Hydrangeas? Should I cut them back or are they alive?

I have hydrangeas that look like wooden stalks. At the bottom, they are all green. Some green is going up the wooden stalks. Will they continue to get leaves up the stalks, or should I cut them back to the highest leaf that I can see? I am hoping to grow them large and bushy. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Hydrangeas? Should I cut them back or are they alive?
It depends on the variety. Some only bloom on old wood, so it would be best if you Googled hydrangeas and looked up your variety before you do anything too drastic.
Reply:Sorry to hear of your problem. Unfortunately, you missed your window of opportunity about six months ago!


You trim back Hydrangea, shape them, in the Fall, and after the leaves have dropped. To let them grow full and bushy place them in full sun, well irrigated soil, and away from your home. It seems you want to make the bush do what it does not do.


Today use hand pruning shears (not a hedge cutter or other auto tool) and begin removing dead wood. Anything with either a black mark or signs of disease ( White mold, insects, etc). Bring a bucket with a solution of Bleach and Water with you. Dip the tool into the bucket to prevent the spread of insects and disease after every cut made.


Clip the tops to the shape you want (dip the tool). Fert with a basic 10-10-10 and mineral granular fert now and every six weeks thereafer. Feed at the rootline (outside the dripline of the plant). Once a month try to remove both dead and infected stalks.


Like a Forythina the Hydragea needs to have both room and air to grow. It can grow to be a large bush, wants to be a large bush, needs to be a free bush. Consider transplant or replacement in the Late Fall. So many were placed because they were cheap foundation plants. After fifteen years they no longer are. Put a forsythia or your plant in the wild and watch how they grow.


I know this is not what you wanted to hear. Sorry. In the end it may help. God Bless.
Reply:Cut back all the brown or wooden stalks to either the ground or the first set of green leaves and let the new green growth grow.





Give them plenty of water.
Reply:They are doing fine, just let them be for now and cut them back hard in the fall
Reply:Wait until fall, then cut off any dead wood.
Reply:Do Not Cut. They will come up through the old stems nearly to top of last years growth. Prune only the very crunchy sticks.
Reply:I have hydrangeas too. Usually they will bloom on the stalks from the year before. Depending on where you live, you may still get some more leaves coming out on the stalks. Give it another two weeks or so for all the leaves to bud out. Then you can trim back the dead wood on the tips if it really bothers you. The leaves will cover them as they grow out.

larry