hydrangea

[mumstheword1]

how and when to prune hydrangea

[Mr Veritas]

The hydrangeas in our garden are old and quite large.
We trim them just after flowering,or more severely if necessary.
Two of ours were cut back to about one foot from the ground a couple of years ago,it didn't seem to do them any harm.
Hydrangeas are remarkable plants,they seem to tolerate most soils,and will recover from even (as with ours) drastic pruning.
So to sum up.Prune after flowering,and prune back as lightly (or as hard) as you see fit.

[carlton23]

If you haven`t already done so, leave it as previously stated but leave the old flower heads on until no more danger of frosts in the spring, as this will help to protect the new buds forming.

[darcydark]

Hi,

Prune in the early Spring after all the frosts are over, then prune as hard as you wish. If they need a really hard pruning then do so, even down to a foot or so from the ground.

When they are pruned hard they will grow back much stronger, the only drawback is that they may miss a year of flowering like mine did, but the next year will more than compensate.

[bullpen]

Never prune them until mid spring as the old blooms help to protect the young tender new shoots from frost