By pruning correctly, you can ensure that your hydrangea blooms profusely every year and does not lose any flowers. The timing plays a less important role. What is more important is the intensity of the pruning measures, which varies depending on the variety.
How do you cut ball hydrangeas correctly?
Answer: For ball hydrangeas that bloom on annual wood, remove old inflorescences and shorten branches that are too long to 30 cm. Leave short stubs with a pair of eyes to encourage branching. Make sure there are at least one or two pairs of buds.
Autumn or spring pruning?
Basically, you can cut hydrangeas in spring or just before winter. Spring pruning offers an ecological advantage because the decorative, dried flowers serve as winter quarters for some insects. In addition, the frost causes less damage because there are no open interfaces.
Pruning after winter can be problematic if you protect the bush from the cold with a garden fleece (€6.00 on Amazon). Due to the low air circulation, mold can form more quickly on the dead plant parts. If you cut off the inflorescences in autumn, fungal pathogens have no breeding ground. However, the risk of frost damage is higher.
How to cut correctly
Pruning measures depend on the particular variety in your garden. It is important to know whether the shrub develops flowers on annual or perennial shoots. In principle, varieties that bloom on branches from the previous year tolerate more radical pruning better. If the branches are too close, you can thin out each hydrangea a little and cut these specimens off at the base.
Group 1: Farmhouse and plate hydrangeas
Radical pruning should be avoided as many varieties only produce sparse flowers next year. Gentle shape corrections include cutting out weak and dead branches. Remove dried inflorescences just below the base. Old wood that has branched heavily can be removed to a few centimeters above the ground. This is how you thin out the bush and the hydrangea draws new energy for fresh shoots.
Good to know:
- Varieties 'The Bride' and 'Endless Summer' have a special position
- pruning as hard as you like in spring is no problem
- Severely shortened shoots from the previous year bear lush flowers in the same year
- however, flowering starts late after spring pruning
Group 2: Panicle and ball hydrangeas
The varieties that bloom on annual wood prove to be uncomplicated. By removing the old inflorescences, you can simultaneously correct the growth habit and shorten branches that are too long to 30 centimeters. It does not harm the plants if short stubs with a pair of eyes remain. This will encourage the formation of dense branches. Make sure there are at least one or two pairs of buds.
Special case: climbing hydrangeas
Basically, the specimens are treated like hydrangeas in the first cutting group. Other than removing the old flowers, this group of hydrangeas requires little attention. If the shrub grows too tall, a more generous pruning is possible. It may happen that after this measure the next flowering will be sparse or completely absent. This is because varieties of the original Hydrangea petilolaris flower on perennial wood.
