Forum home› Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Hydrangeas

JenKentJenKent Posts: 53
in Plants
My hydrangeas have suffered with the heat this summer - masses of blooms that quickly faded and went brown.  I've snipped most of them off in the hopes of getting a second lot later on.  However, I think they are the type that flower on old wood (not into names!) and they have become too tall and spindly.  If I prune the stems that flowered this year back to the ground in the spring, will I get lots of new growth coming through and will that new growth have any blooms at all during the first year? Or will I have to make do with just a green shrub?

Posts

  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    I think l'm right in saying that if you cut the floweing stems down to the ground next year, you won't get any blooms (or very few).
    How old are the plants, and how large ?
    If you could post a photo, that might help  :)
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Agree with Annie a picture would help
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    They won’t get anymore flowers this year,  they’ve got time to grow some more green which will bloom next.
    Depending on how tall and spindly they have become,  If very much so,  I cut mine right down to the ground in the Spring,  you will get a lovely fresh green plant that year and it will flower really well the following year.
    We have a big cut down every 4 years or so.   Most people cut out one third of the branches down to the base then do the next lot the following year.  I personally don’t like the look so just go for the complete chop.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • JenKentJenKent Posts: 53
    There are 5 hydrangeas about 6 years old and about 3ft tall x 3ft wide.  Where the blooms were so heavy in the spring they have pulled the stems down which has left gaps in the foliage.  Think I'm going to have a year without blooms and get them thickened up again with a good pruning.  I only cut them back by about 1ft last spring, so it's probably time they had a makeover - especially as they've suffered in the heat this summer.  I tried desperately to keep them watered, but I would have been carrying buckets all day or had to keep the hose on them for an hour or more - which is a no, no. I wanted confirmation that I would have only a 'green' year if I pruned hard, so if I do get the odd bloom it will be a bonus.  Thanks all!
  • borgadrborgadr Posts: 718
    edited August 2022
    The pruning technique depends on what type of hydrangeas you have (on this, I don't want to give you bad advice..  best to google it).

    But regarding my drought-stricken mopheads, I have 3 the same, all wilted and dead-looking (crispy!) after I went on holiday in late July. As an experiment I hacked one of them back to about 18 inches of stem and I left the other two. After a few weeks of watering,  all 3 have fresh new leaves all the way up their stems.  The one I hacked back has fresh leaves too, but I wouldn't say it's doing any better than the ones I left alone.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    At this time of the year I would leave all cutting down till next March/April.  If you cut now you could encourage new growth that won’t survive winter frosts.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

Sign In or Register to comment.