Mophead hydrangeas look lovely in the fall when their blue, purple and pink flowers contrast with the fall foliage. Brown flowers can be snipped off if they annoy you, but you don't have to remove them.
As the season progresses, the flowers deepen their pink finally turning red in the fall.
Unfortunately, their beauty doesn't last all year. Once the flowers and foliage die back in fall, you'll need to head out into the garden for your annual hydrangea maintenance session. These tasks are vital to keeping your plants looking great and ensuring they come back even stronger the following year.
During the winter months, most of the blooms fall from the plant and whatever is left often turns dry and brown. The cold winter weather can leave the remaining foliage and buds of hydrangeas dead and damaged - but what's the most likely cause?
Prune fall blooming hydrangeas, or old wood bloomers, after they bloom in the summer. If you prune old wooded hydrangeas in fall, you are cutting off next seasons blooms. Summer blooming hydrangeas, or those that bloom on new wood, are pruned in the fall, after they stop blooming.
However, stop deadheading hydrangea shrubs in mid to late fall, leaving any spent blooms in place. This not only provides winter interest, but also ensures you don't remove the buds that will become flowers next spring.
If you don't prune hydrangeas then they can eventually resemble a tangled mass of woody stems, and the flowers will become smaller and less showy.
Prune back stems to just above a fat bud — called a heading cut — in fall, late winter or spring. These plants have conical-shaped flower heads. I recommend leaving the dry, tan flower heads on the plant to provide some winter interest in your landscape, so I wait to prune these until late winter or spring.
Keep Them Cozy. Whether or not hydrangeas need protection depends on how cold the winter temperatures drop. If the air temperature doesn't go below 0 degrees (zone 7) there is no need for winter protection. In colder climates, wrap or completely cover marginally hardy hydrangeas.
While some plants bloom on new growth, others primarily set flower buds on old wood. Regardless, it is best to wait to prune all hydrangeas until spring. In the fall, hydrangeas (and all trees and shrubs) are in the process of going dormant. They do not produce very much new growth until the following spring.
Some introductions such as the Forever and Ever series or the well known Endless Summer family bloom both on old wood and new wood. The spring flowers occur on the prior year's old wood, while the fall flowers occur on the plant's current-season new-wood growth.
In order to figure out how much water your new hydrangea needs, start by watering it two-three times per week (less in spring and fall and more in summer) and checking the soil in between waterings. Use your finger to feel into the soil around the base of the plant and check for dryness.
Snow cover not only provides insulation, but also a water source. If you live in an area that doesn't have snow — or doesn't get snow — make sure you've got enough rain or water to get them through. Also, be sure the base of the hydrangea is covered with wood chips, oak leaves, pine straw or other mulch.
Hydrangeas don't look very nice in the winter. And they look even worse in the Spring! The old branches look dead at the end of winter (even though they're almost always just dormant); and they are unattractive for a while.
Hydrangeas do not require strict reqular pruning; simply keep them healthy by removing dead wood and they will grow and flower well.
To reduce the size of a hydrangea that blooms on new wood, cut off about one-third of each stem in late fall or early spring before it begins to leaf out. If your hydrangea blooms on old wood, prune right after it has bloomed when the flowers are fading.
Most common hydrangeas prefer a partial sun location - ideally receiving sun in the morning hours and shade in the afternoon. The reblooming Endless Summer® Hydrangea series prefers part shade.
In late winter or early spring, these shrubs can be cut all the way back to the ground. Smooth hydrangeas will produce much larger blooms if pruned hard like this each year, but many gardeners opt for smaller blooms on sturdier stems.
Miracle-Gro Performance Organics Blooms Nutrition
This is an all-purpose blossom booster that's suitable for use on a wide variety of perennial and annual blooming plants, including hydrangeas. It provides various minerals, including copper, calcium, and iron, to supplement common nutrient deficiencies.
Deadheading your hydrangeas isn't a care step you want to skip. "Deadheading allows the energy produced by the plant to go into the leaves, stems, and roots (rather than forming seeds) for future growth," says Melinda Myers, a professional gardener.
New Wood Bloomers
It is easy to grow these hydrangeas because they bloom every year regardless of how they are cared for or treated. They can be pruned to the ground in the fall and they will emerge in the spring with bountiful blooms.