If you’ve already pruned your new plant, don’t stress. Just wait several seasons until the plant puts on growth and gets larger before you cut it back again. You might not get blooms for a season, but the plant will eventually flower.
This is the time when you can prune to shape the plant or to control growth. For instance, if your hydrangea is growing across a walkway, early summer is the time to prune it!
If you absolutely have to prune your hydrangea, don’t prune more than 1/3 of the stems. This way you’ll at least get a few blossoms later.
Diseased leaves might have brown rings on them or patches of yellow circles that look like a mosaic.
If your shears are covered in dirt, scrub them with a stiff brush and rinse them well before you sanitize the shears. Pruning shears give you the most control and they easily cut through hydrangea stems. If you don’t have pruning shears, you can use long loppers or sharp scissors.
Live buds will be slightly green and feel plump. The dead part of the stem beyond the live bud will be brittle, dry, and completely brown.
While it’s tempting to do this in the fall or winter, wait until the spring so you can give buds a chance to form. This makes it a lot easier to identify dead stems and live buds.
If you drastically want to prune the plant, do it gradually over the course of 2 or 3 seasons so you still get some blooms every year.
