It’s that time of year. The time when you prune your hydrangeas! Ideally you should have been ‘deadheading’ your blooms all along to encourage new flowers. Some of us just like to keep all the flowers on, but if you’re like me, you like to cut lots of them off in order to display them throughout the house. By mid July you notice most of your flowers are drying up and sagging. Towards the end of July it’s time to start pruning your bushes in order to make room for beautiful new blooms for next year. The thing about this kind of hydrangea is that if you prune the shrubs in the fall, winter, or spring, you’ll remove the buds before they get a chance to bloom. You’ll end up with nothing but giant green leaves for the entire season.
TIPS FOR DEADHEADING & PRUNING HYDRANGEAS
- Deadhead your hydrangeas as they fade. One way to ensure your hydrangeas continue to flower throughout their blooming season is to remove dead flower heads. Deadheading redirects the plant’s energy towards producing new flower heads. This gives you an abundant and extended display of blooms.
- For optimal blooms, these giant green-stemmed hydrangeas should be pruned soon after the flowers have faded or dried up, usually before August 1st. The shrubs will then have a chance to produce new growth where next year’s flower buds will form.
- Endless Summer® hydrangeas need very little pruning or even no pruning at all. However, if you feel some pruning is necessary spring is the ONLY time to do so.
GARDENING TOOLS
