Often folks will question why hydrangeas did not bear as many flowers as hoped over the years.
Pruning might be one avenue to investigate.
I have seen all kinds of hydrangeas over the years, and Grandma had one in her yard. Hydrangeas, for the most part, do not need much pruning of any kind.
I have used many types of hydrangeas in my designs, and I have four different hydrangeas in my yard.
In the past, I have seen these monster flowers used in many ways. As a matter of fact, I have a friend who still has a hydrangea that had light craft paint sprayed over the surface of one of these mammoth flowers, brightening it up with some glitter sprinkles.
Sounds pretty cool, right?
There are three different general classifications and five general categories of hydrangeas.
What really matters for your garden is understanding whether your plant blooms on old wood or new wood.
If the flower buds set on old wood, which is wood that has grown from last year before the current year, their buds are being formed, and if you wait too long, you will be cutting off next year’s blooms.
This is the old wood category of hydrangea. I have had clients ask me why their hydrangea had never bloomed.
I asked them when they had pruned their hydrangea, and the answer was always that they had missed the proper time to prune it and cut the blooms. These old wood-blooming hydrangeas should be pruned immediately after their flowers fade.
The other general category of hydrangeas is the shrubs that set their flowers on new wood or on wood that has grown from the current season, and the flower buds set within the season.
Pruning of this category of hydrangea should take place in early spring before that year’s new growth begins to emerge.
Both Big-leaf and Oakleaf hydrangeas bloom on old wood. Therefore, need to be cut quickly after they have bloomed. Both Mop-Heads and Lace-Cap hydrangeas are the common names of some of the Big-leaf hydrangeas.
The flowers can be blue, violet, pink, purple, red, and white, and are mostly in bloom in early summer on old wood. The Oakleaf Hydrangea, native to the Southeastern United States, has adapted very well to our zone.
Personally, I enjoy the burgundy fall leaves and the spikey, subdued, sweet-scented flowers that bloom in late summer. The cinnamon-colored papery bark is also nice to look at in the winter.
Panicle and Annabelle hydrangeas bloom on new wood. Globe-shaped blooms start out green and turn white as the season continues. The tree hydrangeas, such as the Panicle, Tardiva, or PeeGees, come into white blooms in mid to late summer and should be pruned in early spring before they sprout new foliage.
A new recent breed of Remontant, Reblooming, or Endless Summer hydrangeas blooms on both new and old wood and can be pruned at any time. Endless summer blooms over and over, and gets its name from the fact that you will see more blooms on this plant during the year.
Old wood hydrangeas should first be pruned by removing dead limbs and crossing branches, and thinning out the interior of the plant to open it to more sunlight. New wood bloomers like the Annabelle hydrangeas will endure the most severe haircuts, and can be cut back to six to 12 inches above the ground.
Tardivas and PeeGees can be sculpted more than the old wood hydrangeas, and groomed so that you can cut the branches into a form you want, for example, with similar branch lengths.
The ultimate answer to when you should prune your hydrangea is to know your hydrangea.
This also may not have been the challenge you faced. One of my wife’s first questions when we went through our gardens was about her hydrangeas.
It seems she had had this hydrangea for a number of years, and it had not bloomed after the first two years, yet it remained very green and continued to grow.
This was the first person who asked me this question. I went out, got some hydrangea fertilizer, followed the directions, and they did well after this.
I would also fertilize this hydrangea after fertilizing our hydrangeas.
These hydrangeas still bloom just fine for us.
The answer to when to prune my hydrangea is to understand its needs. Name your hydrangea and claim the manicure style and timing.
I hope you enjoy your stroll through the spring gardens you care for. If you have any challenges, e-mail me at ericlarson546@yahoo.com.