How to prune your Hydrangea's.

The best time to prune you Hydrangea's is in late winter or early spring. However, climbing hydrangeas are pruned after flowering in summer.

When it comes to dead heading on mophead hydrangeas can, in mild areas, be removed as soon as they have faded, it is best to leave them on the plant over winter to provide some frost protection for the tender growth buds below. Remove the dead flowerheads in early spring, cutting back the stem to the first strong, healthy pair of buds down from the faded bloom

Lacecaps are hardier, and the faded flowerheads can be cut back after flowering to the second pair of leaves below the head in order to prevent seeds developing, which saps energy from the plant.

Cut out one or two of the oldest stems at the base to encourage the production of new, replacement growth that will produce more flowers.

Overgrown or poorly shaped plants can be entirely renovated by cutting off all the stems at the base. However, this will remove all the flowers for that summer. The new stems won’t bloom until the following year.

Hydrangea paniculata and Hydrangea arborescens are treated differently. Although the only essential work is to remove dead wood in spring, these species flower more prolifically when pruned back annually to a framework of branches. Each spring, cut back last year’s stems to a pair of healthy buds to maintain a permanent framework.