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roseanne
wcdinsdale
Posts: 2
in Plants
I have a blue lace cap hydrangea which I planted 26 years ago, it flowered well again this year but it has grown to a very big shrub (last pruned 5 years ago) and is too big for the area where it is, it is swamping a honeysuckle and has killed off a mop head hydrangea beside it.
What I would like to do now is prune it to a more manageable size but I do not want to wait until after the frosts next year because always by then it has lots of leaf and buds on top and should it be pruned then it will be left with no flowers or leaf.
Will I kill it if I try this? I will be grateful for any advice.
What I would like to do now is prune it to a more manageable size but I do not want to wait until after the frosts next year because always by then it has lots of leaf and buds on top and should it be pruned then it will be left with no flowers or leaf.
Will I kill it if I try this? I will be grateful for any advice.
0
Posts
Next year immediately after flowering, take out half the remaining older stems and then do the last lot the following year. That way you will have a completely renovated shrub and can maintain the "one third out" rule every year after flowering in order to keep it to size.
If that's too slow, take it all back by half now, leaving a couple of pairs of leaves on each stem to keep feeding the plant and to protect lower bud points over winter then, next spring, after the worst of the frosts, cut it back to a size and density that suits you, feed it and leave it to grow back but accept having no flowers for a season.