During the winter, my hydrangea looks dead. It has lost all of its leaves, as it should, but I am now left with a bunch of bare sticks. Normally when you see this, the urge is to cut them back to the ground. DON’T prune them now. Those dead looking sticks contain the buds for next year’s flowers. If you prune now, you will be cutting off all of the flower buds. Sometimes the deer will come along and eat the tips, producing the same effect as if you pruned them. Other years with very cold sustained winter temperatures below zero, the flower buds will be killed by being frozen. Big leaf hydrangea’s, Hydrangea macrophylla, is only borderline hardy in zone 6. During warmer winters big leaf Hydrangea fare much better. They also will not lose their flower buds closer to the shore and ocean areas as the climates are more moderated by the ocean temperatures which are warmer than the air.
So to recap:
Do not prune big leaf hydrangea in fall, winter or spring. Only prune after flowering as flower buds are produced in late summer and carried on the sticks until the following summer bloom time.
Deer may eat the flower buds held at the tips. Use spray deer repellents monthly or cover with burlap. Protect from snow buildup that could break the branches.
Site Hydrangea in a south-facing or protected area of the yard to reduce colder temperature exposure.
Hopefully, next summer your hydrangea plant will bloom beautifully.
-Carol Quish
June 13, 2016 at 12:53 pm
I didn’t prune hydrangeas, I think April ice storm killed all my new buds. Should I cut stems now in June. Very disappointed.
June 13, 2016 at 2:21 pm
Hello Elly,
Cut back the obviously dead stems back to any live tissue or just cut the dead ones back to the ground. The plant should be putting up new stems from the crown of the plant. These new stems will produce flower buds in the late summer, carry them through the winter and spring, and hopefully bloom next summer.
Regards,
Carol Quish
June 23, 2016 at 6:43 am
Am glad to hear you say that. I live in southern CT and my 35 foot long group of formerly beautify hydrangea consisted of ugly sticks on all plants. The bases of each plant seem to be too full of stems and I can’t push down into the bottom to remove some sticks to provide enough area for new growth. The plants looked awful, with sticks poking out everywhere so I cut them off which took hours. There is pretty green growth at the base. Now the heights of the plants looks somewhat equal. There are still tons of sticks all over the plants but at least they are hidden by the green level. Woodchucks are eating holes in the plants and I dusted them with cayenne pepper to halt bites. Hope that doesn’t kill them. I loved these plants now they look awful.
August 13, 2016 at 4:50 pm
My hydrangeas never bloomed. I did not prune them. However, I pulled out these skinny, drinking straw-type of long straight sticks sticks that looked dead as the green leaves started blooming. Are these the sticks that contain the buds, even though they look dead? Will my hydrangea bloom next year?
August 13, 2016 at 5:16 pm
Help!
When we moved in last summer, my hydrangeas looked fairly healthy, but this season my hydrangeas never bloomed. I did not cut them. However, I pulled out “drinking straw-like sticks,” which were very thin and straight, and looked dead. I pulled them out in June. Did I ruin the chance for any blooms to grow or could it be another problem? I don’t think it was due to weather conditions, because other hydrangeas bloomed in the area. (New England – MA) Will my hydrangea be able to bloom next year?
August 16, 2016 at 12:49 pm
Hello Julie,
The weather was the problem for hydrangeas this year. The well-below freezing blast of cold on Feb. 14 and a freeze/thaw cycle killed the buds. Some hydrangeas in protected areas or south facing slopes did bloom this year, but very few others. Cutting the brown stalks in June that obviously were dead did not cause your hydrangea’s lack of bloom. Pruning should normally take place as the flowers fade after blooming, or when you see other same type hydrangeas blooming in your area.
Regards,
Carol Quish
April 13, 2017 at 5:05 pm
Our gardeners just cut off the sticks that we told not too. The green leaves of the hydrangeas have some little buds…..but the plants were huge last year……did they stunt them.?
We were shocked that they cut them.
Thank you….Donna
April 13, 2017 at 5:23 pm
Hydrangea macrophylla blooms on last year’s wood. If the sticks were just cut off, so where the flower buds. If your hydrangea is one of the newer varieties bred to flower on old and new wood both, it is possible those buds you see now might be a flower bud.
Regards,
Carol Quish
May 16, 2017 at 10:31 pm
My daughter just moved into a new home with hydrangers all around the outskirts of the back yard pool. I started cutting out all the dead wood. Now I think that I should not have done that. Have I killed the plant? there were no buds to be seen and the wood had not signs of life inside when I cut it out..
November 23, 2019 at 6:48 pm
Hi, I have the big white limelight hydrangea tree I bought at Hick Nursery in NY. I believe I made a mistake by cutting it too early in November. It was too tall and leaning and the flower bloom so beautifully, but it died early because the tiny fine limb. Now I decide to cut it all out when the stem is still a little green. Do you think I cut the bud and will it grow back the flowers. Thanks so much!
November 25, 2019 at 3:02 pm
Limelight hydrangea produces flower buds on new wood, therefore pruning done in November will not affect next years flowers. It is a wait and watch to see how much it grows next spring and summer.
June 15, 2020 at 1:00 am
Hello good evening, I just recently bought my hydrangea pinnacle in a pots, I found out that’s a lot holes leaves, sorry to say,I cut off all the holes ugly leaves, is this will affect for dying or not growing or will not come back next year seasons sir, thank you n kind response is appreciated..
June 15, 2020 at 1:08 am
Hi it’s me again Marietta,UConn ladybug, I got my hydrangea microphylla ma’am,last 3 weeks with blooming pink flowers, from the beginning it’s beautiful but now flowers becomes ugly n drooping..can I CUT IT DOWN THE FLOWERS ON Nov.or dec? Pls.let me know how m gonna fix it ma’am…the stems looks good but flowers looks bad n ugly..thanx again keep safe god bless.
June 15, 2020 at 4:40 pm
The plant should recover and produce new leaves. Keep it well watered once you plant it in the ground.
June 15, 2020 at 4:44 pm
The flowers can be cut back after they bloom leaving the stem,