When is the best time to prune my oakleaf hydrangea, and how should I go about it?
It has gotten much bigger than I anticipated! A. Oakleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia) bloom on wood that grew last season — you may have heard it said that they “bloom on old wood.” They are best pruned as soon as they finish flowering. They begin to produce next year’s flower buds soon after they bloom; if you prune them after the buds have set, you will reduce or eliminate 2010’s flowering. The best approach is to remove the thickest, oldest stems at ground level, rather than shearing them. That way, you will remove the flowers on those stems but not all of the flowers. You may be able to keep it in bounds that way. Shearing tends to cause a thicket of twigs at the ends of the stems, which block sunlight from the interior of the plant and reduce air circulation through it. This can create favorable conditions for diseases to develop, and it is generally stressful for the shrub. Pruning is not a substitute for proper plant selection. If you have to constantly prune a shrub (or
