Wondering what to do with your hydrangeas after they bloom this summer? Or wondering why they didn’t flower this year?
Believe it or not, what you do with your hydrangeas after they finish flowering can have a huge impact on just how healthy they remain through summer. And even more importantly, how well they bloom next year – or if they even bloom at all!
Although there are several distinct types of hydrangeas that can flower at different points of the growing season, the large majority of hydrangeas that grow in home landscapes fall within the summer blooming category. And how summer hydrangeas are cared for while they are blooming and right after they complete their blooming cycle really does play a major role in next year’s blooming potential.
The good news? Caring for them isn’t difficult. In fact, by following just three simple tips – you can all but ensure your hydrangeas will not only stay strong and healthy – but will flower with more gusto than ever next year!
What To Do With Hydrangeas After They Bloom – 3 Simple Steps To Flowering Success!
#1 Deadheading Spent Blooms
One of the most important things you can do for your hydrangeas in the summer is to deadhead them. And, on a fairly regular basis of at least once a week.
Deadheading is the practice of removing or cutting off fading blooms. This little task is extremely important for all kinds of annuals and perennials. Not only does it help to keep plants looking neat and tidy, it also helps them conserve massive amounts of energy. And for hydrangeas, that energy conservation is critical to re-power the plant to bloom again next year.
As long as an aging flower and bloom stem remain on your hydrangea, they use power. The plant, in an attempt to fix the dying flower, will continually expend energy on it. Unfortunately, no amount of nutrients or water will help an old bloom recover. But the plant continues to try anyway in vain.
Even worse, if the bloom continues to remain, then the plant uses even more energy to help the bloom then form a seed head. Why is all of this energy loss so important? For starters, the more nutrients a hydrangea saves, the healthier its foliage and roots will stay for the remainder of summer.
But even more vital, late summer and early fall is when hydrangeas begin to store up power for next year’s blooms. And the more the plant wastes on this year’s fading blooms – the less it will have to form flowers for next year!
Deadheading Regularly – What To Do With Hydrangeas After They Bloom
Hydrangeas are actually one of the easiest of all perennials to deadhead. All you need to do to stop the power loss is cut below the head of the flower. When pruning flowers back, always cut to above the first or second set of leaves below the bloom.
This instantly stops the loss of nutrients to the bloom. Not only is this great for conserving power, but if you start deadheading early as the first flowers start to fade, it also gives the plant more strength to power the remainder of its blooms this year as well!
For maximum benefit, try to deadhead your hydrangeas at least once a week as they flower. Then, once the final flowers begin to fade, it’s time for a little light pruning. And as you will see below, for summer hydrangeas, this is the only critical time to prune!
#2 Post Bloom Pruning – What To Do With Hydrangeas After They Bloom
One of the biggest mistakes gardeners make with their summer blooming hydrangeas is to prune them at the wrong time. Why? Because summer blooming hydrangeas bloom on old wood. Old wood is simply the growth that occurs from the time blooming ends until the end of fall when it goes dormant for winter.
For summer blooming hydrangeas, that is the growth that will hold and produce next summer’s blooms. Unfortunately, when gardeners prune summer flowering hydrangeas in the early spring or late fall, they remove the wood that holds the blooms.
But if you prune these types right after they finish flowering, new wood can grow until fall. And, of course, big blooms will follow next summer!
So the simple rule of thumb for summer blooming hydrangeas is to simply do all of your pruning and shaping right after they finish blooming in summer. And then – leave them alone!
One final note on pruning – always be sure to use sharp, clean pruners. The less damage and tearing of the stems and wood means a faster recovery time for the bush. Once again, saving energy. Affiliate Product Link: Haus & Garten ClassicPRO 8.5″ Professional Premium Titanium Bypass Pruning Shears
#3 Avoid Fertilizing – What To Do With Hydrangeas After They Bloom
The last and final task is the easiest of all. The task? Simply don’t fertilize your hydrangeas in the summer! The only time you should fertilize hydrangeas is in the early spring and before they bloom. See our article: The Best Way To Fertilize Hydrangeas – When & How To Fertilize In Early Spring For Big Blooms!
Doing this right before or as they come out gives the bush a boost of energy for summer blooming. But if you fertilize in mid to late summer, it can cause too much unwanted late growth. That can lead to weaker wood and far less blooms on your stems for the following year.
Once you have deadheaded the old blooms and pruned and shaped your bush, all that is left is to sit back and wait until next year. Here is to caring for your hydrangeas after they bloom, and to big flowers next summer!
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This Is My Garden is a garden website created by gardeners, for gardeners. Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books and speaking for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. They publish three articles every week, 52 weeks a year. Sign up today to follow via email, or follow along!