Beginner Gardening: Hydranga Prune, 0 by Pistil

Pistil wrote:
Traditional mophead hydrangeas and some other hydrangea species bloom on what is called \"old wood\" which is the branch that was formed last year. So a \"hard pruning\" like you did will eliminate the blooms that year. Now your hydrangea is ready to have a fantastic crop of flowers this year!
One can cut a hydrangea down all the way if it has overgrown the location, usually this is not a problem and they come back better than ever.
Hydrangeas can be pruned in more than one way, but a general technique is that in early or mid spring you cut the old flowered stems back to a fat flower bud. At the same time, cut out some old thick gnarly branches as low as you can get, also any spindly or weird branches.
I am often too lazy to do this, and every several years just cut mine to the ground as you did, when it gets too big and overgrown.