Deadheading Hydrangeas

               My hydrangeas produced a ton of blooms this year with no pruning

My Hydrangea pruning experiment was a success!

It turns out that yours truly, the garden dork, had been pruning my hydrangeas wrong for years. 

What I’ve learned recently, is that you don’t have to trim “mop heads hydrangeas” or “lace caps hydrangeas” (the kind I have)—ever. The only time you need to prune them is when you need to remove dead foliage, or when your plant gets too large. 

Silly me, I was pruning them way back every year and oops, well, they never grew (as a matter of fact they shrunk) and they produced few blooms. 

Last year and after years of inproper pruning the hydrangea is much smaller.

So when I realized what I had done, you can understand why I was nervous about removing the old blooms. Something called deadheading (No deadheading does not mean following an ancient rock group around, dressing like Stevie Nicks, and dancing like a hippie). 

My Hydrangeas are much larger now that they aren't being pruned incorrectly.

It turns out that it is just fine to remove the old blooms. You can do it at any time of year. 

If you removed them in June or July you can actually cut long stems and use the blooms in flower arrangements. 

Any other time of year, you should remove them with very short stems so you won’t cut off any developing bloom buds for next year. 

Here is the Hydrangea after deadheading

Simply cut above the first set of large leaves, and your blooms will be safe.

Comments

[Wendy]

I appreciate this post very much as this is my first attempt at hydrangeas. My lace caps are done blooming and I didn't know what to do. I knew hard pruning was a no-no but everything I read is just so long and complicated. You condensed it all into what I need to know. Thanks!!!

[chigiy]

Wendy,
I hope I helped you out. I am the same way, just give me the facts and none of the fluff. Good luck with your hydrangea.