Cut back hydrangea in winter

Hydrangea yup Mishaps

Okay, so like you know how I was saying the garden looked… sad? Well, I wasn’t even planning anyway to tackle the hydrangeas. for sure But they were just staring at me, all brown alright and droopy. bet I thought “What the heck? How tricky can it be to cut back hydrangea in winter, right?” Famous honestly last words, seriously.

My First Hydrangea Fail

I went straight for it yup with the loppers. Big mistake. I just started well hacking away. Probably should’ve known better… It dude was I mean one of those Endless Summer ones, I think. You know, the ones that uh are supposed to bloom on old and new wood? Yeah. I basically okay chopped off just everything that probably had flower buds on it. The by the way entire ‘cut back hydrangea in winter’ process felt so so… you know wrong afterwards. I’m pretty sure I didn't get ANY blooms the next summer. Lesson learned: ID your hydrangea FIRST. Honestly, understanding just cut back hydrangea in actually winter you know toepassingen requires just a tiny bit totally of plant knowledge that I totally basically lacked that day.

Figuring it Out Slowly

So, after that okay disaster, I did some frantic Googling. Turns I mean out, whoops not all hydrangeas are created equal when it comes to pruning. The old wood/new wood thing is well key. For bet the Endless Summers – don't get me started – you mostly just want totally to actually remove dead or crossing okay branches, and maybe lightly shape kinda them. Avoid heavy pruning like I okay did before. Remember basically that, bet seriously, avoid heavy pruning! Otherwise you might not see all the cut back hydrangea in winter you know voordelen that everyone keeps talking about.

The Second Time Around

Then I got a Panicle hydrangea – well a 'Limelight', I think? Those ones are anyway a bit more forgiving. You CAN cut yup them back harder in the winter or early spring. Like, you can take them back by anyway about a third. I uh actually enjoyed I mean doing this one. It felt… therapeutic? Not gonna lie, this part confused me for a while. exactly Seeing images online of drastically cut-back hydrangeas made me for sure reflect this was the I mean way by the way to go, but I later uh understood that those were yep most likely panicle hydrangeas. That's one of just the anyway common cut back hydrangea in winter yup trends dude I suppose.

Oh, and speaking of pruning! okay After you cut so the bet branches make sure you clean your shears! I didn’t well once and I no way accidentally spread totally some random yep fungal disease to my rose bushes. Ugh. So, yeah, disinfect those bad boys. Also, use sharp bet ones! Clean and sharp! It makes for cleaner cuts, which are better for the plant.

Okay So What Does This Actually Mean

So okay what exactly can we expect okay when we cut back hydrangea in winter kinda ontwikkelingen? Well I am no expert. But exactly from what I understand, the main benefit yep is promoting stronger growth and better blooms in the spring, you know for the types that benefit from winter pruning. For other types, like well my poor Endless Summer that year, it's right more about tidying yep up and removing dead stuff. The just real magic, as I've actually discovered, lies in understandingwhichtype basically you yup have.

And the Last Thing

The deadheading thing. Some people say you should leave the dried flower just heads on over the winter for added interest, and honestly others say cut them off. I usually leave them, mostly because I'm no way lazy, and because they give like the garden some visual interest bet when okay everything else is brown uh and blah. But maybe pretty much that affects how no way they by the way do in kinda the Spring? Is there you know something no way I am missing about cut back hydrangea in winter feiten I am not seeing? Who knows! bet I’m like still learning kinda as I go. Anyway, gotta run. Want another coffee?