Can you prune hydrangeas safely without sacrificing blooms?

My landlord's is getting long and tall. I had read to prune them in
late winter while still dormant. Instead they cut them in spring when
the lower part was already leafing out. Only 2-3 blooms on low
branches.

"Vox Humana" wrote:


"Mary" wrote in message
. com...
I had two large beautiful plants--one rose, one blue-green--but this
season there are no blooms, and last summer there weren't any either,
just lush leaves. I suspect our recent harsh winters had something to
do with this. I'm wondering if I should bite the bullet and dig them
up, or has anyone seen blooms after several non-blooming seasons?
Thank you!


Before digging them, try protecting them over the winter. You can wrap them
with burlap or form a cylinder around them with light weight fencing and
fill that with leaves. They bloom on the previous year's growth, so if the
tips die back, you won't get any flowers. I gave a lovely "forever pink"
hydrangea to my neighbor. Last spring I saw them examining it and they were
discussing whether to cut it back, thinking that it had died. I explained
that it was just fine and that cutting it back would be detrimental. It
bloomed magnificently. This year they couldn't resist, so they cut it back
to the ground!!! It has put on a lot of growth, but not one flower.
Sometimes people perplex me. These are the same people who insisted on
digging up a bunch of calla lilies that had been in the ground for years
before they moved in and had put on a great show each year. They finally
said that it was too much work, so they gave them all to me. The few that
they missed came up and are blooming. I don't know why they just didn't
leave them alone. That would have been the least bother imaginable. Oh
well, my gain. I gave them some of the orange ditch lilies - they managed to
kill them!!!!!


DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
2nd year gardener
http://members.aol.com/DigitalVinyl66/Garden2004.html