I'm very new to gardening. I just moved into a new house with some wonderful plants. One of them is this giant hydrangea bush that is now overtaking the side of the house. I read that it needs to be pruned in the fall, however do I need to cut it all the way to the ground? Will it grow back?? It's beautiful and would hate to ruin it. I surely appreciate any advice. Thanks!
Hello there I would wait until it starts to warm up and wake up in the spring or buds swell. Thin out the entire shrub so that the branching is even remove crossing limbs, any dead material should be cut back to the main limb or if the limb is dead back to the ground. Hydrangeas have buds in pairs or paired and opposite and so you can cut just above those buds or nodes and expect to have two buds grow below your cut. If you want larger flower or reduce potential limbs you can remove one of those buds. Once you have thinned the limbs, you can reduce the height and width by cutting back to just above the nodes/ buds. While you may lose some flowers in this process , long term health requires pruning and often with the sacrifice of some flowering. Once complete, apply some compost to the soil around the plant and it will reward your efforts in return. Finally, if you can take a pruning class or two, you may find that you not only save money, but manage to get your plants to respond the way you would like. Good luck
