Garden

[Mom2Dogs]

My two plants are huge! They are now turning a beautiful strawberry color but the plants are just to big.  The center stems are standing straight up, all around the outside of both plants the stems are drooping.  As suggested by the nursery they told me to look at each stem and cut off the flower that is blooming near the top so that the stems that are drooping will pop up but there is only one flower on the stems so if I do as they suggested I will be cutting off most of the  drooping stems...does this make sense?

I read on line that this type of plant should be trimmed back late winter/very early spring but honestly I want to trim as soon as they are done blooming, I can't stand to look at the plants the way they are all winter...any advice or suggestions.

I don't want to trim to early or late...I want it to bloom in 2018, I have an older hydrangea (the more popular style)  in my back yard that is a beautiful green, not a flower in sight.  I thought I trimmed it properly last year but I must have trimmed it to late and cut off anything that would have bloomed this summer.

[Carmie]

I love hydrangeas, they are my favorite flower.

strawberry hydrangeas are really beautiful and they grow big, about 7 feet tall and five feet wide.  This type should be pruned back late winter or early spring ( March) you can cut them back by 1/3.

there are several types of hydrangeas.  Some flower on new wood and some flower only on old wood and some flower on old and new wood.  The plant that didn't flower this year probably flowers on old wood and you removed it 

the old fashioned ones we had when a i was a kid, bloomed on new wood only and they were smaller.

if you want a smaller hydrangeas, they are available. Large ones are too.  Some people prune the larger ones on the bottom and they look like blooming trees.

enjoy your beautiful flowers.

[Mom2Dogs]

@Carmie....I have read onine about the old/new wood...dumb question but the word 'wood' obviously means the plant stems, correct?

If I trimmed/cut back (which I like to do because if we get a heavy snow the weight will probaby kill my plant)  to late then I cut off the wood/stems with the flower bud, right.

The strawberry plants that I mentioned were HUGE....so I cannot trim after they bloom, if so, sigh....they are big and unruly looking.  I hate to think of looking at that all fall and winter!!

[JustJazzmom]

Are they Hydrangea paniculatas? @Mom2Dogs  If so, and I think Strawberry Hydrangeas are; they bloom on new wood. They also like full sun to part shade.

[Carmie]

Wood means plant stems,  you could always cut the flower stems off and bring them inside to put in a vase. Just don't scalp the plant until March.

these large flowers will always droop, they are supposed to.  

[Lilysmom]

@Mom2Dogs et al, I think she is referring to strawberry vanilla hydrangeas.  It is a bit hard to see in the photo below but there are large limbs right in the centre of the plant that produce huge flowers.  See top of photo.

I have two of these and they behave in the same way.  I commented in my photos that mine are around ten feet tall, much taller than me and almost as wide.  These shrubs need space to strut their stuff.  I have never pruned these shrubs or fertilized them as they are hard to service given their rocky home.  They produce loads of blooms.

Perhaps they are too large for your space?

The best time to prune these is late fall/winter.  Blooms are on new wood.  Spring pruning will remove blooms.  My rule of thumb is never to prune more than 1/3 of the shrub.  LM

[Mom2Dogs]

@Lilysmom.....yes, that is the plant that I have.  I am guessing that mine are to big for their current location, I had no idea they would get so big, and now I am not sure I can move them.   

[Lilysmom]

@Mom2Dogs, they do get HUGE!  LM

[Mom2Dogs]

@Lilysmom...I guess I will have to wait until late winter to trim (they will look awful all winter) but would it be ok to give it a REALLY GOOD trim.....I'd really like to make it appear much smaller next year when it blooms.

[JustJazzmom]

---

@Mom2Dogs wrote:

@Lilysmom...I guess I will have to wait until late winter to trim (they will look awful all winter) but would it be ok to give it a REALLY GOOD trim.....I'd really like to make it appear much smaller next year when it blooms.

---

Since it blooms on new wood, I don't see why not.