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Community Corner

How To Prune Hydrangeas

Answering The Age-Old Question: 'So When Do I Prune My Hydrangea?'

By far, the number one question I am asked by my clients has to do with pruning their hydrangeas. are a mainstay of many Connecticut gardens but there is lots of confusion among gardeners as to the proper method and timing of pruning them. Pruning hydrangeas is quite simple, once you know the type of hydrangea you have.

It’s easy to figure out what variety of hydrangea you are growing in your garden. If your hydrangea has big blue(or sometimes pink or purple depending on your soil pH) flowers that can be either rounded or flat and lacy, then you are growing a bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla).  If your hydrangea’s flowers are round and white, or even pale pink in the case of a new cultivar Invincibelle Spirit, then you are growing a native smoothleaf hydrangea (H. arborescens). And if your hydrangea has large, conical flowers that start out white and fade to pink, then you are growing either a panicle (H. paniculata) or an oakleaf (H. quercifolia) hydrangea. An oakleaf hydrangea is also easily identified by its large leaves that resemble those of an oak tree.

Pruning Bigleaf and Oakleaf Hydrangeas

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Bigleaf and oakleaf hydrangeas bloom on ‘old wood’ or branches that have been part of the shrub for at least one year. These hydrangeas begin to produce their flower buds now for next summer’s flowers. So if you prune them after July, you’ll be pruning off most, if not all, of next summer’s flowers.

The good news is bigleaf and oakleaf hydrangeas really do not require much pruning. If you want to prune to control size, just remember to do it right after the flowers have faded. You can remove dead stems and spent flowers at any time.

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There is a new group of bigleaf hydrangea advertised as re-blooming, meaning they bloom on old wood and new wood. While these new cultivars, such as H. ‘Endless Summer’, can take some of the guesswork out of pruning, it’s still safe to limit pruning after July so that you have some early flowers next summer.

Pruning Smoothleaf and Panicle Hydrangeas

Both smoothleaf and panicle hydrangeas bloom on new wood, and branches produced in the current growing season. That means they are much more forgiving when it comes to pruning. You can cut them almost right back to the ground in late fall, late winter or early spring. Pruning encourages new growth, which results in a better flower display in the summer.

In the case of panicle hydrangeas, many cultivars can be quite large. Cutting them back to groundlevel is an excellent way to control their size. Or, if you’d like to have a taller plant, just cut it back to about 3-feet. Either way, you’ll have a healthy plant that is full of flowers.

Smoothleaf and panicle hydrangeas can even be cut back in late fall, so gardeners who don’t like the look of bare hydrangea branches in the winter might find these a better option than other varieties. They also work well in areas that get a lot of extra snow coverage from plowing. Even if they get flattened n the winter, they’ll put on a show in the summer.

For more information about pruning hydrangeas and other shrubs, check out The Pruner’s Bible by Steve Bradley or The Pruning Book by Lee Reich.

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