"Joanne" wrote in message
...
"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.

That is not the usually recommended pruning regime for Hydrangaeas.
The crucial point is that the flowers form at the tips of the
*previous* year's growth.
So prune in spring by removing completely any unwanted growth and
shortening only *some* of the older stems.

Franz