Mophead Hydrangea: When to Prune Your Plant if You Want It to Bloom Next Year
To successfully grow Mophead hydrangea, it requires a shady location that is protected from direct sunlight and watering during dry periods.
Another mandatory condition, according to the expert of the online publication BelNovosti, scientist-agronomist, landscape designer Anastasia Kovrizhnykh, is minimal pruning.
This procedure is necessary to maintain the health of the bush and ensure its flowering next year.
When to Prune Mophead Hydrangea
As a rule, hydrangeas bloom on old shoots. This means that the formation of buds occurs last year. In some cases, this can happen on new shoots.
For this reason, the best time to prune is late winter or early spring, before the buds begin to open.
Thanks to light pruning carried out during this period, you will be able to shape the bush while its branches are still bare and there is no need to remove buds.
Withered flowers left over the winter provide reliable protection for the buds from the cold.
For this reason, pruning panicle hydrangeas in late summer or fall is not recommended.
If you do this in August, there is a chance that the flower buds will be removed, and then the bush will not bloom next year.
On the other hand, if you prune in the fall, it will stimulate the growth of new shoots, which will freeze at the first frost.
