Hydrangeas, commonly sold in North America, are divided into five types: bigleaf, mountain, smooth, panicle, and oakleaf. Some form their flower buds on old wood, causing next summer’s buds to be already there. To properly trim a standard hydrangea, follow these steps:
Identify the species: Determine the type of hydrangea you have. Cut back hydrangeas that flower on new wood in late fall or early spring. Prune varieties that flower on old wood immediately after their blooms have faded.
Prepare your tools: Prepare your tools, identify the branches to prune, perform the cuts, and post-pruning care. Choose early spring when they have begun to show new leaf buds.
Clean your pruners: Use rubbing alcohol, heat, bleach, or hydrogen peroxide to clean your pruners.
Clean your hydrangeas: Start by cleaning out shoots that come up near the bottom of the plant and any coming out of the trunk. These are called “suckers” and take valuable resources away from the healthy parts of the tree.
Rejuvenate your hydrangeas by selectively thinning out old stems. Remove no more than one quarter to one third of the older stems each year. In October or November, cut all branches back to about 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) from the top of the trunk.
Trim back stems to just above a fat bud (heading cut) in fall, late winter, or spring. These plants have conical-shaped flower heads and should be pruned in early spring before the flowers begin to bud or after the plant has finished flowering.
📹 How I Prune My Hydrangea Trees: Limelight and Vanilla Strawberry – Late April 2023
Hi everyone, My name is Tracy and I garden (indoors and outdoors) in zone 5, bake and cook at my home in Toronto, Canada.
📹 Pruning a Limelight Hydrangea Tree (Hydrangea paniculata)
In this video, I’m pruning a Limelight Hydrangea Tree, showing you the five things to focus on when pruning these trees.
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