Landscaping ideas Dallas–Pruning Hydrangeas
Landscaping ideas Dallas–Hydrangeas
By Maria Bargellini, of Dallas Curb Appeal
If you’re in TX and have shade, chances are you know and love Hydrangeas. It’s a safe bet to say you also have tons of Hydrangea questions. Hopefully this article can help you out. If you have additional questions feel free to comment below and we’ll be sure to send you the answer.
Pruning– When do you prune them– why didn’t they flower?
There are 2 main categories of Hydrangeas when considering pruning.
- Those that bloom on current year’s growth–arborescens
- Those that bloom on old wood, more commonly know as last year’s growth–macrophylla
The arborescens Hydrangeas that bloom on new wood are typically the white hydrangeas like Annabelle and Paniculata Grandiflora (PG). They put on new growth in the spring and then later in the summer the flower buds are actually produced right at the end of that new growth. That’s why the Annabelle and PG are such prolific bloomers. They set flower buds and almost immediately those buds produce big, beautiful, abundant flowers. So these types can be trimmed down once they lose their leaves. Annabelle and PG hydrangea and other hydrangeas that flower on new wood can be pruned during the late fall, winter or early spring. Once they start growing in the spring do not do any pruning until after they bloom.
Macrophylla or Hydrangeas that bloom on “old wood” include Nikko Blue, Endless Summer and many
other popular pinks and blues. OK so what all this means is that next season’s blooms will appear on the last years woody stems. They are all busy right now story food and preparing for next years big beautiful flowers. So if you prune them you will be cutting off any chance of blooms next spring. With the Blue and Pink Hydrangeas (macrophyllas) all kinds of things can go wrong with the flower buds. Since the flower buds are produced in August and September they may have to make it through a harsh winter before they can bloom. The flower buds can be damaged by extreme cold. Pruning? You should prune macrophylla hydrangeas right after they bloom, before they have a chance to start making new flower buds.
One of the most popular new varieties on the market is “Endless Summer Hydrangea” and it is known to bloom more than once in a season. It’s in the macrophylla family and sets flower buds on old wood, but it is also known to set more buds and produce flowers during the growing season. It should still be treated as a hydrangea that blooms on old wood.
So if your hydrangea did not bloom then the flower buds might have gotten pruned off, or they may have been damaged over the winter–lucky for us, harsh winters are not common. Of course now that I opened my mouth we’ll have 12″ of snow. Hydrangeas like more water than most plants, they are quick to droop and let you know just how unhappy they are. In our HOT TX sun they do best in shade. North facing or morning filtered sun is best. We also suffer from low acidity in our soil and Hydrangeas have better color when acidified compost, or other food is added to the soil.
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