Leggy hyndrangea

Mikeculshaw

We have recently moved house and the new garden contains some beautiful mop head hydrangea which have become very leggy and are drooping. The standard advice says to prune only back to the next bud behind the head. If I prune to a bud further back will I still get blooms next year?

steephill

Hydrangeas bloom on last year's wood so if you prune that out you will lose a year of flowers. There are a couple of options - hard prune the whole plant or hard prune the oldest third stems each year. The latter option will keep two thirds of the blooms each year. Either way wait until spring before pruning.

I would also take out any stems which are trailing on the ground unless you fancy trying layering to get some new plants.