The blooms are looking pretty, no--pretty pitiful, actually, I meant to say. I thought they were to be winter interest and beauty. The leaves are hanging on, but not attractive. What do I do with these?
Thanks,
Judy
Prune Oak Leaf dwarf Pee Gee or Sykes??
Oak leaf hydrangeas bloom on old wood, so I would not prune Sykes or the oak leaf now unless you're willing to sacrifice next year's blooms. I suppose you could strip the leaves off, but they may provide a little protection to the branches if you get any super cold weather so unless they look so horrible that you can't stand looking at them I'd leave them alone and let the plant drop them when it wants to. The Pee Gee blooms on new wood so that one you could prune if you want, but if the shape of the shrub is fine then I wouldn't prune it just to get rid of the leaves.
This message was edited Dec 31, 2008 12:59 PM
Thank you very much for your reply. In the spring do I cut off the old blooms or do they fall off on their own?
I don't recall ever cutting mine off so I think over the course of the winter they eventually go away.
You are right, Judy. The leaves look kind of ugly for 1-2 weeks as they begin to dry out and the plant goes dormant but then they sort of suddenly disintegrate. Just ignore the leaves and you will notice that they are gone... poof... all of the sudden. The flowers eventually fall off too but they are being held in place by harder plant material that takes longer to decay so they stick around for a much longer. Eventually, they too will fall. Or you can cut these "strands of hair" that hold them connected to the plant -if you want- and then use the dried flowers as mulch (assuming the plant has not had any fungal problems in the last growing season).
Thanks, luis, with the wild wind we are having now, they may all be "poofed" away today !! I'm going to go out and look to see what you are calling "strands of hair". That has me intrigued. :-)
Judy
Hee hee hee. I should clarify since that is just a personal expression on my part. There is a stem that connects a bloom to the rest of the plant. This stem takes a while to decay which is why the blooms stay attached to the plant for so long. Sometimes, the stem breaks off (bloom weight, wind, etc) quickly. At other times, the stem stays attached to the bloom and continues to dry/thin out (wind, decay, etc) all the way into Spring. When I find blooms still attached in April-May, the stem has decayed so much more compared to now that I often refer to cutting the stems off as cutting the "strands of hair". ;o)
I am dying! My gardener pruned my oakleaf hydranga that I have been babying for several years. I have two in the corner. They finally got about 5 feet tall ( I have them planted on my back fence in in front of jasmine that is just now covering the fence almost completely.) Anything I can do to help them along besides just wait, wait, wait again?
It should come back with no problems provided the root system is intact. If it had been a paniculata that was in tree-form (also called standard), it would also come back but as a bush and not as a tree and... you would have to train it as a tree all over again.
Is it time for a new gardener? :o)
To err is human but err against a hydrangea owner, OHMYGOD! I feel your pain domijita.