hydrangea help

Hi. Last year we got a hydrangea from a garden centre. Its a little unusual and has long dark stalks with a caphead type flower cluster. As we were preparing the garden for winter i severed my foot at work so obviously the garden got left. The hydrangea was given as dead but recently its showing green shoots low down. What do we do and when? Cheers for any help

 

Hi daznjo hope your foot is now better. I assume you left the dried flower heads on the plant over winter. Remove them in early spring by cutting back to the first strong pair of healthy looking buds further down the stem. At the base you can also remove one or two of the older stems which will encourage new and healthy growth.

If it's a 'Lacecap' variety which are much hardier they can be deadheaded after flowering to the second pair of leaves.

If you consisder the plant to be past it, you can cut it all down to the base but alas you will forfeit any flowers on any new growth for another year. Good Luck it's always good to salvage plants when we know that they have been neglegted!

 

Just cut the shrub back only to half way. Feel the other branches for a hallow/dead sound and remove those. I still have some pruning myself to do with my 14 varieties and also see green on the lower levels. Some of my hydrangeas are 20 feet tall some are the typical 5 foot and some are the wee ones of 3-4 foot. I have lacecaps, cones and balls. And the Ph /soil for the color only pertains to a certain genus of it, not to all of them. Thus several of mine will always be creamy white.