#Pruning Hydrangea

Late winter early spring is when we prune our panicle type hydrangeas: lime light, quick fire, strawberry vanilla are examples. These are the hydrangeas with the cone shaped flowers. - 1st remove all the thin unproductive stems. Anything thinner than your pinky finger. - while you were removing the thin stems look for any other stems that are wounded where the bark has rubbed off. That’s a potential for disease. - next look for any crossing branches that could cause a wound. Remove one of the two crossing branches. - then look down the center of the plant and make sure there are no branches crossing through the middle of the plant. We want an open center plant where nothing is crowded and crossing. - on the healthy remaining stems, we only take a third of the length off. If we cut too much length off the new stems that the plant puts out this year are gonna weigh that short stem down and cause flopping. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. My bookings open up four weeks in advance. Sessions for April have already been added. Check back every week. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #hydrangea #gardeningtips #gardeninglife

There’s more than one way to prune a Hydrangea paniculata (the ice cream hydrangea!) 🍦 They bloom on new growth, which means they’re very forgiving when it comes to pruning. There’s general rule: a harder prune = bigger but fewer flowers. 🌿 1. Light Prune (Lazy Prune) Simply cut just below the old flower heads. Produces lots of smaller blooms and creates a taller, natural-looking plant. You’ll get around 40 flowers on a mature plant. 🌿 2. Medium Prune (Balanced Option) Cut stems to about 40 cm above the ground. Produces medium-sized blooms with strong stems. A great middle ground used by many nurseries. It’ll give you about 30 flowers on a mature plant. 🌿 3. Hard Prune (Brave Cut) Cut stems down to about 20 cm above the ground. Results in fewer but very large flower heads. Keeps plants compact and structured. You’ll get about 20 giant flowers on a mature plant. 🌿 4. Don’t Prune at All (The Easiest Option!) Leave the plant completely untouched.. You’ll get smaller flowers, but still plenty of them. Plants grow taller and more tree-like with gnarly branches, which is quite sexy! Flowering may also start earlier, giving a very natural look. Best time to prune: Late winter to early spring before new growth appears (NOW!!) Awesome advice from @living.creations and @schoemaker.alex 🍦

How to prune hydrangea in spring This is in two categories depending on whether your hydrangea flowers on old or new wood as we prune are both differently. When to do this? Spring after the risk of frost has passed. Keep an eye on the weather rather than the date. How? For those that flower on old wood so that’s your big leaf or oak leaf hydrangea Remove old flowerheads to just above a pair of buds. Hydrangea buds can be easily knocked off, so cut carefully with your secateurs. Cut out any thin, weak stems around the base of the plant and remove one or two of the largest, oldest stems from as low down as possible to promote new shoots from the base. These will grow over the next few years and carry blooms in the future. Those that flower on new wood so panicle and smooth hydrangea. Prune last year’s growth back to a healthy framework around 30cm high. Prune to just above a pair of healthy buds on each stem. #hydrangeapruning #hydrangea #hydrangeas #pruning #hydrangealove #hydrangeaseason #spring

Most people prune smooth hydrangeas WRONG… here’s what actually works 👀 I cut mine back HARD every early spring (about 6 inches) and they come back bigger and fuller every year 🌸 Don’t be scared to prune them — they actually LOVE it. I also use a simple fertilizer that makes a huge difference in how full they grow. 👇 Comment “LINK” and I’ll send you my full hydrangea care guide + everything I use (Canada & US) Save this so you remember what to do each spring 📌 IMPORTANT! These types are for Smooth hydrangeas!! DO NOT do this to your big leaf macrophylla hydrangeas. Bought these ones from @terraathome and they are from @provenwinners

This can be soooo confusing! I get these questions a lot so I thought I would try to break this all down. Save for later so you can reference it when you need it. I also have a free guide on this in my store. Link above! If you are still confused, better to be safe than sorry and leave them so you don’t cut off the flower buds. However, all of these need at least some pruning. The big leaf ones (macrophylla) can get the tips cut off but it’s not essential. They do sometimes need to be cleaned up: remove dead branches that will get in the way of new growth. The more woody types need to be pruned or they get very unruly and sloppy looking. They can also just outgrow the space. Garden location: client’s house (video done by client) My goal is to empower as many people as possible to get out there and get their hands dirty. If you’re not already, follow along with my clients and my own continuing gardening journey. I’m in zone 6 in the Boston area but almost all of the principles I talk about are applicable to any garden.🌺 #youcandoitgardening #hydrangea #whentoprunehydrangeas #howtoprunehydrangeas #pruning #gardeningtipsforbeginners #gardencoach #gardening #gardens #gardenplanning #gardeningtips #gardening10 #landscapedesign #diygardening #diylandscaping

Tidying up Potted Hydrangea 🪴🌸 How do we tidy them up? I’ve snipped the old & spent mop heads off and now snipping off the dead twigs and branches to tidy up the wooden frames of the potted Hydrangeas. I enjoy tending to the Hydrangea and keeping them healthy, neat and tidy. If you would like to buy Hydrangea then go to www.thompson-morgan.com @thompsonmorgan1855 and use my promo key code TMTAWTOM12 for 12% off when you spend over £20. #hydrangea #hydrangeas #hydrangealove #hydrangeaseason #hydrangeaflower #hydrangeamacrophylla #hydrangeapaniculata #hydrangeasaremyfavorite #hydrangeasofinstagram #hydrangeabouquet #gardener #garden #gardening #flowers #flower #plants #gardens #gardendesign #gardenersofinstagram #gardeningtips #mygarden #gardensofinstagram #gardenlove #gardeners #instagarden #plantsofinstagram #gardenwithtom #hydrangeaflowers

Stop. Don’t prune your hydrangeas like this. Oakleaf? ❌ Bigleaf? ❌ Mountain? ❌ Panicle? ✅ Let’s do it. If you’ve ever cut your hydrangeas back and ended up with no blooms, this is why—different types, different rules. Panicle hydrangeas (like Little Lime) bloom on new wood, which means you can prune with confidence in early spring to shape the plant, control size, and get stronger blooms. In this reel, we’re showing you exactly: • where to cut • how far to go • how to build better structure year after year Simple, repeatable, and one of the easiest wins in the garden. 👉 Download our Hydrangea Handbook through the link in our bio—we break down every hydrangea type, when to prune, and how to get consistent blooms season after season. Thanks for growing with us. 🌿 #hydrangea #paniclehydrangea #littlelimehydrangea #gardenpruning #springgardening

It’s Time to Prune your Hydrangeas. Make sure before you prune, that you know what variety hydrangea you have. Pruning them the wrong way can result in no blooms this season. #wavrafarms #salemoregon #pacificnorthwestgardening

Don’t make this mistake with your hydrangeas. Before you prune, make sure you know which type of hydrangea you have growing in your garden. Right now in late winter and early spring many gardeners start pruning hydrangeas, but different types flower on different growth. Some hydrangeas form their flower buds the year before on what’s called old wood. If those stems are cut back now, you may remove the flowers before they ever open. Hydrangeas that usually bloom on old wood include: 🌸 Bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) 🌸 Mountain hydrangea (Hydrangea serrata) 🌸 Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) Because of that, pruning should be minimal. I usually leave my oakleaf hydrangeas mostly alone unless they need shaping or there is dead growth to remove. For bigleaf hydrangeas, I prefer to wait until the plant fully leafs out before touching it. Once the leaves emerge, it becomes much easier to see which stems are alive and which ones didn’t survive winter. At that point I’ll remove dead stems and clip off old blooms if needed. Reblooming varieties like Endless Summer can bloom on both old and new wood, but the earliest flowers still come from buds that formed the previous season, so I still prune them carefully after the plant fully leafs out. Hydrangeas that bloom on new wood can be pruned in late winter or early spring. These include: 🌸 Panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) 🌸 Smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) These are the ones I’m pruning back right now. A helpful rule of thumb when pruning hydrangeas is to avoid removing more than about one-third of the plant at a time. Save this post so you remember before pruning your hydrangeas this spring. 🌿🌸

Give your hydrangea a much-needed boost this spring by introducing some feed, mulch, and a quick prune. Today’s gardening tips will help your hydrangeas thrive this summer in a few simple steps. #gardeningtips #hydrangea #hydrangeas #planttips #pruning

Who knew PRUNING was so important? While Annabelles/Incrediballs are low maintenance, pruning is key to promoting large, prolific blooms and a great shape! PRUNING must-knows: When: Late Winter/Early Spring Why: Because Annabelles and Incrediballs bloom on new wood, cutting them at this time encourages more and larger blooms How much: Trim the stems down to 12-18” If you forget to prune, what you end up with are tall, leggy hydrangeas with smaller blooms! #hydrangeas #hydrangeaseason #hydrangealove

LATE FLOWERING BALL HYDRANGEAS - When? How? By how much? There is so much literature when to prune your ball flowering hydrangeas and it’s a confusing conversation…. And it comes down to what cultivar you have, what conditions they’re in planted in & where you live. So for these particular blue/purple ball flowering plants which are 18 years old, planted in excellent soil & receive morning / afternoon filtered sun (more sun in late summer) I prune them every year in late summer - early autumn. As a result they flower in Dec - April @felco_official @felco_australia