Tiger303 wrote:
out of interest when do people here prune off last years faded flower
heads? had a look today and some of the buds are just started to open,
so was thinking off removing the old flower heads; perhaps some of you
leave them on. anyways thanks for your help

Errr ... Tiger, you've already asked this one on the 7th Feb! Look at
the theads archive and search for hydrangea. Kay was your expert on
this and Bob should be along any moment now. However until then, I'd
leave them on a bit longer. The old flowers protect the buds until it
gets warmer. Then remove them.