Hydrangea pruning

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Hi Laura,

>I have a pee wee hydrangea. I would like to know when I should prune the

>blooms from the summer off????

>I also have a hydrangea bush that I must have pruned at the wrong time of

>year because this summer I got many beautiful leaves but no blooms, when

>should these plants be pruned???

First I must remind folks to include zone/region info when asking questions like this - too many answers are climate-dependent. H. paniculata - the Pee Wee or Pee Gee blooms on the current season's growth, therefore you can prune it at any time, thought late fall or early spring are preferred. If you are pruning hard (down to the lowest buds) you will get fewer, but larger flowers. I am assuming that the other hydrangea is a large leaf variety, and the lack of flowering leads me to guess that you are in a more northern zone where the plant is borderline. Large-leaf hydrangeas bloom on last year's wood, so if the buds die off during the winter, you lose the flowers. Or if you prune back too far, you are cutting off the flowers. Prune these in the spring and make sure you keep the fattest buds, if they overwinter.Best of luck, Laura.

Lisa in Mpls