Too big hydrangea

Older_But_Not_Wiser

Hi all

I suspect I've made another newbie mistake in buying a hydrangea 'Pinky Winky' simply because I fell in love with it at the garden centre. It didn't have a label with it, and having looked it up online it seems that it is going to grow much too large for the tiny front garden I planned to put it in. Do you think it would be best to put it in a large pot to try to restrict its growth or just plant it in the ground and accept that I'll probably have to dig it out in a few years when it gets too big?

Any and all advice welcome!

torbrex

Just prune it, I do mine every year

dirty_magic

How much can you cut back so that it flowers the next year? Mine is getting big again but last time I pruned it it didn't flower the following year.

torbrex

dirty_magic wrote: »

How much can you cut back so that it flowers the next year? Mine is getting big again but last time I pruned it it didn't flower the following year.

As flowers are produced on this years new growth, you need to be carefull to leave some if you want flowers next year.

I tend to just 'dead head' the flowers in the spring and prune back any branches that have become too big, I also take at least one of the older branches right back to the base to encourage new growth from the base.