Should i remove old hydrangea blooms

The flowers on this Pee Gee hydrangea are lovely in October so there's no need to remove them unless you want to cut a bouquet for indoors. In areas where early, heavy snow is possible people sometimes clip off the flowers so that they don't pull the plant to the ground early in the winter. But in our area such early snowfalls aren't common so we can enjoy these fading blooms well into December. I have Endless Summers Latin name unknown that I have cut back to the second bud down each spring.

They have been beautiful with many new shoots also in spring. Am I correct? Some stems do not have further growth. Joel — every bud that makes it through the winter on these hydrangeas can become a stem with a flower at the end, so in general the fewer buds you cut off the more flowers you have. Any cane with no buds is gone, however, and can be cut to the ground. Leave any of the green buds you see as these will make stems with flowers at the end of them.

White flowering hydragangeas are pruned differently as most of them bloom on new wood. I love the personal tone of the articles, the opportunity to look up older topics, and the information that you share. Country Gardens is my garden center of choice since we moved here permanently last year. Thank you for helping us make our new home look like it has been here longer. Our new plants have done incredibly well right from the start, and your great sales just bought a beautiful Ginko tree for half price are greatly appreciated.

Bravo to C. Linda, How nice of you to post this rave on our blog! Know that we appreciate our customers tremendously. This is a pruning question regarding grape vines. I had a small grape vine that took over a fence section. My husband and I took down the fence in early spring and installed a 12 by 12 foot pergola. It blossoms from May through July, with white flowers that turn pink, depending on the variety, and then brown.

It also blooms with fall foliage in shades of red, orange and maroon. The blossoms are produced on the previous year's stems, so if you choose to deadhead, be sure to snip the flower stem just below the blossom without disturbing the developing buds below. Among the popular varieties are 'Alice,' 'Snowflake' and 'Snow Queen. The climbing hydrangea Hydrangea anomala subsp. Petiolaris blooms between late June and early July. Hardy in USDA zones 4 through 8, it grows slowly to cover a large area.

Plant it beside a bare wall or train it over a fence to take advantage of its climbing habit. Flowers appear on old growth, so, as with the bigleaf hydrangea, avoid pruning the blooming stems. Most hydrangeas require moist, well-drained soil and full sun.

In hot climates, plant hydrangeas where they receive morning sun and afternoon shade. Add a 2- to 4-inch layer of mulch over bare soil to help slow evaporation and keep the plant's roots cool.

Apply a fertilizer in March, May and July according to the package instructions, generally 2 cups for every square feet of soil. If the shrub begins producing more foliage and fewer flowers, reduce the amount of nitrogen in the fertilizer; nitrogen encourages vegetative growth at the expense of flowers. Water thoroughly after fertilizing.

Alternately, add compost to the soil every year to add nutrients. Bigleaf hydrangeas tolerate drier soils in late summer and early autumn, but generally add at least 1 inch of water to the shrub weekly. If a panicultata that is trained into a tree-form is cut or broken off close to the ground, it will grow back as a shrub unless the training and pruning is started again from the new shoots. Gail, from Trussville, Alabama, has a beautiful blue hydrangea actually she has several.

The picture on the left, below, shows this hydrangea in early summer, at the height of its glory. As the summer progressed, it became increasingly loose, and the blooms were easily brought down in inclement weather. Gail thought her hydrangea would be much more compact and attractive if it could be pruned.

Unfortunately, it was still covered in bloom. If she waited until fall or winter to prune it, the hydrangea probably wouldn't bloom the following year at all. So, after we'd discussed the situation by email, Gail decided to prune it right then and there, since some of the bloom was starting to fade. The picture on the right was taken the morning Gail finished pruning. When I saw this picture, I gasped. The summer after the pruning, this hydrangea was covered in bloom.

But, I have to admit, it took a lot of nerve to pull this off. Removing old blooms on a plant is called "Deadheading. In June and July you may remove them in any way you would like long stems or short stems. Here are some tips for deadheading:.

As long as you cut above the first set of large leaves, the blooms will be fine. Search Keyword:. Blog Home. Plant Care. Landscaping Tips. Plant Addicts Anonymous. Paniculata Hydrangeas Smooth Hydrangeas Pruning Hydrangea Trees Paniculata hydrangeas are the only hydrangeas that can be pruned into a tree-form.