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Old 06-07-2004, 10:03 PM
Joanne
 
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Default No flowers on Hydrangeas

"Colin Lougher" wrote in message
...
I planted three small Hydrangeas a couple of years ago. They have never
flowered properly; what is going wrong?
In the Autumn when they go woody I prune them quite hard. In the spring

they
appear healthy and have plenty of foliage but no flower heads.


I had exactly the same problem until I learned the reason why, and for the
first time in 3 years my hydrangeas are absolutely loaded with flowers.
First of all, do NOT prune until spring. During winter you should leave all
the dead flower heads on because the dead heads give some protection from
frost. Then in early spring, when growth is just starting, prune each
branch to where there are 2 strong buds. On some branches this will be
almost at the top of the branch so you only have to cut a bit off, but on
other branches you might have to prune lower down because there's only 1 bud
showing. And that's the secret - pruning to just above 2 healthy buds.

Hope that helps.