A gardening expert has urged green thumbs to hold off a common hydrangea task until next year (Image: Getty)
Hydrangeas are a popular choice of plant to have in gardens across the country, offering gorgeous displays in a wide variety of colours. They’ll have stopped producing their flowers in the late summer, but you should still be left with an abundance of flowerheads which have crisped up.
It may be tempting to chop them all off before winter arrives, but gardening expert Ish Kamran has urged gardeners to hold off pruning and trimming their hydrangeas for now. This is because it can help protect the plants over the winter months. In a recent video, Ish said: “Should you cut off your hydrangea flowers or should you leave them be?
Keeping the hydrangeas intact can create a protective thermal layer (Image: Getty)
“Well actually, there’s a few things you can do with your hydrangea in the winter and autumn months, but ultimately, it’s down to your own personal preference as to whether you want to remove these.”
How to care for hydrangeas in winter
You’ve probably noticed your hydrangeas have already passed their blooming stage, drying out and turning a “paper bag” shade of brown. Hydrangeas will stay this colour all the way through the colder months.
Although gardeners can prune the flowers now, keeping them intact can have some useful benefit throughout the chilly season. By leaving the hydrangea flowers as is, it can provide a thermal protection layer for the plant.
Ish explained: “It also works as a little bit of a thermal protection layer for your hydrangea, so I leave mine be. But if you want to cut them, wait until around about February-March time before that new growth comes.
“As a result, you protect them over the winter, but then you’ve taken care of it, ready for new growth next year.”
If you are planning on cutting away the hydrangeas, snip just above a healthy leaf. Should the hydrangeas grow too big and out of control, gardeners can trim the stems a little bit lower.
Ish continued: “So if you’re looking at your hydrangeas and thinking ‘do these need cutting back’? Leave them be for now, let them look fantastic over winter, and enjoy them in full flower again next spring.”
Other methods to keep hydrangeas protected in winter
To keep the flowers healthy, you can add a generous amount of mulch around the base. This can be done with multipurpose compost, bark or shredded leaves.
Apply the mulch directly onto the base of the plant. This will help create a thermal barrier between the plant and the cold climate during the winter.
Gardening Express explained that mulching in autumn can offer several benefits when caring for hydrangeas, including maintaining consistent soil moisture and deterring weeds. Experts also advised to “hold off” feeding the plants as they will wind down and eventually go dormant during the winter.
Ensure that the soil is hydrated, but with the recent turn in weather, you probably won’t need to add too much water. It also may be required to deadhead a few of the flowers, should the wind become too strong throughout autumn and winter.
When there are strong winds that ultimately snap the flowers’ stems, if the plants become too moist, it could lead to infection.
It’s best to deadhead these to avoid ruining the plant. However if there are blooms which haven’t snapped, these don’t need to be deadheaded as they too can create a thermal barrier for the rest of the plant.
See more of the stories you love from Daily Express and find us easily in Google by making us a Preferred Source. Free and easy-to-do, just click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings.
