Hydrangeas are an attractive addition to any garden and very easy to care for. But to help keep your hydrangeas in tip top condition, remember to give them a simple prune once a year. In this helpful guide we share how to prune hydrangeas to ensure a beautiful display year after year.
Why should you prune a hydrangea?
Although hydrangeas don’t need a lot of care, a once yearly prune will help to encourage new growth. This is especially important for ensuring a radiant, annual floral display, as hydrangeas flower much better on new stems.
Pruning your hydrangeas will help to keep them looking neat and tidy. A yearly trim will also promote a more compact growing habit. More often than not, hydrangeas that are left to their own devices will end up tall and leggy, rather than densely packed with foliage and flowers.
Which type of hydrangeas should you prune?
There are several hydrangea varieties and all will benefit from pruning. Some of the most popular varieties in the UK are mophead or lacecap hydrangea (hydrangea macrophylla), hydrangea paniculata and climbing hydrangea (petiolaris). Each of these will benefit from being pruned.
When to prune hydrangea
You will know that it is nearly time to prune your hydrangeas when their flowers have turned brown and crispy, and its foliage starts to die back. This usually happens in late winter to early spring. When small buds start to form on the stems it is time to give your plants a prune.
Leaving faded flowers on your mophead or lacecap hydrangea plants until late winter or early spring will help to protect them from frost.
Climbing hydrangeas, on the other hand, will require just a light tidy every once in a while to remove any dead flowers. It’s also worth pruning any overlong shoots immediately after flowering, but leave the top of the plant as far as possible, as this is where the majority of flowers will bloom.
How to cut back a hydrangea
Cutting back a hydrangea is very simple and only requires one essential tool – a set of clean, sharp secateurs.
When cutting back a hydrangea, always aim for clean cuts using sharp secateurs. This will reduce damage to the plant and allow it to heal and resist disease much better.
Whilst established hydrangea plants are very tolerant of pruning, it’s worth remembering that extensive cutting back all in one go may reduce flowering the following summer. Instead, aim to give your hydrangea plant a hard prune every three years, rather than annually. A simple annual prune or trim is more than adequate.
How to prune hydrangeas
Follow these three simple steps on how to prune hydrangeas.
- Remove the dead seed heads and flowers
The first and easiest step. Using a pair of clean, sharp secateurs, simply cut off the dead seed heads and flowers just above the next set of new green buds.
- Remove a third of the oldest and damaged stems
Encourage new growth by removing a third of the oldest and damaged stems. Prune to the ground to send energy back into the plant and to encourage plenty of fresh new growth.
- Thin out congested branches
Hydrangeas can become densely packed in their centre, causing damage to new stems and making the plant prone to mildew. Remove tangled and heavily congested stems with your secateurs.
How to prune different varieties of hydrangea
The above simple steps will work perfectly well for pruning established mophead and lacecap hydrangeas.
Climbing hydrangeas, on the other hand, will require just a light tidy every once in a while to remove any dead flowers. It’s also worth pruning any overlong shoots immediately after flowering, keeping the top of the plant as intact as possible. This is where the majority of flowers will bloom and over pruning may reduce flowering the following year.
Should you deadhead hydrangeas?
Deadheading mophead hydrangeas will encourage new growth and promote flowering the following summer. However, for added frost protection during the winter it is best to leave the flowerheads on the plant until early spring.
Lacecap hydrangeas can be deadheaded after flowering but this variety also benefits from leaving the flowerheads in place until the weather warms in spring.
Nicola Clements has been working with brands and publications in the gardening and lifestyle sectors for many years. As well as regularly writing for The English Garden‘s website, Nicola is also a contributing gardening editor to Wildflower magazine. In her spare time, Nicola can be found pottering in her garden, where she hones her skills, ready to pass on her expert advice to amateur and seasoned gardeners.