Each group should be pruned differently and at a different time.

Mar 25, Hydrangea paniculata, panicle hydrangea. 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.

Now when old man winter deals me a bad hand, I still get flowers, albeit a little bit later than June.

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. Aug 02, When should I prune hydrangeas? Pruning hydrangeas tends to be done in late winter to early spring. Depending on your region, this is generally late February to early March.

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Aug 21, Pruning in pre-winter or late-winter before new development starts will bring new blossoms all late spring. Enormous Leaf and Oakleaf hydrangeas ought to be pruned no later than late-summer, else you may cut off buds forestalling any blossoms come summer.

For these sorts of hydrangeas, it’s ideal to prune following blooming. To prune your hydrangeas, start by cleaning out the shoots that come up out of the ground near the bottom of the plant, and any coming out of the trunk. These are called “suckers” and take valuable resources away from the healthy parts of your tree. Cut back branches that are crossing or. damaged over the winter, the hydrangea’s flowering potential is reduced (although lower buds along the stem can develop flowers too).

Wait to prune your bigleaf hydrangeas until new growth appears in the spring. Make pruning cuts one quarter inch above the first. Nov 07, For the most part, climbing and oakleaf hydrangea flower buds are more winter hardy than those of bigleaf plants. In my zone 5 gardens, when my bigleaf hydrangeas have suffered winterkill, my oakleaf and climbing have flowered profusely with no protection.