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Help with hydrangea pruning please

ChezNousChezNous Posts: 40
in Plants



Hello everyone, this is my first post and really hope for any advice. Above is one of the first hydrangeas I ever grew and forgot its name. It's in a big container and was in full bloom mid July. Now the flowers have faded to a gorgeous dusty pink. My question is do I prune it because I read that it's ready to be pruned if it's showing new buds and this clearly does? I thought most hydrangeas are pruned about March time but I guess it must depend on the variety. Many thanks!
Late to gardening .... @cheznousgarden

Posts

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Best to leave the old flowerheads on the plant until next Spring.
    That gives insulation to the buds below to protect from winter frosts.
    In March, you can then cut the old flower stems back to a good pair of buds below.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    No - it's spring time for hydrangea pruning  :)
    The spent flowers are usually left in situ until then to provide a bit of protection against frosts. The mop head and lacecap types are pruned slightly differently from the paniculatas too. Yours is in the first category, and would be pruned back lightly to a healthy joint, keeping the main framework. These flower on the older wood, while the paniculatas flower on new wood.  It would need very little though, until it's a much bigger, more mature shrub. 
    If you wait until after winter, and you're a bit unsure, post a photo of the whole shrub, and you'll get some pointers as to where to cut back to.   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ChezNousChezNous Posts: 40
    Thank you all so much - glad I asked first :) I am really trying to follow all the right steps from this season on because I've neglected them all before  :(
    Late to gardening .... @cheznousgarden
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It can certainly be a bit confusing, and weather plays a big part, as it does with so many areas of gardening. 
    If in doubt at all, just post again when the time comes.
    The good thing about hydrangeas, and many other shrubs, is - you won't kill them by pruning too far. All that would happen is that you wouldn't get flowers that year, or you would only get a few, and it would be fine the following year.
    For mature shrubs, you can do that anyway [cut back hard] to completely regenerate them, but you're a while away from that   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ErgatesErgates Posts: 2,953
    Some of my mop head and lace cap hydrangeas have got extremely leggy over the years, to the extent that some of the woody branches have snapped under the weight of the younger leaves and flowers. Can I prune back some of the older branches now, to regenerate the shrub without losing all of next years flowers? When it comes to spring, I can’t bring myself to chop back anything with a flower coming on it, which is why everything is drooping towards the ground. ( sounds a bit like me, age creeping up on me!)
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