Hydrangeas..when to trim them

[nightraker]

Does anyone have any advice on when to cut hydrangeas back? Mine are huge at the moment but have also started getting a few buds on. I dont want to kill them off (that was my late hubbies job!) just to cut them back a bit..

cheers dears

[torin8]

Spring is a good time to do it when the buds are on and cut them back to a bud. You can cut them back but remember they flower off 1 year old stems so cut 1/2 or a 1/3 of them back this year and then do the rest next year that way you won't lose the flowers

[parcher]

I have a hydrangea outside my front door which I have done everything to kill and nothing has worked! It has been pruned, regardless of season and last year I did it right down to the ground and even tried to dig it up.The result was that this summer it flowered bigger and better than ever. I have a strong suspicion that they are unkillable!

[Don_Kiddick]

I tend to do ours after the March winds.

 

That way you can see the wood for the trees (the gales rip the dry heads off)

 

It's easier then to find the lateral buds

 

Untill March there's the danger frosts will kill the buds if too exposed

[nightraker]

Thank you very much all you would-be Percy Throwers I will follow your advice and do them when you suggest. I dont want them to die cos one of them is white and is quite unusual....and I do quite like em

Thanks again

[Yellowrose]

I think March is a good idea, but I have done the ones in my old garden in February. What I used to do is not cut all the stems right back, but kind of thin it out, cutting most of the previously flowered stems right back but leaving the other stems at a reasonable length ... I read a better explanation of why I did this somewhere, and if I find it I will reproduce it.

[pattricia]

Hydrangeas are my favourite plants so I have lots of them.The dead flower heads are still on,as the gardening books always say"Wait until the last Frosts" before cutting them off.They say the heads act as protection over the new buds. My neighbour cut hers off weeks ago, but Im not convinced we are over the night frosts yet. Have you cut yours off yet?

[parcher]

I have been trying to kill my hydrangea off for years. Originally when it was small, I used to wait until around Easter before I lopped them off. Now however the bush is huge, in an inconvenient place and totally unwanted, so I have been trying to kill it off. Over the past three years, I hacked at it around November when I got fed up fighting through it to get to the front door. It hasn't done one bit of damage to the plant, not even during last years really heavy frosts.

[pattricia]

I have been trying to kill my hydrangea off for years. Originally when it was small, I used to wait until around Easter before I lopped them off. Now however the bush is huge, in an inconvenient place and totally unwanted, so I have been trying to kill it off. Over the past three years, I hacked at it around November when I got fed up fighting through it to get to the front door. It hasn't done one bit of damage to the plant, not even during last years really heavy frosts.

 

Yes, they are very hardy plants arent they.If you cant manually move it, try pouring pure bleach on the roots.

[parcher]

I tried spraying it with Round up last year and it grew even better than before! I am not sure about bleach though, I would hate to burn my cats' feet.