Summertime Pruning of Macrophylla Hydrangeas 

Hello I am humbled by your kind comments. If there are any particular videos you would like to see please place your comments down below and I will produce them. And again thank you for your kind kind gracious comments. I wish you happy gardening 🌻

Thank you. Happy gardening.

Thank you. Happy gardening.

Hahahaha Yes, naughty kitty cats. 😸

You got it. :) Happy gardening.

Hi, the best time to relocate them would be spring, as soon as the ground warms up. How much sun are they getting and which time of day? Also, when was the last time you fed them and what did you give them? Lastly, what zone are you in and can you see buds set for next spring? I look forward to your reply and happy gardening. 🌻

Hi, this is a great question and I will do my best to help you. First off, mopheads prefer morning sun and dappled shade in the afternoon. Sunlight through a window can be just as harsh as if the plant was outside, even more intense as the window can act as a heat trap. Best to keep your plants in a shady spot indoors during the hot afternoon hours or place a lace curtain in front of the window. If your hydrangeas are in pots the risk of drying out is high so make sure you are checking the soil on a regular basis. This will also help reduce the risk of overwatering. Trying to extend a hydrangeas blooming cycle is tough as creating blossoms is exhausting for the plant. You could deadhead the plant on a regular basis and use a water soluble bloom booster plant food on a biweekly basis but I would let the plant tell you when it's had enough. Watch for signs of wilt, leave yellowing or browning, and drooping. In addition, check the soil for signs of fungus or mold (a quick sniff check tells a lot). I do hope I have given you some help. Keep me posted. Happy gardening. 🌻

Hi, first off thank you for noticing my steady voice. As for your baby, if you feel you could have pruned lower, don't worry. Take a look at the stem and if there is a leaf node with a decent sized growth (as in the video) clip at that stop. If not, sit tight and let her do her thing. You can email me through my website: www.tinthiaclemant.com if you want to send pics. :)

@@TinthiaClemant You're welcome :) Your hands have become steady and I'm hoping back to normal, or close to it. I'm happy to report most of the stems have more than one leaf node, and growing rapidly. I was shocked to see it flourish like that. You can imagine my happiness :) I'll send pics as soon as I'm able to (and when the rain lets up lol). PS: Now I have a PG Limelight with rust showing. I take off leaves with rust but it keeps coming back. I've also sprayed it twice but, I still see some leaves with rust. This one has been my problem child since the day I go it lol All the best xo

@@islandgirl_mar3126 Hi, what do you mean by rust on the leaves? And you are most welcome. :)

How are your plants doing? Is the rust sill present? I was wondering if you were referring to the copper-colored spots caused by a specific fungus that hydrangeas sometimes get. Try removing the infected leaves and make sure you're cleaning up under the plant by raking away debris and spent leaves, etc. Keep me posted. :)

@@TinthiaClemant Hello! Thx for checking in. I'm afraid I still have the same issue. I've tried looking for ways to send pics but it's been difficult. Sometimes you can post pics on here but it's not letting me and even tried through the website :( I have sprayed them with Safer's 3 in 1 Fungicide, and used their Sulphur powder, and although it has helped somewhat but the problem persists. All because I bought 5 hydrangeas from one seller but one of them came already with the fungus. The area/soil around it is very clean and I could perhaps cut out the infected leaves but that would mean cutting off a few branches/shoots from the plant. I've picked off leaves but that doesn't seem to help much because there's quite a few of them. I'm bummed this issue hasn't diminished. If you can think of any other way to send pics, then that would be great :) Thx again and have a wonderful day!

Hi, pruning is determined by the type of hydrangea. Also, what zone are you in? Let me know and I’ll try to help. I do have a pruning macrophylla hydrangeas video on my channel. I look forward to your reply. Happy gardening 🌻

Hi, if your plant is a mophead, which is seems it may be, it will bloom on old wood, and possibly new wood if it's a rebloomer, such as Endless Summer hydrangeas. If you can, sit tight until spring to do your pruning. You can snip off any spent blossoms as I demonstrated in the video but be quick as August is fast approaching. My recommendations: stake the stems that are drooping, prune off any spent blossoms, give her a helping of an extended release plant food with a higher middle number in relation to the first number, have a gin and tonic, and bless the remaining days of summer. Come spring she'll be ready for her make-over. Happy Gardening P.S. I recommend Flower-tone plant food for the August feeding.

Oh, definitely. Cut the stem down to its base and dispose if it in the trash. You could try spraying the plant with a 'green' insecticide such as Garden Safe insecticidal soap spray. If the affliction continues report the plant with fresh soil into a clean pot. Happy gardening and good luck. 🌺

Hi thank you for watching my channel and congratulations on your hydrangea. Don't prune it this time of year even though the blossoms are changing color; many hydrangeas have blossoms that change color to a shabby chic type of shading which is actually quite pleasant to look at. Plus, the birds like to glean the insects from the blossoms. At this point don't give your hydrangea any food, just make sure she is well watered and when her leaves drop wrap her with some salt marsh hay to protect the tender buds over the winter, depending on your zone. in spring you can go ahead and prune the stems to the first viable buds. I have several videos on how to prepare hydrangeas for winter and how to prune them in the spring that I hope you'll watch. again congratulations and best of luck with her keep me posted how she does this coming spring. Happy gardening.

Tinthia Clemant Thank you so much!!! I appreciate your help! I admit I do like the mix of pink and green. I have just continued to water them and they still seem to be doing great. The leaves are still bright green and pretty big.

@@Chardy224 Great, don't feed the plant at this point either. Let her finish her display and make sure you wrap her at the end of autumn with netting to keep her branches safe during the winter (depending on your zone) and pack her with salt marsh hay or wrap her with burlap. See my video on wrapping your hydrangeas. Good luck. 🤗

Tinthia Clemant I will be sure to do that. I am zone 8. I can tell they are both done, no new blooms. 😊😊 Thank you!

Hi, thank you. Look between newly emerging leaves , gently, to see if there are tiny buds. Happy gardening. 🌺😁

@@TinthiaClemant Thank you 😊

Hello, I apologize if I have mislead you. Don't prune in springtime because you will remove the buds for your first wave of blossoms. However, I did conduct a rejuvenating prune in the winter on a couple of my hydrangeas (following a suggestion from a fellow gardener; I posted a video) and I am waiting to see what the new wood blossoms do. To follow the one-third procedure in the spring, start by removing any damaged or dead stems followed by thin, wimpy stems. Next shape the plant(if that is your goal) by taking the upper ends of the remaining stems, knowing you might be cutting off the buds set last summer. If the plant is tangled, remove a few of the inner stems to improve air circulation. Try to stick to no more than one-third removal of healthy stems. Removing dead stems doesn't apply. I do hope this helps. If not let me know and I will try to explain it better. Happy gardening. 🌺

Thank you for the kind comment. I change the mulch every spring, removing the old mulch, and replacing it with fresh mulch. I also work the soil through the blooming season, replacing any suspicious looking mulch with fresh mulch. I haven't had any problem with rot. Thank you for the question. Happy Gardening.🌻

@@TinthiaClemant thanks for the reply. In regards to winterizing I notice some of the buds that are set for next year on a large hydrangea are pretty high so the mulch would obviously not help. Do we look at it as a sacrifice and just cover the lower buds?

@@lsturbointeg Hi, when I wrap my plants for the winter I bring the wire mesh up the sides of the plant, using tomato stakes or garden supports, and then fill the makeshift basket I've created with salt marsh hay. If you leave the old blossoms on the plant they help to insulate the buds. You can also drape burlap over the top of the 'basket' the supports create. If you have more questions, just ask. I'll do my best to help. Happy Gardening.

Hi, as long as the flowers are not treated with any type of preservative, they're fine as a snack. :)

The new wood will come up from the base of the plant. Trace the stem downward. Old wood blossoms will be on a stem branching off a somewhat thicker stem. You can prune any stems you want but now is the time to do any final cuts as the plant will be setting buds for next blooming season.Good luck and happy gardening. 🌺

New foliage is good. First question, where are they located? Are they getting morning sun and dappled shade in the afternoon, or full sun, or full shade? Do you prune them and if so, when (season)? Do you know the variety as in The Original, Bloomstruck, etc.? Last question is how often do you feed them? Let me know and I'll do my best to help. :)

@@TinthiaClemant okay I looked at my hydrangeas this evening. Two of these are endless summer twist and shout. One is a big leaf and the other say macrophila. One of these are on the north side of the garage and get morning sun and sun until 1or 1:30 the other one is one the southeast side of the house and gets hot afternoon sun for a couple of hours and then shade. I water these plants almost everyday in the evening because I work all day. I also have a tuff stuff ah ha on the north side of the garage that I plant later spring and it hasn't bloomed yet. It was a smaller plant that I got from proven winners in the mail. I have a limelight that I bought later spring and had to transplant it to an area where it gets a lot more sun. It lost all its leaves and then it got new ones and it is looking good but no sign of blooms yet. Appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks, Rosanna.

@@rosanna5schmidt732 Hi, I have more questions so please bear with me. First, your Endless Summers are also macrophylla hydrangeas, which are also called big leaf, or broadleaf hydrangeas. They will bloom on old and new wood. #1: The one on the north side of the garage, getting morning sun and afternoon shade - is it blooming? It should because that is an ideal amount of sunlight. #2: The one with the afternoon sun, which I'm guessing gets wilty and droopy in the afternoon - is it blooming? #3: How are you watering the plants - at the base with a dribble method or over the top with a sprayer? Why everyday? #4: How often are you feeding them and with what plant food? The Tuff-Stuff is a rebloomer lacecap out of Proven Winners nurseries and should love your north facing location: morning sun and shade afternoon or filtered afternoon sun. Many times hydrangeas won't bloom the first year they are planted, so don't give up hope. Keep an eye on the leaf nodes and watch for buds being set on the old wood stems. Let me know the answers to the questions and go out soon and buy a bag of Flower-tone extended release plant food so you'll have it for your August feeding. I'll be posting a video about this topic this coming weekend. I'm looking forward to hearing back from you. :)

@@TinthiaClemant I only have on endless summer that is a lace cap that has bloomed 3 blossoms none of the others have bloomed. About a month ago I fertilized with Holly tone. The reason I water every day is because of the heat and no rain or not much rain. I live in southwest Kansas and normally we don't have a lot of rain. Now this spring we did get more than normal. Yes the hydrangea that gets the hot afternoon sun for a couple of hours does wilt some but then comes out of it by the time I get it watered in the evening. All of these froze this spring except the Ah ha which I just bought this spring. If remember correctly these endless summer did bloom some last summer.

@@rosanna5schmidt732 Hi, sorry for the delay in responding, RU-vid doesn't tell me when a new reply is posted. I recommend watering less but more thoroughly, to encourage a well-developed root system. Try setting your hose to a trickle and placing it within the drip line. Let it run for about thirty minutes, relocating it to the opposite side of the plant midway during the watering. Watering this way will allow you to skip one or two days of watering that plant and is actually better for the plant. Regarding Holly Tone, it's a great food but it doesn't encourage buds. You might want to try Flower Tone. It's not too late to give your plants a final feeding to help them set some buds for next year. At this point, refrain from any pruning and let's see what spring brings. You can connect with www.tinthiaclemant.com if you'd like. :)

Hi, you can pinch off any brown or discolored leaves and dispose of them in your trash; not your compost. By removing the discolored leaves helps to keep the plant healthy. Just pinch the leaf stem with your snippets or fingers. Make sure you disinfect the snippers afterwards. If the blossom is brown, snip that off too and trash it. Happy gardening. 🌻

Hi, I don’t know what zone you’re in but if you are in one of the zones where the hydrangeas drop their leaves during the winter season, then just let the hydrangeas be and come spring when the hydrangeas start to wake up, you’ll notice that the buds start to swell prune the stems down to the healthiest buds using an angle cut. I do have a video online of how to prune your hydrangeas in the spring. If you prune them now you’re cutting off the buds that will produce flowers next year so you don’t want to do any fall pruning. You can, once the leaves are off the plant, wrap the plant to protect it from the winter snow if you’re in an area that gets snow, or if the weather gets very cold. I also have a video showing how to wrap the plants. Work some compost into the soil to help feed the plant and make sure that you’re keeping the plant watered if you’re not getting enough rain. if you have any other questions just let me know. Thank you for asking and happy gardening.🌻

@TinthiaClemant thanks for your great response. I'm in Yorktown NY. Does Holly tone or soil acidifier count as compost?

@@josephmaniaci9782 Hello, no, these products are only to change the pH of the soil. I recommend just going to a gardening center and getting a bag of mushroom, compost or whatever brand of compost they have. I’m not talking about manure I’m talking about good old fashion compost. I prefer the mushroom compost that my Home Depot sells. I have good luck with it. Happy gardening.🌻

Hi, first off, what zone do you live in? Next, what type of sunlight is she getting? Morning, afternoon, all day? Third, what type of food are you feeding her? The big three reasons macrophylla (which I assume you have) don't bloom are not enough sun, over-feeding, and pruning at the wrong time. Of the three, pruning will adjust itself after a season. For example: if you pruned her in the autumn of 2018 she most likely didn't bloom in summer of 2019 but she will set buds in autumn of 2019 for summer of 2020. Sunlight also plays an important part in blooming. She'll need at least five hours of sun, preferably morning. Hot afternoon sun will make her all wilty but she'll recover. Last reason is feeding. Overfeeding her will keep her from blooming. On that topic, too much nitrogen too. Check your plant food's numbers and make sure the middle number is higher than the other two. Also, make sure you're not feeding too much. If the food is extended release you should only feed in the spring when the plant wakes up and again in the autumn. I feed more often because I use a water-soluble plant food except for the final autumn feeding. I do hope I haven't confused you.

@@TinthiaClemant Hi! Thnx for responding! I live in s.e. PA. I believe zone 5/6. My hydrangea is a macro, it gets morning, early afternoon, and late day sun. Soil is on moister side. Typically well hydrated unless it gets really hot, then worst case sometimes looks thirsty in peak afternoon but perks up in early evening. I don't usually feed my plants but if i do it's the typical miracle grow all purpose stuff.thank you for the info you have already provided. I knew better and pruned her before she was well established.

Hi, yes, the stems can be propagated. All you need to do is place the stem along with some leaf nodes into the earth and keep the soil moist. Best done in summer. Good luck and happy gardening. 👩‍🌾

@@TinthiaClemant thank you for your reply!! :)

Hi, first off where are you located? If in an area where the plant goes dormant for the winter, such as the Northeast, it's best to wait until spring. When you see the buds starting to swell, and the ground has thawed, around late March/early April, using a spade cut off a section of the plant down to the roots. Add some compost to the new hole and work the soil to loosen it a bit. Make sure to keep the new plant watered well. Good luck.