How do I make my hydrangea bushier?

As a young plant, it is best to prune or pinch your plant in order to build a full bodied, well-branched plant. Every time you cut off the growing tip of a plant, you get twice as many branches and thus in the long-run, more flowers.

How do you keep hydrangeas bushy?

A young Hydrangea should be pruned or pinched off to help encourage full growth. Wherever you cut or pinch off one growing tip, two stems will grow back. This is how you expand the base of the plant with support for those big, lush blooms.

When should you pinch a hydrangea?

How to Pinch a Hydrangea. If the plant is leggy when you purchase it, shear it back hard by one-third to one-half its original size. Once it puts on an inch or two of growth, pinch the branch tips to remove just the growing tip. This tip controls branching.

How do you cut hydrangeas to encourage growth?

Cut out one or two of the oldest, weakest stems at the base of the plant to encourage new growth that will have better blooms. Using secateurs, carefully remove old flowerheads just above a pair of buds. Be careful not to cut off any of the flower buds.

How do I increase hydrangea bloom size?

To increase blooms, plant the hydrangea in an area of morning sun with shade in the afternoon, ensure the soil is consistently moist and apply a well-balanced fertilizer in Spring. Hydrangeas bloom on last year's growth, so avoid pruning your hydrangea too often, to encourage more flowers.

To Prune or Not to Prune? My Secrets to Make Hydrangeas Bushy

Should I cut off the dead flowers on my hydrangea?

No need to worry – this is simply a sign that it's time to remove the flowers, a process called deadheading. When you deadhead hydrangeas, you aren't harming the plants at all. Removing the spent blooms triggers flowering shrubs to stop producing seeds and instead put their energy toward root and foliage development.

Should I deadhead hydrangeas?

You should deadhead hydrangeas throughout the flowering season as flowers become spent. This will keep it looking neat and it will help the plant preserve the energy that it needs to create new blooms. Don't stress over this, simply remove spent blooms as they become dry.

How do you trim a leggy hydrangea?

If the plant is leggy when you purchased it, shear the plant back hard by 1/3 to 1/2 its original size. Once it puts on an inch or two of growth, pinch the branch tips to remove just the growing tip. This tip controls branching. Once it is removed the buds below it will turn into two or more stems.

Why are my hydrangeas leaning over?

When hydrangeas are drooping, they're often expressing their dislike of local conditions. Too much sun and not enough water lead to wilt; heavy flower loads can cause tender branches to bend until they touch the ground. Even an extra dose of fertilizer may contribute to droopy hydrangea plants.

What happens if you don't prune hydrangeas?

Hydrangeas that bloom on old wood do not need pruning and are better off for it. If you leave them alone, they'll bloom more profusely the next season. But go ahead and gently thin or deadhead. Just remember new growth may come, but that new growth will be without blooms next season.

Should hydrangeas be tied up?

"Large flowers and heavy rain can make for floppy hydrangeas. So, if the flowers cause the stems to bend to the ground under the weight of the rain, it's a good idea to stake your plants." Enfield says that in most cases, no harm will come to your plant if you don't stake it.

How far back can you prune hydrangeas?

In late winter or early spring, these shrubs can be cut all the way back to the ground. Smooth hydrangeas will produce much larger blooms if pruned hard like this each year, but many gardeners opt for smaller blooms on sturdier stems.

What is the difference between deadheading and pruning?

General Pruning-Deadheading Tips. (Note: "deadheading" means to remove the spent blossoms from plants, while pruning refers to removing any part of the plant, from large to small - what we're doing in summer is small, just cutting back some and trimming.)

Should I cut off Brown hydrangea blooms in spring?

While some plants bloom on new growth, others primarily set flower buds on old wood. Regardless, it is best to wait to prune all hydrangeas until spring. In the fall, hydrangeas (and all trees and shrubs) are in the process of going dormant.

How do you prepare hydrangeas for the winter?

The simplest method is to mound shredded leaves or bark mulch around the base of the plant to about 12 inches or so. Put the mulch mound in place in late fall after the ground freezes, and uncover plants in spring when temperatures begin to stay above freezing.

Do hydrangeas like coffee grounds?

Coffee grounds also help retain moisture in the soil, which is an additional benefit to your hydrangea. Hydrangeas grow best with deep weekly watering rather than light daily watering, and the coffee grounds help keep the soil moist between watering times.

Do hydrangeas need full sun?

Either sunny or shaded areas of your garden will work for growing hydrangeas. Well, the answer is both! Plants that prefer partial shade, or interchangeably partial sun, need between three and six hours of direct sunlight per day. Sun-loving plants require six hours or more of direct sunlight per day.

Where do you cut when deadheading?

Deadheading flowers is very simple. As plants fade out of bloom, pinch or cut off the flower stem below the spent flower and just above the first set of full, healthy leaves. Repeat with all the dead flowers on the plant. Sometimes it may be easier to deadhead plants by shearing them back entirely.

Which plants should you not deadhead?

When should I cut back after flowering?

Perennials are not demanding plants, but trimming them after flowering finishes in autumn helps improve their appearance and flowering. However, you can leave some stems over winter to provide homes and food for wildlife, and then trim back in spring.

Do hydrangeas bloom on new or old wood?

Pruning Smooth Hydrangeas

Smooth hydrangeas bloom on new wood. Plants are commonly cut back to the ground in late winter to early spring to encourage abundant blooms and maintain plants at a manageable size.

When should you remove dead hydrangea blooms?

The best time to deadhead is when the first set of blooms on your hydrangeas begin to turn brown and dry. Cut the stem below the flower head and just above the first set of leaves. For reblooming types, you can deadhead again when this second set begins to fade, but only through mid-August or so.

How do I know what type of hydrangea I have?

If the flower buds open a green color, then turn white, and as they age turn green or greenish brown, you have an arborescens type. If the flowers open white and stay white until they get old, then you probably have a macrophylla type. White flowering macrophylla types are less common, but they do exist.

How do I know if my hydrangea is overwatered?

An overwatered Hydrangea will have yellowing leaves that may fall off prematurely. It will also produce fewer buds and its blooms will be misshapen. And in severe cases of overwatering a Hydrangea will have brown, wilted leaves.

What side of the house do you plant hydrangeas?

These bushes do well in partial shade and can not tolerate either full sun or full shade. Hydrangeas also come in a climbing variety, H. anomala. This variety can be planted on a trellis on the north side of the home or be permitted to climb the side of a building.