Hello, I have a hydranga bush were I cut out the old sticks early spring which I probably should not have done , no flowers flowers this season, but new shoot growth all green stem leaves. Question, should I prune down in fall or leave it alone?
Also if I do prune how much should I prune?
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.
So basically I should leave it alone and not prune anything now and prune after flowering next season?
yep. That would work and it would be easy-nobody wants to mess with a shrub more than once a year!
Thanks so very much!
