring, then place a rock on top to weigh it down and keep it in contact with the ground. Give it a tug in July to uncover all the roots that have emerged from the cut. You now have a rooted slice that is prepared for transplantation.
If a stem is in contact with the ground, layering can be used to create new plants. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Controlling the Color of Hydrangeas with pH
Although not all hydrangeas can change color, those that can are affected by the soil’s pH. Higher pH soil is more alkaline, and lower pH soil is more acidic. Pink blooms will grow in soil with a pH between 6.0 and 6.2, whereas blue blooms will grow in soil with a pH between 5.2 and 5.5.
The acid itself does not cause flowers to turn blue. Instead, hydrangeas can more easily absorb aluminum from the soil when the soil is acidic.
Hydrangeas in foundation plantings that were blue when they were brought home from the nursery would quickly turn pink because foundations and sidewalks both leach lime into the soil, making it more alkaline.
The pH of the soil affects the color of some varieties of hydrangea blooms. Pink blossoms grow in soil with a pH between 6.0 and 6.2. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Before haphazardly adding solid amendments or fertilizer to raise or lower pH, Lorraine advises conducting a soil test to ascertain the pH and any nutrient deficits. For instance, holly-tone includes numerous nutrients that hydrangeas don’t require, but may increase the soil’s acidity and the color of the blossoms.
Because acidic soil makes it easier for hydrangeas to absorb aluminum, soil with a pH of 5.2–5.5 will result in blue blooms. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.
Only lacecap and mophead hydrangeas undergo color change. No matter the pH, hydrangeas in any shape, including white ones, will retain their original bloom color. Mathilda Gutges, a mophead bigleaf hydrangea that becomes deep purple instead of blue in acidic soil, is one new color-changing variation to take note of.
No matter the pH, white hydrangeas won’t change their bloom color. Lorraine Ballato is pictured.