Time and frequency
Snowball hydrangeas carry their flowers on the fresh shoot, which is formed in spring. Therefore, you should not cut back these shrubs too late. Pruning measures are possible until the end of February, with autumn proving to be the optimal period. If your hydrangea If you want to get bigger, you do not need to cut back annually. You can thin out the ornamental shrub as required if it has grown too densely.
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advantages
Regular pruning ensures that the shrub becomes increasingly dense. Two shoots emerge at each intersection, as the buds appear in pairs in opposite directions. Therefore, cutting also promotes a lush flow of flowers. The earlier in the year the branches are cut, the sooner the plants bloom. For this reason, you should prefer the fall pruning.
Act like that Hydrangea flowers in the winter:
- withered flower balls create interesting accents in the winter garden
- Snow and hoar frost create an aesthetic mood on the flowers
- light brown shades counteract the monotony
The right cut
You can remove branches that are growing inwards at any time, or you can remove clusters that are too close together. When cutting, make sure that the blade is slightly angled and one centimeter above the pair of buds. If you shorten the shoots just a little, the shrubs will develop a stable framework of twigs. However, their flowers then remain smaller. This practice is recommended if you have the large-blooded Cut the hydrangea 'Annabelle', or if the plants thrive in locations exposed to wind.
First cut
Slightly cut back newly planted snowball hydrangeas in the spring. Select three to five strong shoots, shortening them to 30 to 50 centimeters. In the following year, you focus on the previous year's shoots, ten centimeters of which remain after the cut.
Follow-up cuts
Are the Hydrangeas When grown in well, all withered shoots are cut off to half their length. One or two pairs of eyes must remain on the branch. Remove sick, old, and dead branches just above the ground so the plant doesn't waste energy.
Tips
Varieties such as 'Annabelle', which develop particularly large flower balls, need support after they have been cut. Your flowers then sit on relatively thin shoots.
Cutting group
Snowball hydrangeas come from the original species Hydrangea arborescens. Occasionally they are known as forest or shrub hydrangeas. You count like Panicle hydrangeas to the second cutting group, whose cut proves to be uncomplicated.
Mistakenly some Farm hydrangeas of the species Hydrangea macrophylla also offered as ball hydrangeas. However, they belong to a group that requires careful and not radical pruning.
