How to Prune Hydrangeas With Dead Wood & Stems

Pruning helps hydrangea grow full foliage and blossoms.

The method used for a full hydrangea pruning depends on the variety, but all types require removal of dead and damaged wood to look their best. Damaged branches create an open wound on the hydrangea shrub that makes the plant more susceptible to pest and disease infection. Wind, age and winter weather can all result in hydrangea damage. Remove dead branches in late winter or early spring when the buds on the shrubs begin to swell.

Things You'll Need

• Pruning shears

Instructions

1. Cut back completely dead main shoots to the ground. Cut these off at soil level with sharp shears.

2. Locate any broken branches. Prune these back to within 1/4 inch of a bud on the nearest unbroken portion of the branch.

3. Inspect the tips of the branches for winter-killed wood, which will have no buds and feel brittle. Trim back winter-killed branch tips to within 1/4 inch of the topmost bud on the undamaged wood.

4. Trim out dead and damaged lateral branches. Cut these branches off where they emerge from a healthy vertical stem.

5. Prune Hydrangea arborescens, also known as Hills-of-Snow hydrangea, to the ground in late winter each year. This hydrangea typically suffers winter dieback on the entire shrub and it blooms only on new wood, so severe pruning is necessary.

Tips & Warnings

• Pruning away the old blossoms after they die improves the health and appearance on most hydrangea varieties.

References

• University of Rhode Island; Hydrangeas; Roseanne Sherry; July 1998
• Cornell University Extension; Pruning Hydrangeas; Richard Weir; April 1992