To Prune, or Not to Prune? That is the question...
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The shears and saws of hydrangea cutting, Or to take arms against unnessesary pruning, And by opposing enjoy the blooms of summer?
With my apologies to both William Shakespeare and my high school English teacher, Mr Pavini, the question is a pressing one for many hydrangea owners.
The hydrangea group of plants is a fascinating and exciting group. There are lots of diverse kinds of hydrangeas. That’s great for adding a variety of sizes, colors, and bloom times to your landscape. But unfortunately while they were all called hydrangeas, their pruning requirements may differ somewhat.
There is one safe method with which you will not risk pruning off this year‘s flower buds. That is the “not to prune“ option. Simply leave them alone! Hydrangeas existed long before pruning shears did. They certainly don’t need pruning in order to survive.
But if your hydrangea is getting a little big for the spot, or needs a little bit of discipline, you may need to do some pruning. So the question always arises of when to prune. It’s probably one of the questions we get asked the most frequently.
Let’s take a little step back for a moment. Let’s look at hydrangeas in general and divide them out into some broad categories so you can make your pruning decision. The first question I would ask is what color your hydrangea is. If the answer is white, you can easily prune them now without risking losing a single flower bud. (There is one exception to this but it so uncommon as to be a non-issue.)
That leaves the non-white hydrangeas; blue, pink, or some combination. These types of hydrangeas form flower buds last fall that winter over on the existing twigs and flower this summer. Or I should say they have the POTENTIAL to bloom this summer. Whether they actually do bloom will depend on the specific variety of hydrangea, as well as what the winter deals us. If we have a harsh and cold winter, the flower buds that exist on the twigs will sometimes be killed. With the good varieties of hydrangea such as Endless Summer, or Bloomstruck, they will create a second set of flower buds that will still allow the plants to bloom this year, albeit a little bit later.
Because in some years this first set of wintering buds is killed by cold temperatures, folks are sometimes a little bit snip-happy. They prune off branches that would have flowered a bit earlier this summer. While it certainly does not hurt the plant, it reduces the amount of enjoyment that you get from them. There is no downside to waiting to prune a blue hydrangea. While the existing stems may look a bit stark in an otherwise vibrant landscape, look at them as being natures staking system. They provide some support to the new soft stems as they grow.
I realize that’s a bit of a long answer to a short question, but surely it would be something that Mr. Shakespeare was proud of
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The shears and saws of hydrangea cutting, Or to take arms against unnessesary pruning, And by opposing enjoy the blooms of summer?
With my apologies to both William Shakespeare and my high school English teacher, Mr Pavini, the question is a pressing one for many hydrangea owners.
The hydrangea group of plants is a fascinating and exciting group. There are lots of diverse kinds of hydrangeas. That’s great for adding a variety of sizes, colors, and bloom times to your landscape. But unfortunately while they were all called hydrangeas, their pruning requirements may differ somewhat.
There is one safe method with which you will not risk pruning off this year‘s flower buds. That is the “not to prune“ option. Simply leave them alone! Hydrangeas existed long before pruning shears did. They certainly don’t need pruning in order to survive.
But if your hydrangea is getting a little big for the spot, or needs a little bit of discipline, you may need to do some pruning. So the question always arises of when to prune. It’s probably one of the questions we get asked the most frequently.
Let’s take a little step back for a moment. Let’s look at hydrangeas in general and divide them out into some broad categories so you can make your pruning decision. The first question I would ask is what color your hydrangea is. If the answer is white, you can easily prune them now without risking losing a single flower bud. (There is one exception to this but it so uncommon as to be a non-issue.)
That leaves the non-white hydrangeas; blue, pink, or some combination. These types of hydrangeas form flower buds last fall that winter over on the existing twigs and flower this summer. Or I should say they have the POTENTIAL to bloom this summer. Whether they actually do bloom will depend on the specific variety of hydrangea, as well as what the winter deals us. If we have a harsh and cold winter, the flower buds that exist on the twigs will sometimes be killed. With the good varieties of hydrangea such as Endless Summer, or Bloomstruck, they will create a second set of flower buds that will still allow the plants to bloom this year, albeit a little bit later.
Because in some years this first set of wintering buds is killed by cold temperatures, folks are sometimes a little bit snip-happy. They prune off branches that would have flowered a bit earlier this summer. While it certainly does not hurt the plant, it reduces the amount of enjoyment that you get from them. There is no downside to waiting to prune a blue hydrangea. While the existing stems may look a bit stark in an otherwise vibrant landscape, look at them as being natures staking system. They provide some support to the new soft stems as they grow.
I realize that’s a bit of a long answer to a short question, but surely it would be something that Mr. Shakespeare was proud of
Location |
|