The perfect pruning for hydrangeas

Fall or spring cut?

Basically you can Hydrangeas Cut in spring or just before winter. The spring pruning offers an ecological advantage, because the decorative, dried up flowers serve as winter quarters for some insects. In addition, the frost does less damage because there are no open interfaces.

A pruning after winter proves to be problematic if you have the shrub with a Garden fleece protect from the cold. Due to the poor air circulation, mold can develop more quickly on the dead plant parts. If you cut off the inflorescences in autumn, then fungal pathogens will not have a breeding ground. However, the risk of frost damage is higher.

How to cut properly

The pruning measures depend on the particular variety in your garden. It is important to know whether the shrub will develop flowers on annual or perennial shoots. Basically, the varieties that bloom on previous year's branches tolerate a more radical cut better. If the branches are too close, you can use any

hydrangea thin out a bit and cut these specimens at the base.

Group 1: Farmer's and plate hydrangeas.

Radical pruning should be avoided, as many varieties will only sparse flowers in the next year. Gentle shape corrections include cutting out weak and dead branches. Remove dried inflorescences just below the roots. You can remove old wood that has branched out to a few centimeters above the ground. In this way you thin out the bush and the hydrangea draws new energy for fresh budding.

Good to know:

• The varieties 'The Bride' and 'Endless Summer' have a special position
• Any amount of pruning in spring is not a problem
• severely shortened previous year's shoots bear abundant flowers in the same year
• however, flowering does not set in until late after spring pruning

Group 2: Panicle and ball hydrangeas

The varieties that bloom on annual wood turn out to be uncomplicated. By removing the old inflorescences, you can correct the growth habit and shorten branches that are too long to 30 centimeters at the same time. It does no harm to the plants if short stubs with one pair of eyes are left over. This will encourage dense branching. Make sure there are at least one or two pairs of buds.

Special case: climbing hydrangeas

Basically, the specimens are treated like hydrangeas of the first cut group. Except for removing the old flowers, this group of hydrangeas hardly requires any attention. If the shrub grows too high, a more generous pruning is possible. It can happen that after this measure, the next bloom fails sparsely or fails completely. This is due to the fact that varieties of the original species Hydrangea petilolaris bloom on perennial wood.