This is exactly what my mophead hydrangeas look like right now – minus the flowers. Knowing that it blooms on the previous year’s buds, I still waited too long last summer to prune these guys because I wanted them on the plant as long as possible, thank you. They look great for months, you know, so who in their right mind would follow instructions and remove these blooms soon after they emerge? If you’re looking for a gardener capable of that kind of discipline and self-sacrifice, keep on looking.
So what’s the answer? Do what I did and risk losing all of next year’s blossoms or prune at the correct time and basically lose this year’s blossoms? I don’t like those choices so I’m looking for better ones. And the only one that comes to mind is to plant them where they can grow to their full size in the first place. Then to keep them vigorous and shapely, remove a third of the stems to the ground each year, either early or late in the season. It means sacrificing blossoms but only a few, and it’s to maintain good vigor and form, not to force a plant to conform to a too-small space. Then maybe next year they’ll be perfect.
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So wait, is it already too late for me to prune my hydrangea?
The funny thing is that I pruned mine in September last year, and pruned it hard, and it loved it. Blooms all over the place this year. In fact, it got too full for the space and needed trimmed down again!
I always cut off the dead blossoms in October, and it always blooms well the next summer, so what do you mean by pruning? Did you cut the bush all the way back?
Oh, I didn’t just cut off the dead blossoms. I cut back all the stems by half. And is it too late to do that now without removing the buds for next year? Not sure.
July is the last chance to prune without losing next year’s buds – but my advice is to not prune at all – ever. Let the plant come to its full size and just deadhead.
I highly recommend the Hydrangeas! Hydrangeas! site, which can help you identify what type of hydrangea it is and when to prune it.
http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/index.html
It’s a great site — without it, I wouldn’t know that mine is a PeeGee and should be pruned in late winter/early spring.
This year I just cut back the dead canes — I plan to approach shaping the bush very, very cautiously …
My weakest part of gardening is my pruning skills. I also am one who lets something grow and grow and then cautiously deadheads, eventually working up to a more severe cut which seems to suit the plant. I ought to know better by now to follow pruning “rules” but don’t always do so because I am either too late or too early, never on time.
I mistakenly pruned mine to the ground last October, after a hard frost blackened the leaves. I thought all was lost, but my Nikko Blue came back and bloomed anyway.
Still, no more pruning for me. It is in a spot where I can let it grow as large as possible. I just have to resist my “tidying” urges.
I don’t have any hydrangeas. After reading this post, I don’t think that I will get any. They seem way too fussy for my liking.
Good luck with them!
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