I have searched the Internet on the topic of trimming hydrangeas and am still a little confused. My plants are huge and I want to cut them back, but not lose the flowers this summer.

How you prune your hydrangeas depends on what type you have. The old-fashioned pompon variety (Hydrangea macrophylla) blooms on previous year’s growth, or what is referred to as old wood, while Hydrangea paniculata and Hydrangea arborescens set flowers on the current year’s growth.

Let me start with the old-fashioned type as they are the most popular. Also included in this group are lacecaps and oakleafs (H. quercifolia). Little pruning is required with these hydrangeas. In fact, improperly pruned bushes can result in bushes not producing any blooms. In late winter you can tidy up the plant by removing old flower heads and cutting back any dead wood to ground level. Now if you live in a region that experiences topsy-turvy springs with warm spells and cold snaps, wait to prune until after the last frost date. As you prune, cut the faded blooms back to the first set of leaves or leaf buds. If you have a mature shrub that has grown dense in the center, it is a good idea to remove about 1/3 of the oldest stems. This may sacrifice some of the coming summer’s blooms, but it will open the plant up to light and circulation, making it a happier and healthier plant.

Things get a little trickier when it comes to reducing the size of the plant. You have two options. The first option is to cut the plant back in late winter. This will mean that the hydrangea won’t bloom until next year, but I find it much easier to prune at this time because the bones of the shrub are more visible. Simply cut mature stems back by about 1/3. If the plant is completely out of control, cut all the stems back to about 1 1/2 feet tall. Over the course of the summer thin out the new shoots to avoid overcrowding.

The second option is to prune your old-fashioned hydrangea immediately after the flowers fade in the summer. The timing on this is important because the plant needs enough time for the new shoots to harden off before the first frost in fall. For this type of summer pruning, reduce the unwanted height by about 1/3.

Pruning H. paniculata and H. arborescens is a much less complicated task because they bloom on new wood.

‘PeeGee’ is a popular variety of H. paniculata. It produces large cone shaped, creamy white blooms that fade to a nice coppery pink in the fall. ‘PeeGee’ is often grown in a tree form or what is referred to as a standard. This is a single stalk with growth weeping from the top. In late winter cut the stems back to two buds above the base of the stems.

I grow H. arborescens ‘Annabelle’ in my garden. It produces huge, white, pompon shaped blooms in late summer. ‘Annabelle’ is a good choice for people living in both cold regions and warm climates. It is less finicky than H. macrophylla, which is only hardy to zone 5 and also doesn’t do well in areas that don’t experience a dormant season. In late winter I simply cut the plant back to varying heights of 1 to 3 feet from the ground. This will help the plant to maintain its informal shape.

I received a blooming hydrangea for my February birthday. How do I care for it while I have it indoors and can I plant it outside after it blooms?

What a wonderful gift, hydrangeas are such a fresh breath of spring! They are one of my favorite plants because they’re so versatile. You can enjoy them indoors as a long lasting houseplant and them shift them outside and enjoy them as a flowering shrub for years to come.

The name hydrangea will tell you a lot about what this plant likes. Hydra means water and these guys love plenty of it. To keep your plant in top shape make sure the soil stays consistently moist, if not wet. Keep it out of direct sunlight. This will help the blooms last longer and prevent the leaves from scorching.

Once the flowers fade, just clip them off and when temperatures are mild, plant it outside. And if you’ll put it on a shady side of the house, you’ll find it will be very happy.

An interesting thing about old-fashioned hydrangeas is the color of the bloom is dictated by the soil pH. For pink flowers you want an alkaline soil and for blue flowers you need more acidic soil. Regardless of your soil’s pH you want to make sure that it’s rich with humus so put some of that compost to good use. And of course you want to make sure your hydrangeas are kept consistently moist.

My Hydrangeas did not bloom last year and it looks like they will not bloom again this year. They are in a mostly shaded area. Please help, I want blooms!

Everyone loves old fashioned hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) and why not? What’s not to love about those showy blooms?

Although hydrangeas are easy to grow they don’t always bloom as expected. And there are some common reasons for that. Let me review some of them.

The number one reason is improper pruning. Old-fashioned hydrangeas set their flowers on previous year’s growth, or what is referred to as old wood. So, in late summer and early fall, your shrub is preparing blooms for next year. In early spring, just as new growth appears, you can tidy up the plant by removing any dead wood and old flower heads. Learn more about pruning hydrangeas.

Other causes for lack of bloom include harsh winter temperatures, warm spells followed by cold weather, and late freezes. All can damage or kill tender flower buds. If you site your plants in a north or east facing area of your garden, you can reduce the chances of the buds opening during aberrant warm winter weather. These areas of the garden warm up slower than south or western exposures. Northern gardeners who know that they are in for a long cold spell can wrap their hydrangeas in burlap for winter protection. Planting the shrubs near house foundations also offers some refuge from cold temperatures.

Too much nitrogen fertilizer will result in an abundance of lovely leaves at the expense of blooms. In my Mid-south garden I fertilize my hydrangeas twice during the summer with a slow release fertilizer, usually in June and then again in August. In cooler climates this can be done once, usually in June. Follow the directions indicated on the fertilizer package.

To learn more about hydrangeas, check out the video below!

I have a follow-up question to your recent article about hydrangeas not blooming. While the explanations offered are helpful for old-fashioned varieties, I’d appreciate some advice for the hydrangeas that bloom on both old and new wood. These varieties should bloom regardless of harsh winter weather or late frosts & freezes. If the proper type of fertilizer is used and still no blooms come, what other variable can explain the absence of bloom? I really want my hydrangeas to be the beautiful, showy shrubs they are promoted and advertised to be, but I am pretty frustrated at this point. Thanks for your help.

The re-blooming hydrangea is a wonderful plant whose powers perhaps got a little distorted in all the excitement when it was introduced. There seems to be confusion between the terms re-blooming and ever blooming. Given the right conditions these shrubs will repeat bloom after the first flush, but they do not bloom continuously. There is also a misconception that re-blooming hydrangeas are ideal for any climate. To uncover the mystery behind why your hydrangeas are not performing as promised, it’s good to know how re-bloomers behave compared to the standard, old-fashioned varieties.

Old-fashioned, bigleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) flower from buds formed on the tips of the stems the previous year. The buds are produced in response to the shorter days and lower temperatures as we approach fall. These hydrangeas bloom the next summer in one glorious show unless the buds are damaged by fall pruning or an especially cold winter or late spring freeze.

Some hydrangeas form buds up and down the stems the previous season, not just at the tips. Because the buds are lower down the stem, closer to the earth, and protected by the foliage of the shrub they can survive lower temperatures than the buds on the tips. They often also escape late season pruning that can eliminate the upper bloom buds. These hydrangeas are called perpetual or free flowering because these lower buds may mature weeks after the first flush of bloom. This makes the blooming period of the shrubs longer.

The beauty of a re-blooming hydrangea is that it will produce flower buds during both the previous season and the current season. If last year’s buds are destroyed by inadvertent pruning, winter temperatures below 10 degrees or a late spring freeze, you can still count on the plant to set new buds on the current season’s growth. This is good news for gardeners in regions where, because of winter hardiness, getting hydrangeas to bloom is difficult.

They are ideal for the Midwest where the winters are usually cold enough to kill the flower buds formed the previous season and yet the warm season is long enough for the shrub to grow, set new bud and bloom before the first fall freeze.

However, in areas where summers are exceptionally short even the re-blooming varieties are not always successful. Typically re-blooming hydrangeas need 12 weeks to produce blooms on new wood. If last fall’s buds are killed over the winter, the growing season may not be long enough for the plant to grow, mature, and bloom before the first autumn frost.

One of my favorite summer flowers is the old-fashioned, pompom shaped Hydrangea macrophylla. I can remember as a child being drawn to the cool shaded area on the north side of the house where my mother had a bank of blue hydrangeas planted. The giant blooms were as big as my head and such a clear, deep blue they seemed to belong in a velvet-lined jewel box rather than casually hanging around the garden.

Old-fashioned hydrangeas are easy to grow if you follow a few simple guidelines. Most varieties are cold hardy to zone 5, which means they will tolerate minimum winter temperatures between -10 and -20 degrees F.

Hydrangeas are traditionally known as shade garden plants, but too much shade can result in reduced bloom production. Ideally they should be situated in areas of light shade to partial sun. If you live in a cool climate you can even plant them in full sun.

Hydrangeas are woodland plants so they prefer to be in consistently moist, well-drained, humus-rich soil. A generous application of mulch will help keep the roots cool and retain moisture. Little pruning is required with old-fashioned hydrangeas. In fact, improperly pruned bushes can result in bushes not producing any blooms. Old-fashioned hydrangeas set their flowers on previous year’s growth, or what is referred to as old wood. So, in late summer and early fall, your shrub is preparing blooms for next year. In early spring you can tidy up the plant by removing any dead wood and old flower heads. Learn more about pruning hydrangeas.

In my Mid-south garden, I fertilize my hydrangeas twice during the summer with a slow release fertilizer, usually in June and then again in August. In cooler climates, this can be done once, usually in June. Follow the directions indicated on the fertilizer package. Just remember that too much nitrogen will result in an abundance of lovely leaves at the expense of blooms.

Who can resist the big pompon flower clusters of old-fashioned hydrangeas? I certainly can’t, but then I love all types of hydrangeas and there are a lot out there to love. There are oakleafs, lacecaps, PeeGees and smooth leaf hydrangeas.