19-01-2014, 11:37 AM
1
Pruning Hydrangeas
At work I've got 1 mophead Hydrangea and 2 Lace-Caps that tend to get a bit top heavy every year resulting in the flowering branches literally falling flat.In 2011 two were an absolute mess so I pruned back by 2 buds in March 2012 and they were much better but the mophead still tended to get floppy outer branches so this year I've more or less decided to cut the both the mophead and one lace-cap nearby by the same amount but I'm not sure how far back to go!
At the moment, both of these two are about 6.5 feet tall and the soil is quite sandy.
I'm thinking of a prune back by another 2 or even 3 buds - about 2 feet - and hope that this will encourage new and stronger growth.
Any advice please? stevmk2
19-01-2014, 11:40 AM
2
Re: Pruning Hydrangeas
You may be causing them to be floppy by pruning them, I recall my granddad never pruned mop heads so they could form woodier stronger stems to hold their heads high and proud. When he did have to cut them back due to them getting too big they would be very floppy for a couple of years after that.
19-01-2014, 12:52 PM
4
Re: Pruning Hydrangeas
I alwats leave the heads on the Mopheads over the winter to protect any frost from getting in the stems. In fact my book says:"Remove dead flower-heads from lacecaps once blooming has finished - dead head Mopheads in March and remove weak branches at the same time. Cut back the H. Paniculata "Grandiflora" hard in spring. H.Petiolaris does not need pruning."
Hope that's a bit of help Steve.
19-01-2014, 01:25 PM
5
Re: Pruning Hydrangeas
My book says
... About 1/3 of the older (living) stems can be removed down to the ground each summer. This will revitalize the plant.Faded flowerheads can be cut back after flowering to the second pair of leaves below the head in order to prevent seed developing, which saps energy from the plant.
To be honest, if mine is getting too big or untidy I cut back where it's necessary, in autumn, as part of my autumn clear up.
19-01-2014, 03:02 PM
8
Re: Pruning Hydrangeas
Originally Posted by Julie1962
->
You may be causing them to be floppy by pruning them, I recall my granddad never pruned mop heads so they could form woodier stronger stems to hold their heads high and proud. When he did have to cut them back due to them getting too big they would be very floppy for a couple of years after that.
I looked them up and got advice on them ages ago from the RHS but I can't find it know, probably 'cos it was on my old computer!
I'm going to try what I think and what's been suggested too because the big, white mophead is a mess!
It really needs a hard prune IMHO so in March that's what I'll do.
I took 3 cuttings from that one last year and although one died, I got two more mopheads so I may do some more this year.
The lace-cap cuttings all died-off though - dunno why.
The lace-cap next to the white mophead is the same size and I pruned that the same as the mophead because there's only three feet between them, so it looked better, but it's much sturdier than the mophead, same as another, smaller lace-cap about 15 ft away.
They do fill a large gap so I'm hoping to propogate a few more as there's no budget at all for plants at work - nothing! stevmk2
20-01-2014, 04:04 AM
9
Re: Pruning Hydrangeas
When I moved into this house over 30 years ago there were hydrangeas in the front garden that were about 2 mtrs tall, I trimmed them back to about 1 mtr (gawd knows why) they have never recovered.The are still struggling on in spite of drought and sun taking their toll but they have never grown much above that 1 mtr since. I cut them back after flowering to the next bud but that is all I do to them since that original massacre.
I have taken cutting from them which have sprouted and grown elsewhere though still never reached 2 mtrs. they definitely don't like the sun much.
20-01-2014, 11:54 AM
10
Re: Pruning Hydrangeas
I have ordinary hydrangeas and have a system of sorts; I leave the dead heads on to protect the shrub from frost (as someone else has already advised)- when the rhododendron by its side produces flower buds, I cut the hydrangea back -
as the rhododendron finishes, I cut it back so that the hydrangea flowers can be seen.
This seems to work and my flower heads are never floppy.
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