Hydrangeas with their large, beautifully colored flower balls are an attractive garden ornament and also thrive in pots on the balcony. Depending on which hydrangea variety you are cultivating, regular pruning is recommended. In this article you can find out which species you can cut back in autumn and what you have to pay attention to.

Only hydrangeas in pruning group 2 may be pruned in autumn

Overview of the cut groups

Hydrangeas in pruning group 1 must be pruned in the spring, as they create the flowers for the following year in the previous year. This cutting group includes:

  • peasant hydrangea
  • plate hydrangea
  • velvet hydrangea
  • climbing hydrangea
  • oak leaf hydrangea

In the case of hydrangeas in pruning group 2, pruning takes place during maintenance in late autumn. This group of cuts includes only two species. These are:

  • snowball hydrangea
  • panicle hydrangea

Required tool

Smaller specimens can easily be cut back with a pair of pruning shears or pruning shears. As with all pruning measures in the garden, make sure you have scrupulously clean pruning tools with sharp blades. In order to prevent fungi and pathogens from penetrating via the interface, it is advisable to disinfect the tool.

With a large hydrangea, telescopic scissors work well. Never support ladder frames on the hydrangea, as the shrub cannot withstand this load. Instead, use a stepladder to trim the branches at the top.

Instructions for the right pruning in the fall

During maintenance in autumn, all disturbing and dead branches are removed. Weaker shoots and branches that grow unfavorably or inwards are also cut off.

Shorten this year's shoots so that only a pair of eyes remain. The hydrangea sprout new ones from these cut ends in the following year and thus grows richly branched.

You can shorten specimens that have grown too large by about a third. Since the hydrangeas in pruning group 2 bloom on one-year-old wood, you don't have to do without an abundance of flowers next year with this radical pruning.

tips and tricks

To give the hydrangea a nice shape, you should keep looking at the plant from a distance while you are caring for it.

Category:

Vegetable garden