Pruning Hydrangeas Before Spring Blooms - Don't Mess Them Up!

2 Materials
1 Hour
Easy

It's that time of year when all the gardening tools get to come out to play. And one of my favorite things to do in the garden is to trim back last year's dead growth. Today, I'm sharing how I prune mine for the best Spring blooms and how not to mess them up. I learned the hard way as usual.

Here in Texas, I start seeing new Spring growth around March on my hydrangeas. It may be a little later for you, depending on the zone you live in. But for me, it's the perfect time to be Spring pruning hydrangeas. In the past, I tried doing it in the Fall, and every time I did, it stunted the blooms. (insert unhappy face) You want to know why? The blooms are mainly in the new growth, but some varieties will also bloom on old-growth, but I have found that this works best. It can be a real guessing game. Do some research on your variety before trying this method.


Of course, I prune or deadhead old bloom throughout the blooming season, but today I'm strictly talking about Spring pruning.

For me, I wait until I see the new growth in the Spring, and because we had such a crazy cold winter, I waited extra long to make sure I didn't over prune. Many of my plants died this past winter, but so far, my hydrangeas are looking great.


Start with the dead stems that don't have new growth (easy to spot) and run your hand down the stem until you see the first bud or green growth. This is where you'll start pruning the hydrangea stems. Sometimes I leave a few dead stems in the middle to help support the new growth and snip off the tops.


Large blooms can really weigh down your bush, and this will give it some stability and help hold up those beautiful blooms.


Trim away the dead stems but make sure to look for any possible buds above where you cut.

Using this method ensures that the new growth is protected when pruning hydrangeas, and since I started doing this, my Spring blooms have resulted in large luscious blooms. As big as my head, if you can believe that.


Thanks for joining me today, and if you would like to see more of my DIYs, check me out of my blog. I promise not to bore you. icon

Do Dodson Designs Blog.


xo, Do icon

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  • Kathleen Kathleen on Apr 27, 2021

    I have several hydrangea bushes. They are beautiful colors in the fall. I always cut them and bring them in to dry. Any suggestions on how to keep blossoms on stems. Mine shed very easily. I've tried hair spray and clear varnish spray. Nothing seems to work, but I have seen them at craft fairs with no shedding. Thank you in advance for any help.

  • Peggy L Burnette Peggy L Burnette on Apr 27, 2021

    mine never blooms any suggestions?

  • Laura M Laura M on May 15, 2023

    My hydrangeas had some warm weather and started to grow early, frost hit and killed off top of plant so I trimmed dead areas, now it looks great. Will I get a good yield?

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  • Katen Katen on Apr 24, 2023

    Just an fyi. Entire country got hit hard this past winter with longer than usual cold snaps and wind. Some plants seemed to handle, some minor damage and some a mess. Those that still look dead (atl in late April) I learned to take finger nail and gently scrape bark if green underneath going to be ok if brown dry dead looking trim back to green. May not be prettiest plant at first but will recover. When warm temps are assured, May wish to fertilize.

  • Sandy Sandy on Apr 24, 2023

    Katen is right. Scratching “dead” stalks is the easiest way to distinguish between live and dead branches. Also, not all varieties of hydrangeas bloom on new wood. Some varieties bloom on old wood. Taking a sample branch to a local nursery would be a good way to determine which type you have. The Atlanta winter was not kind to my garden. I lost a lot of plants, but my hydrangeas are slowly coming back. I’m definitely going to fertilize them this year to give them a good fighting chance to thrive. Hope this helps. Good luck! 😊

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