How to Prune Big Leaf Hydrangea for Maximum Flowers (Hydrangea macrophylla) 

Hello Devin. Thank you so much for the information. You gave very clear instructions and demonstrated exactly how and when to prune my hydrangeas. I am no longer confused, because you answered all of my questions. I am confident that I can be successful at growing Big Leaf Hydrangeas.😊

I have read through numerous articles and watched who knows how many videos just trying to find the exact info (how to correctly prune back a big leaf to control growth) you provided very simply here. The rest were just repeats of each other, never getting to what I really needed to know. Thank you!

Thank you so much. This video helped me a lot. I finally know where to prune to get more blooms next year, and now I know that it is ok to chop the dead wood, and the proper way to do it.

Great instructions. Best explanation I have seen. Thanks.

New to this channel. What a wealth of information you are providing. Thank you.

Thanks for a very good description of how to prune hydrangeas. By actually cutting yours back I now get it. 👍

Thank you so so much so helpful ✨🥰✨

This video was informative and helpful. I use this method every year on my hydrangeas, and I always get alot of flowers the following year.

Hi Devin. Your vids are super informative. I’m happy to know that PW has new varieties of hydrangeas that also bloom on old & new growths which alleviate losing blooms during late frost. The panicle are the best option bcz they are reliable bloomers & can be pruned anyway time.

I learned a lot from this. p.s. great haircut!

Thank you! I have 2 HUGE white bigleaf hydrangeas that in the past had been cut down to their bases every year!! This past summer although the hydrangea grew all the green stems back to full height only flowers were at the base (1 foot above ground). This past fall I stated "I FORBID YOU CUTTING THESE DOWN!" This spring all the "looks dead" wood started growing stems and right now (late rainy June 2023) there are heads growing all over the place!!!! I am so excited to take pics when they flower in top to bottom! I will cut the dead wood out like you showed. So glad I found your video! Oh the bushes are about 5' high/wide .

Hi, thank you this is so helpful. I have pruned back hydrangea for the last two years and obviously I have done it incorrectly because it has not bloomed since. I’m in Northern California and I’ve always cut it back late fall and probably cut it back too far.

😊 thanks

I have a hydrangea but it's in a shaded area. And we weren't sure what it was at the beginning, so it got chopped all the way down. It's growing back now. And now I want to make sure we care for it the best way. Any tips is so appreciated. Someone said it a "Hydrangea macrophylla, bigleaf hydrangea for the full binomial." I just copied and pasted what they said.

Hi Devin...I have 3 Endless Summer hydrangeas that I planted several years ago. I'm lucky to get maybe 4 or 5 blooms total over the summer. I've always been afraid to do any pruning for fear of losing what few blooms I do get. It's April 2023 and I'm wondering should I be pruning back all those dry stalks? I have never done that before...thanks. I've been really enjoying your channel!

This is very specific and I finally learned how to prune big leaf hydrangea.. Inspected all of my flowering branches (old wood) and there are no other buds - I also inspected the new wood just in case. In this situation, do I simply cut down all branches to the height I want in July?

Thank you for the information. We have Hydrangea in a flower bed, and they grow up past our porch. In the winter i.e. November my husband cuts them back very low to keep them somewhat manageable during the summer months. This year the one side did not flower as much as it normally does. I also know there is a lot of dead branches which I will work on to remove. My questions is what time of year should we cut them back and how low can we go? I live in Southern NJ near the beach.

Thank you! I had no flowers on any of my big leaf hydrangeas this summer. They grew beautifully, nice and green but no flowers at all. So, now it is going to be winter and i would imagine the snow will come soon , but i should just let the shrub alone? It's still green and beautiful but won't it flop over when the heavy snows come?

Hello Devin, I'm certainly happy that I've found your channel. You're very to the point and make things understandable. I just bought a "Firelight" (Leuchtfuer). It's potted in a 2.25 gal and considered a patio plant. Well, the blooms were drying out and had the most beautiful color. So, I've cut the 3 blooms off in order to dry and preserve them. I did cut above some of the new bud areas. This plant no longer has any blooms on it. Should I be worried? Did I just kill this plant? I'm a newbie to Hydrangeas... My question, if you want to use the blooms of a hydrangea as I just did, what is your advice for this?

Hi Devin, can I prune my big leaf hydrangea now, early october ? Thank you

Hi thank you for the video!! Im just a little confused if you could help. I just bought a hydrangeas in very early spring so the plant is still green and the flowers haven't bloom. Do I start pruning after the flower have finish blooming or right when they are blooming?😥

Thanks for the useful tips! Question: what's the name of that dark green, purple plant to your right (our left) at 6:30

Hi Devin, I am a new subscriber to your program!! I am enjoying your videos very much! My question is this, Is there any benefit to the Endless Summer Hydrangea at all to keep the blooms on all winter long? I have 11 beautiful hydrangea shrubs around my front porch. I am very particular about them. It's been a tough year as there has not been many blooms. Thank you so much!

Can these grow in areas that have severe winters? Any tips for winter protection

I had beautiful blooms last summer and this summer nothing (august 2024) leaves are big and lush just no blooms! Any idea why?

Devin, my big leaf hydrangea was budding beautifully and then we had a frost, temps dropped more than reported, so all the living buds died, it is April 9, 2023 and I am not sure what to do at this point, help please. Also I just received 2 of your summer crush hydrangeas and I want them to stay pink but my ground soil is very acidic, so can I put this in pots that are 13” pots.Will this work with just regular potting soil and the bigger pots? Thank you so much Brenda

Do you get rid of any of the stems that don't flower?

Hi Devin, I have 7 2.5qt big leaf hydrangeas that I am going to be planting in the ground tomorrow. All of them have flowers fully bloomed on them and most have also stems with non blooms but varying sizes of vibrant green small bud clusters (as though they would bloom after another few weeks of growth or so). What kind of pruning should I be doing to get them ready for the fall / winter season? Anything? Some of my full blooms are fully vibrant and with solid color and some blooms are on their last days as they are a mix of light pink green brown. Should I be dead heading the older blooms and leaving the full flower blooms alone until they brown? Or leaving it all alone? Or cutting all the blooms off to save plant energy? I’m a little confused on what kind of pruning I should be doing for these plants after planting them. I watched your other video on planting one and you mentioned to cut off flowers to save energy for the plant to establish a healthy root system for the following year. What pruning if anything, should I be doing considering the time of year (I live near Seattle Washington) and they are about to be planted? Thank you!!!

Hi, I pruned my big leaf hydrangea too far back this spring and had now flowers. Plants are HUGE. How far do I prune back this year so I get flowers next year?

Can you help me? I bought what’s called hydrangea brestenburg because they’re most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I know nothing about flowers or gardening, I tried googling but I still didn’t get a clear answer how to care for it.

How to propagate Hydrangeas

Thanks for the info. I have a Mega Mindy hydrangea I purchased from QVC about 2or 3 seasons ago and it is about 3 feet wide and tall and the most flowers I have gotten is 3, what am I doing wrong?

Can you move an Hydrangea, if so how and when is the best time to do it? The plant was here when we got the house, we have been here ten years now. It is close, if not on the property line with our neighbor. He asked if it could be move as he doesn't want to hurt it when cutting his lawn. I'm not sure of the variety, it could be a snowball, as it has big white flowers that turn brown and look nice against the MN snow in winter. I know we probably should dead head it before winter sets in.

Hi Devin, I have a couple of Hydrangeas and their color is fading away, some the flowers have just dried out. Should I trim those which color is fading away or wait till the winter. Thanks

My hydrangea never blooms. Any suggestions ?

Great video. We purchased a new home with very mature big leaf hydrangeas and they have grown to be too large for the space since our April purchase. Today is late October in southern Virginia. When should I cut them back? Now or after them flower in the spring? Most leaves now have black spot on them. Should I leave the leaves on them or pull the spotty leaves off? I understand early spring is the time for fungicide treatment to prevent this. Thanks for your help.

👀👍

I just planted 4 limelights and man am I worried about pruning them.