Gardeners love to plan – and this one tip could have your hydrangeas looking like award winners when summer comes around. Lee Bestall, an exterior lifestyle specialist, cautions that a one-size-fits-all approach to hydrangeas won’t do you any favours. He emphasised that pruning was an essential part of the plant’s maintenance – and must be done properly.
Lee, who runs the TikTok channel The Northern Designer, discussed when best to prune hydrangeas in a recent video. He recommended an early-year trim for several different varieties such as Limelight and Annabelle.
He said: “You can actually be quite brutal with them – reducing them by quite a lot of the growth. That’s because they produce flowers on this year’s growth so if you cut this off now, the new growth will produce new flowers. The different types are the mop heads, and you need to prune those later in the year.”
Lee recommends pruning the plant back to above the first bud, or node. He stressed the importance of making a clean cut so that the plant will bounce back vibrantly.
He added: “The more you cut it back, the bigger the flowers. If you want more flowers but smaller – don’t cut it as hard.”
Hydrangeas are a diverse and captivating group of flowering plants – known for their vibrant blooms and versatility in gardens. Hydrangeas belong to a genus of over 70 species – primarily native to Asia and the Americas – with the greatest diversity found in eastern Asia. One of the attractive points for gardeners of the plant is they come in many forms. They can be shrubs, small trees, or climbing vines – with some species reaching up to 30 meters in height.
The plants are famous for their large, showy flowers, which come in various colours including blue, pink, purple, and white. They are popular in many different places due to the beauty of their blooms and the fact they are not difficult plants to maintain.
The name hydrangea comes from the Greek words “hydor” (water) and “angos” (jar or vessel), reflecting the plant’s ability to retain water. Hydrangeas contain cyanogenic glycosides, making them poisonous if ingested by humans, dogs, cats, and horses.
The plants can grow between 24 to 36 inches per year, reaching maturity in just a few seasons
The Hydrangea is loved all over the world – the oakleaf hydrangea is the state wildflower of Alabama, designated in 1999.
In Virginia Woolf’s novel ‘Mrs. Dalloway‘, blue hydrangeas are mentioned several times, often associated with the character Sally Seton and her thoughts of Peter Walsh. Blu Hydrangea – a star from ‘Drag Race UK’ – is named after the plant. She gained attention for her creative costumes in the series.
Hydrangeas have been featured in Japanese art and literature, often symbolizing heartfelt emotions and apologies. They are also celebrated in cultural festivals like the Hydrangea Flower Cultural Festival in Korea. The plants have been used in traditional ceremonies and for medicinal purposes by Native Americans, who revered them for their beauty and spiritual significance.
