Pruning Hydrangeas?
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The flowers are all bluish, ans seem to turn to violets, lighter blues and deep pinks over time… so I think you have the variety identified.
I’m still not sure what to do. The stalks are all 3-4 ft tall from the ground, and have new leaf growth poking out all along the 3-4 feet length. I would like to cut these back a few feet so they can grow into the space in the beds that’s appropriate. I’m afraid if I cut the stalks, however, that they will not flower this year. So what I need to know, ini layman’s terms is: 1) can I cut them back now without hurting or keeping them from flowering this year? 2) if so, what’s the optimum spot/length/technique for cutting them back? 3) had we not found ourselves in this situation from the end of last season, where they grew to this 3-4′ length (and flowered beautifully), how should we have optimally cut them back and when?
Welcome! I’m Margaret Roach, a leading garden writer for 25 years—at ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ ‘Newsday,’ and in three books. I host a public-radio podcast; I also lecture, plus hold tours at my 2.3-acre Hudson Valley (NY) Zone 5B garden, and always say no to chemicals and yes to great plants.