Hydrangeas? Prune now
If winter damaged your hydrangeas, a simple pruning step this month can secure spring blooms — Tom’s Guide lays out the timing and cuts to maximize flowers. (tomsguide.com)
Bigleaf (H. macrophylla, aka mophead) and oakleaf (H. quercifolia) set flower buds on “old wood” and therefore should be pruned after they finish flowering rather than in late winter. (almanac.com) Panicle (H. paniculata) and smooth (H. arborescens) hydrangeas bloom on new wood and are routinely cut back in late winter or early spring before growth resumes. (extension.umd.edu) For new-wood types, extensions advise removing about one‑third to one‑half of the shrub’s mass or shortening stems to roughly 12 inches, with severe rejuvenation cuts taken to 6–12 inches from the ground for overgrown plants. (extension.illinois.edu) (theskilledgardener.com) Pruning old‑wood hydrangeas before they leaf out will remove the previous year’s flower buds and commonly results in a season with few or no blooms, so wait until after bloom to thin those varieties. (almanac.com) (extension.umd.edu) A simple scratch test—exposing green tissue vs. brown—identifies live vs. dead stems, and dead wood should be cut back to healthy tissue while keeping heading cuts about 1/4 inch above an outward bud. (tomsguide.com) (extension.umd.edu) Use bypass hand pruners for stems up to about 1/2 inch, loppers for thicker branches up to roughly 1.5 inches, and a pruning saw for old wood; disinfect blades between cuts with alcohol or diluted bleach to prevent disease spread. (theskilledgardener.com) (oggardenonline.com) After a hard spring prune on new‑wood types, expect flowering in mid to late summer (panicle types often bloom by mid‑July), and standard aftercare includes a balanced, time‑release fertilizer applied in spring with follow‑up feeding as needed. (extension.umd.edu) (extension.oregonstate.edu)
