Do all hydrangeas need annual pruning?
Written by
Paul Reynolds
Reviewed by
Prof. Charles Hartman, Ph.D.Not every hydrangea requires yearly pruning. Old wood bloomers, such as bigleaf hydrangeas, do better with very little cutting -- simply deadhead the spent flowers, and leave the stems intact. One of my clients had a mountain hydrangea, and I spared it from heavy pruning, allowing its cascading blooms to be preserved. Your shears ought to cooperate with the plant's habit.
Old Wood Varieties
- Deadhead after blooms fade in summer
- Remove only dead/damaged stems in spring
- Avoid cutting healthy green wood
New Wood Varieties
- Annual late winter pruning shapes plants
- Cut panicle hydrangeas back by one-third
- Hard prune smooth hydrangeas to 12"
"Reblooming hybrids" (e.g. Endless Summer) redefine the rules: cut first blooms in June to provoke a second bloom, but don't remove fall buds that are left from last year. Last August I had a client remove 30% of finished blooms, their hydrangeas bloomed through November's frost. Precision is better than over kill.
Read the full article: When to Prune Hydrangeas: A Step-by-Step Guide
