Proper way to remove dead blooms from Hydrangia

Hi
What is the correct way to remove old dead blooms from Hydranda

Given that new shoot are appearing - Is it ok to remove these old dead blooms now or should i wait until later in year?

Thanks

 

I will only remove dead blooms and prune in Spring.

 

I have just purchased my 1st Hydranda the flat type..the label says Hortensia tete plate bleu and am interested in any information about them...

 

Thanks - Do you mean just remove the dead bloom now and leave the stalk and then in mid to late march timeframe to then come back and remove the stalk.

When removing stalk do i cut it at base or how far down should cut it ?

Thanks

 

In the case of hydrangias. Leave dead heading until all frost are past. Hydrangeas like elder have a pithy stem. By waiting to dead head, the pithy part is protected.

Deadheading of any plant or shrub. Don'r just pull off the dead flowerhead. Follow the stem down to where it broke from the main plant. Now snip it off. Your plant looks good and there is the chance that a new flowering shoot will develop.

 

I have to almost sit on my hands when looking at my hydrangea. The old flowers look awful at the moment. Yes, of course it's important to wait until all danger of frost has passed.
A tip- if one wants to prune, reshape or thin out unwanted shoots, particulary on a large plant, it's a good idea to get down on hands and knees and look from below upwards into it. It's easier to see the whole plant. Not an easy thing to get back up again, mind, if you are like me!

 

I'm doing mine this weekend, but my pruning method is probably not going to help you much. Every third year, I hard prune as it's in an area where it'll overhang a pathway. I should emphasise I lose the flowers for the year, but I get some lovely sized leaves to make up for it. Anyway, it's a really insipid pink so I don't miss much

 

Deadheading -cutting off the spent blooms- usually can be done at any time of the year. When foliage is still around (during autumn, early winter or with semi-evergreen hydrangeas), safely deadhead spent blooms (i.e., without cutting off the Spring 2021 flower buds) by cutting above the first set of large leaves. Once foliage has decomposed and/or dropped (so you no longer know where the first set of large leaves was), you can also cut the peduncle. The peduncle is the string that connects the bloom to the stem.

Deadheading is not required for the health of the plant. It is more of an aesthetic necessity when we just do not like the look of the spent flowers any longer. Since some hydrangeas produce a lot of flowers as they become large, deadheading may be impractical. I used to deadhead but now, I let Mother Nature take care of the deadheading. Hydrangea macrophyllas and serratas do not have long lasting peduncles so their spent flowers tend to drop during early to late winter. Paniculatas and oakleaf hydrangea blooms are larger, heavier and have thicker peduncles that drop much later (at leaf out time or when/after the plant blooms again).

Any other form of cutting can risk removing Spring 2021 blooms on those hydrangeas that bloom on old wood. To tell if your hydrangea blooms on old wood, I suggest identifying the type of hydrangea first:

* Blooms on old wood: macrophyllas (the most common hydrangea around, macrophyllas produce mophead or lacecap blooms in a variety of colors); serratas (they are smaller than macrophyllas and, with few exceptions, produce mostly lacecap blooms); oakleaf hydrangeas (their foliage is large and looks like oak leaves; blooms are triangular or panicle-shaped); climbing (grows as a vine and produces lacecap blooms). Note: some macrophylla and serrata varieties bloom on both old and new wood.

* Blooms on new wood: arborescens (has smooth looking leaves, produces mostly white or pink round blooms); paniculatas (have panicle shaped blooms that originally start white or lime green)

If pictures help identifying the type of hydrangea that you have, click on this link to see pictures of those types of hydrangeas:
The Complete Guide to All Hydrangea Types | Plant Addicts

Hydrangeas that bloom on old wood already produced flower buds for Spring 2021 as early as in late Summer 2020 or in Fall 2020. You need to be careful doing any cutting on these now as you may accidentally cut some Spring 2021 invisible flower buds. Hydrangea flower buds are located at the ends of the stems and are invisible now. They are inside the stem to protect them from winter. Once they open, they look like small broccoli heads.

 

Yes, Hydrangeas are by and large as tough as old boots. The main thing to remember is to give them plenty of water in the growing season.

 

Thanks all for the replies and advise...Much appreicated.