Before Winter, Should I Deadhead My Hydrangeas?

Deadheading hydrangeas can encourage new blooms and keep the plant looking fresh, but it’s important to do it correctly. Learn when and how to cut off the spent flowers, and when to stop deadheading hydrangea shrubs in mid to late fall. This will provide winter interest and ensure you don’t remove the buds that will become flowers next spring.

For mophead and lacecap hydrangeas, the best time to deadhead is around late winter to early spring. Leave any spent blooms in place, providing winter interest and ensuring you don’t remove the buds that will become flowers next spring. If you’re growing lacecap hydrangeas, you can deadhead as soon as the flowers have faded and no later than the following spring.

There is one time when deadheading a hydrangea may not be good idea: right before winter. Buds for next spring’s blooms should be left alone, not cut down, unless you don’t want any blooms next spring. Reblooming hydrangeas, like White Wedding Hydrangea, should be deadheaded right after they finish their spring or summer blooming cycle. Deadheading can be done either right after flowering, late winter at the end of the season, or early spring before the next season begins. Spring is the best time to deadhead your hydrangea, while lacecap hydrangeas can be deadheaded at the end of summer, when the blooms are spent. Most pruning is carried out in late winter or early spring, but climbing hydrangeas are pruned after flowering in summer.