Northeast Gardening: Hydrangea question, 1 by bbrookrd

bbrookrd wrote:
tamberlin, here is a great site. http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/pruning.html

In the past I have trimmed a few of next years blooms in error too on my lacecaps. My favorite hydrangea is the oakleaf hydrangea that can get huge. Here is a collage of one of them. We prune them but we only take out about a third of it at a time to ensure that we don't destroy all the blooms. I leave 2/3rds of the branches uncut and then cut down the rest to the height I want to actually keep the plant at and then the next year I cut out the tallest ones and so on and on. It keeps them at a height that I want. I also cut out any old stuff or crossed branches or just crowded ones. Seems to work. I love the fall color. No one on Nantucket seems to wrap any types and we get wind galore, but we are not as cold as you. Patti