Hydrangea question please.

TravellingAbuela

Ever since I cut back my hydrangea, and it was left flowerless the following year, I have been wary of trimming the bush back! However, now the flowers are dying back (and it's looking a bit sad), am I safe just snipping them off near the base of the flower or will this affect next year's flowers too?

westiea

There are 2 schools of thought -

- Leaving the flower heads on (now and deadheading in spring) protects the new flower buds through the winter.

- Deadheading now tidys the plant and on heavy mophead types can stop heavy snow breaking stems.

Personally I leave them on as the new flower buds are just underneath those dead flower heads and can easily be removed accidentally and after last winter I feel any protection they can get is beneficial! I deadhead after the last frosts in spring.

Kay_Peel

Before I got to know my hydrangeas I made the mistake of cutting them back. They didn't flower the first year, they put up a couple of flowers the second year and only returned to full blooming in the third year. I didn't make that mistake again. The best way to tackle them is to completely remove some of the older branches every year.

I would strongly recommend that you don't deadhead the blooms at this time of year.

The seed-heads will look very impressive in winter - especially in frost and snow - and they make the garden look interesting and they attract birds. Once Spring comes it's very easy to snap off the dried seedheads and put them on the compost heap, making way for the new blooms.

Good luck!

A._Badger

Don't cut them back at this time of year would be my advice, too. I've grown a lot of hydrangeas and stick to a light spring prune, once growth has begun. The old idea that dead heads (albeit unsightly) proetct next year's buds seems to quite right in my experience.

TravellingAbuela

Thanks all, it seems you are unanimous in thinking I should leave the dead heads on till Spring.