Should You Prune Hydrangeas In The Fall? Here's What We Recommend

As fall sets in, you might be eyeing the dried blooms on your hydrangeas and wonder: Should you prune them now or wait until the spring? It all depends on what kind of hydrangea you have. For some varieties of hydrangea, like panicle hydrangeas, pruning is fine in the fall. Others, like bigleaf hydrangeas, should really be cut back right after they finish blooming before the end of summer.

Pruning is just one thing you can do to see your hydrangeas thrive in spring. Hydrangeas, of course, are bushy, hardy perennial flowering shrubs or small trees that come in a variety of colors and can improve any garden. When you prune, you're helping your hydrangea by adding air circulation to a plant that's become too dense. This helps ward off any fungal infections. The upkeep can also encourage new growth or simply reign in a hydrangea that might be taking over your flower bed. 

If you're going to prune in the fall, though, it should only be done on new wood hydrangeas. These are the kinds of hydrangeas that don't grow new flower buds until the following spring, right before they bloom. Old wood hydrangeas, however, plan way ahead and form new spring buds in the fall. If you get too heavy-handed with fall pruning of old wood hydrangeas, then you might end up lopping off new would-be blooms and wind up with fewer flowers. Old wood needs time in the summer and mild weeks of fall to grow buds for the following spring. So, think twice about taking the shears to them in October.

Hydrangeas that are safe to prune in fall — new wood hydrangeas — include panicle varieties (Hydrangea paniculata) 'Limelight' or 'Quickfire.' You might know these woody perennials from their cone-shaped flowers or the fact that they bloom fairly late in the season. Other new wood varieties include smooth hydrangeas (Hydrangea arborescens) such as 'Annabelle' and 'Grandiflora,' have green, white, and pink mophead blooms.

With all these new wood varieties, you can safely prune in the fall since they'll be growing entirely new stems and buds next spring. Old wood hydrangeas, however, won't benefit from autumn pruning. They include bigleaf (Hydrangea macrophylla) varieties like 'Stargazer,' which grow pink, blue, or purple flowers. To make pruning decisions even more complicated, reblooming hydrangeas (also known as remontant) varieties like 'Endless Summer' bloom on new and old wood. And vining hydrangeas (Hydrangea petolaris) rarely even need pruning at all.

A good rule of thumb, however, is that it's typically safe to cut dead wood off any hydrangea variety after winter. But if this all seems too complicated and tricky, remember that you don't actually have to prune at all. You can keep dried flowers on your hydrangeas all winter long, and this might add texture in the garden over dreary cold months. If you're still worried about making a mistake, know the best pruning strategy might be to just skip it. You might find it's better to be safe rather than sorry.