Question about Hydrangeas

My hydrangeas this year consist of dead seeming stalks with new growth at the bottom. In the past, new growth came onto these stalks. One of my local friends experienced the same thing. Have other people had this happen to theirs? Should I cut back the stalks? Thanks in advance for any info!

I had same thing, I finally cut back the dead wood as it was driving me nuts, not saying it was the right thing to do. I did Google it and there were several blogs indicating it was OK to cut back dead wood

same thing happened to my hydrangeas this year. Have not cut back dead wood. I keep waiting for a miracle

same here, I cut them back.

It must have something to do with the crazy winter we had...

I cut them back. The plant itself is certainly healthy-looking now, but I'm going to be surprised if it blooms.

Ours is in an unfortunate location for the winter in that we had to pile a lot of snow on it when shoveling.

With so much growth going on at the bottom, I think I would cut them back. And I agree that last winter was a bit of a garden game changer. LOL

Snow is supposed to be a good insulator, MJH, but probably only if it accumulates naturally, rather than being dropped in large shovelfuls that can break branches. Too bad.

We had a blueberry bush in a pot that we really thought would not make it through the winter. But it got buried in three or four feet of snow on our back patio, and somehow came through beautifully. It bloomed and set fruit, and we are going to have a good crop from it this summer! That is, if the birds and chipmunks don't get there first. wink

I just cut back those canes, yesterday. When I did so, I saw the Endless Summers have started to set new blooms. The ancient hydrangea in one of my front beds blooms on old growth, and I didn't notice any new buds, so I don't expect that to bloom this year. I have some dwarf varieties in a back bed in my yard, and I haven't touched those yet, because it appears there may be some life in those canes.

Use your judgment. I cut mine back to the leafline, because some did have some life in them yet.

Same, and I also cut mine back. Mind you, my hydrangeas are not in a great spot to begin with, and I never get great results with them. We're going to be removing a tree that will force us to transplant at least one of them, so I hope it/they survive that trauma altogether.

I had the same thing. I thought they were completely gone but then they started sprouting leaves at the base. I kept watch to make sure nothing was growing on the wood and then I cut them all back to the base just above the growth. I'm not expecting any blooms but who knows?

My rhododendrons on the other hand must have LOVED the cold because they've exploded with color.

mod said:

same thing happened to my hydrangeas this year. Have not cut back dead wood. I keep waiting for a miracle

Same here. Been holding hope for new growth on the old growth but that doesn't look like it's going to happen to time around. Will likely cut back to right above the new growth.

First time in eight years this has happened to mine.

Everyone has this problem it seems. It's tragic. The garden folk I've talked to all advised to wait a few weeks for any straggling new growth, then cut back the dead wood.

If your hydrangea produces colored blooms (pink, blue, purple), it blooms on old wood. If it produces white blooms, it does so on new wood (except oak leaf, who bloom on old). Sadly, because of the past winter, we're not going to be seeing the great displays of colored hydrangeas this summer but regardless of what color flowers your hydrangeas have, if you don't cut back the dead wood it'll just be ugly.

The Endless Summer varieties bloom on both old and new wood, which is why I saw some blooms being set.

Thanks for this thread, I was studiously examining my Endless Summers yesterday, but they look exactly like the OPs pic - lots of bare old wood. I'm encouraged to hear that they can also bloom on new wood, but I don't see any yet...

I started cutting mine back but then noticed that the dead wood wasn't actually as dead as I thought. I am giving mine a few more weeks to see what happens. I did notice that one bush more in the sun actually does have new growth coming out of the stalks.

Look for the little florets in the center of the new leaves---I just took these pictures a few minutes ago. you can see where I trimmed back the old canes. The blossoms look like tiny broccoli florets oh oh

The wood on my hydrangeas does not look dead even though there is little sign of leaves opening on most of the stalks at this time. I am waiting awhile longer before cutting them back. I also have signs of new growth at the base of the plant.

Same thing here. Nice growth at the bottom, nothing on the upper sections of the canes. These are older, well-established plants, but they were inside an ice bank for 2 months or so this past winter. In other years, I had buds on the tops of the canes, but none this year. Also, the canes are dry and snap off when you bend them. I've cut them back substantially and we'll see what happens. It may take a few years for the poor things to get back to where they were up to last summer.

I cut the canes on some of ours yesterday. They were dry as bones at the points where I made the cuts, so I doubt I quashed any potential growth. Also gave them a good feeding with Hollytone a couple weeks ago. Normally that would turn the flowers a bit bluer, but this year I'll hope we just get a flower or two at all.

GOod to know others are cutting off their dead wood... I've been dying to cut mine back but don't want to kill it (like I did last year). No blooms two years in a row for me!

It's so deceptive because the ugly old branches do sometimes house new growth. I use a rule if thumb. If the stem/branch comes off the plant with no resistance at all, pull it. Clean out dead branches on the ground around the roots so the roots can breathe. Dead head any old dry flowers, I spray with a bug spray, a strong one, early before the little florets are visible, because I have awful little horned bugs ("mealworms?") that eat the florets, then wait patiently.

If the old stalks don't have any growth on them by now, cut them off. But, if there is some growth from the old, cut them down to just above the new green leaf. The End.

I was planning to move a hydrangea this spring. Would that be too much trauma since they are struggling so much this spring? Should i wait until fall? I cut back the deadwood a week ago and have lots of leaves at the base.

You can move it. Just try to dig deep enough to keep the soil around it's roots. Water regularly.

Working on a friends yard, I noticed that all their Hydrangeas have large new growths from the base, but on 3 of the 4 there are also signs of new growths further up the canes. I am holding off on trimming for a little while yet.

http://www.endlesssummerblooms.com/en/consumer/plants/theoriginal/care/pruning

The guys at Williams Nursery told me to cut the old canes back, as this winter was tough on all except the endless blooming ones, which can tolerate colder temps.

Unfortunately, there will be no blue puff balls in my garden this year. My well established Blue Nikkos took a beating and I finally cut them back to the base where there is lots of green. On the other hand, my Limelights seemed to weather the brutal winter just fine.

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