Overgrown Hydrangea

I know that this type of hydrangea doesn't really need pruning but many years of not doing that has left me with a very big bush. I now want to reduce the size but not sure if I should do it now and hope that it still manages to flower next year or later on.
Another thought I had was pruning every other branch then then the ones left prune next year so I still get some flowers.
Any advice please?

 

I wait till the leaves have dropped in late autumn so you can see what needs doing. I cut right out 4 or 5 of the oldest, gnarled branches at ground level each year so that every year you get new branches growing which flower better. You can also just cut back the remaining branches to the size you want. They are pretty tough plants and I've been hacking mine back for the last 18 years - they still regrow like mad and flower well.

It helps to give them some fertilizer in early spring prior to flower buds forming.

 

Your Hydrangea looks like a H. macrophylla or mophead which flower on the previous year's stems (old wood). Try to leave some stems uncut otherwise you won't get flowers next year. This link and video should help.

Hydrangea pruning / RHS

 

I do a light prune in Feb (we have mild winters down here) just as the new leaves are emerging, and if the plant is getting woody or lax, I take out a few of the oldest stems down to ground level, and any growing in odd directions or touching others. Seems to work out OK.

 

Thanks for all the advice.
I do always take the old woody stems out, I usually keep the flower heads on to protect the buds till spring but I really want to reduce the size so I may have to forfeit flowers for a year.

 

You can completely renovate your hydrangea in 3 years @Friendly.

In late winter/early spring, before bud burst, take out 1/3 of all the stems back to the base, choosing the ones with the oldest looking roughest bark. Give the plant a good feed of general purpose fertiliser, or rose feed if you prefer, to encourage healthy new stems.

Once that 3 year cycle is complete you can either just keep on doing the same thing to maintain health and flowering vigour or you can continue by reducing a third of the stems by half each year if it's still too tall. Always remove dead, damaged or diseased stems first.

 

If you're not bothered by flowers next year, you can cut the whole shrub back in one go.
If that doesn't appeal, the 3 year method, as mentioned, is ideal.

 

I cut mine down completely one year. It was an old plant but it bounced back better than ever with lush green foliage that year and many flowers the following year. A few handfuls of blood fish and bone plus watering and an organic mulch will aid recovery.

 

I had one that wasn't doing at all well due to light issues under the edge of an oak canopy. I decided the only viable option was to move it, the oak being protected and, therefore, untouchable. I gathered my strength, armed myself with all manner of tools, had my neighbour on alert to come and assist if I got into bother, approached with some trepidation ... and it came out of the ground with no fight at all. I felt a bit foolish.

They do seem to be very cooperative plants, almost trusting of gardeners approaching with sharp implements and grateful when a watering can stops to deliver its contents in their vicinity.

 

Mine does amazingly well which considering how big and overgrown it is is surprising. I am pretty hopeful it will cope well with whatever I decide to do to it.

Would it be ok to reduce some of the branches now as it is struggling to hold itself up?

 

You could do. It has time to put on a bit of new growth this yr if you do, so you could get flowers on those stems next yr.

The time I would not do any pruning is after mid-October, in case an early frost gets in the newly cut bits.