Whenever someone is growing Hydrangeas, one of the most common questions that they have is regarding the pruning of these flowers. There is a specific time when you should prune your Hydrangeas, and there is also a correct way to do the same. If you are also someone who has planted Hydrangeas in their garden or backyard, then we are pretty sure you are wondering how do you prune a Hydrangea plant. Well, this article will provide you with all the necessary instructions that you need to know for pruning the flowers correctly, so that your plant is not damaged and it blooms once again.
Step by Step Guide to Pruning Hydrangeas
Step 1: Determine what kind of Hydrangea Plant you have
Hydrangeas are primarily divided into five different categories (bigleaf, mountain, smooth, panicle, and oakleaf), and before you start pruning your Hydrangeas, you should first determine which kind you have in your garden.
Certain types of hydrangeas have their buds on old wood, whereas others form the buds on new wood when it grows in spring. This is the main reason why you should know the category of your Hydrangea so you do not accidentally cut its buds.
Step 2: Decide the Time to Prune Your Hydrangeas
After determining their category, the next thing that you need to do is to decide the correct time to prune the flowers, which also depends on the kind you have.
- Hydrangeas that bloom on old wood
Oakleaf, Bigleaf, and Mountain hydrangeas are primarily the categories that bloom on old wood, which means that new buds form on the branches that are already present in the plant. According to this, the best time to prune your plant is immediately after the flowering is complete. This provides the plant enough time to regrow and form new buds.
- Hydrangeas that bloom on new wood
On the other hand, all Smooth and Panicle Hydrangeas bloom on new wood after spring. For pruning hydrangeas, the perfect time will be in late fall, as the plant will have gone dormant, and pruning it at this time will not affect it at all. The plant will bear buds in the next spring, which means you can also prune the plant in early spring if you like having dried flowers in your garden.
Step 3: Know how much to prune your plants
Lastly, you should be familiar with the length that you can remove from the plant for better growth. It is safe to prune almost one-third of hydrangeas that bloom on new wood; however, if you are pruning hydrangeas that bloom on old wood, then you should only remove the dead parts of the plant.
Too much pruning can damage the structure and framework of your plant, which is why you should not remove too many branches. However, if you are still facing doubt, simply do not prune your plant, as Hydrangeas can grow well without any form of pruning.
Don’t make this mistake when pruning your hydrangeas
The most general myth about hydrangeas is that it is possible to trim them during the season in order to make them shorter. The ideal guide to pruning hydrangea is not either do it or you run the danger of cutting off the flower buds. Cutting your hydrangees to make them shorter does not work out since they will grow to the final size, or even more as they grow due to the process of cutting. Rather, in early spring (before it is finally acclimated to the presence of sunlight) transplant your overgrowing, yet-in-dormant hydrangea into a new home, and replant him with one that is genetically predisposed to remain shorter.
An In-Depth Look at Hydrangea Traits
Bigleaf Hydrangeas(Hydrangea macrophylla) Traits.
Bigleaf hydrangeas flower in mid summer and have huge fluffy and round mophead flowers, which are pink or blue. They possess wide, thick and rugged foliage and thick green stems. Wee Bit and Let’s Dance are also two of the well-known series of bigleaf hydrangeas.
Bigleaf hydrangeas bloom on old wood, and this means that they form flower buds on leaf axils of the stems the previous summer before they bloom. The reddish buds in the axils up the stem can be seen in the picture above which was taken in October.
Most of the new bigleaf hydrangeas are rebloomers and this means that on top of blooming on old wood they also develop more flower buds on new wood and they also bloom the second time in the season.
Mountain Hydrangeas (Hydrangea serrata) Characteristics.
Mountain hydrangeas flower in midsummer, and these are lacecap style of pink or blue flowers. Their leaves are similar to the bigleaf hydrangeas that have wide and thick-textured leaves and swollen, green stems. The Tuff Stuff ™ series of reblooming mountain hydrangeas possess the advantage of extra cold hardy stems and buds and this makes them reliably bloom every year.
The mountain hydrangeas initially blossom in the early to midsummer on old wood. Reblooming varieties regenerate more flower buds in new growth and re-bloom a second time that year. The pointy buds were embracing the stem within each axil of the leaves in the above picture captured in October during its golden fall color.
Features of Smooth Hydrangeas (Hydrangea arborescens)
Smooth hydrangeas are the ones that bloom earlier than the bigleaf and mountain hydrangeas and have either white or pink flowers. Majority of the smooth hydrangeas have round mophead flowers with some few having lacecap style blossoms. Their leaves are rough skinned and of lighter material than bigleaf or mountain hydrangeas. Their brown stems are also a little slimmer, as well.
Annabelle is a smooth hydrangea that has been in the market since times immemorial, however you will realize that her newer cousin Incrediball 2 has better stem force and larger blossoms. Invincibelle -series of smooth hydrangeas add pinks and greens to the color palette.
New wood or the growth of hydrangeas in the present season is smooth. This renders them particularly appropriate in colder regions where there is no likelihood of the buds being damaged during the winter season since the buds merely do not exist during the winter period, and thus this is the right moment to prune hydrangeas.
In the close up picture above, taken in October you see that the leaf axils have not yet formed any buds. The reason is that smooth hydrangeas do not develop their buds until spring and it is the most opportune time to prune hydrangeas. Then they are in blossom shortly after in early summer. Reblooming types of smooth hydrangeas will rebloom on new growth again later in the same season where the growing season is long.
You can also use the website Yourhomify to learn about the different plants that you can plant in your garden and how to keep them healthy.
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