Hydrangeas are known for their low-maintenance, laid-back style, making them perfect for growers who don’t want to spend a lot of time and energy trimming, pruning, and otherwise perfecting their shrubs. However, there is one simple task that can make a world of difference for your plant’s health and encourage better blooms in the future.
Removing dead, fading, or otherwise “spent” blooms from your Hydrangea by cutting them at the stem is known as “deadheading.” The length of stem that you snip will depend on the time of year and the type of Hydrangea. However, a general rule is to cut just above the first set of full leaves.
In this article, I’ll explain in detail what deadheading is and how you should do it, including the best time for removing spent blooms. I’ll also discuss some pros and cons of deadheading and how the process varies for old wood vs. new wood bloomers.
What Does It Mean to “Deadhead” Flowers?
Some people confuse pruning with deadheading, but they’re actually two different practices. Deadheading a flower is simply cutting off the dead bloom at the stem. This creates a nice, clean cut rather than ripping or pulling, and it allows the plant to devote resources to new growth rather than spending resources on the dying bloom.
Deadheading flowers in your garden can help encourage reblooming and improve the overall appearance of your plants. Most annuals and perennials will continue to delight you with blooms throughout the season if you take the time to deadhead spent flowers.
This simple maintenance task should become a part of your everyday garden routine once you learn a little bit about your plants and which ones will benefit from deadheading.
Should You Deadhead Hydrangeas?
Throughout the season, you’ll notice that your beautiful blossoms on any flowering plant will begin to fade, wilt, and lose their petals. Most flowers, including Hydrangeas, develop their seeds during this period when the flower is starting to die off.
Producing and maturing seeds can consume a lot of energy and resources from the plant, which takes away from the energy available to support new growth and more blooms.
By deadheading these spent flowers, the plant can redirect energy into producing additional blooms. This results in more flowers throughout the growing season, healthier plants, and ample new growth to support the structure of the plant. You may even find that the second round of blooms lasts longer than the first!
How to Deadhead a Hydrangea
When it comes to your Hydrangea, it’s usually better to have a “less is more” mindset about trimming and pruning. However, it can be highly beneficial to snip off dead, faded, and wilted blooms.
You can easily pinch off small, thin stems on some flowers during deadheading. But since Hydrangeas typically have more substantial branches to support the large, lush blooms, you will likely need to use clippers or shears to cut away the spent flower.
Before you begin, always sanitize your tools to ensure you don’t spread disease between plants. A paper towel or rag soaked in isopropyl alcohol is an inexpensive and effective cleaning solution that you can use to wipe down your clippers between uses quickly. I like to use a sharp pair of pruning shears or a small bypass pruner for deadheading flowers.
Check your shrub for blooms that look wilted or faded or otherwise aren’t as vibrant as you would like. Once you locate the flower, gently grasp it in your hand to expose the stem below. Depending on the time of year and type of Hydrangea, you will snip off the bloom either right at the base or a little farther down the stem. Either way, you will cut above the first set of healthy leaves below the bloom. Once you’ve made a clean cut, you can move on to the next spent flower.
It’s a good idea to create a habit of deadheading spent flowers throughout your garden. It can be a tedious task, but it’s well worth it when you see your plants flowering again and keeping your garden full of beautiful blooms for a little longer.
Should Hydrangeas Be Deadheaded or Cut Back After the Blooms Die?
Many flowering plants benefit from deadheading, and Hydrangeas are no exception. In fact, removing spent flowers from these beauties can be a huge help to improving the Hydrangea’s health and new growth.
Because the show-stopping blooms on your Hydrangea plant are so big and complex, they require a significant amount of energy. A flower that’s dying off will continue to take up a big chunk of the plant’s resources, especially if it’s developing seed pods.
You should deadhead Hydrangea flowers as they begin to fade and die off, but you shouldn’t cut back anymore than is necessary. When done at the right time, deadheading flowers will help improve the quality of future blooms and may sometimes allow for a second round of blooms on certain Hydrangea varieties.
You can wait until the blooms have died off, but the plant will have spent a lot of energy producing seeds and sending resources to the spent flower. It’s a better idea to deadhead the bloom when it starts to die rather than after it’s all the way dried out. Keep in mind that this is different from pruning or cutting back the Hydrangea.
In general, Hydrangeas don’t need to be “cut back,” but if you determine that you need to do some trimming (for reasons like legginess, woodiness, or space constraints), you should only do so after the blooms die, especially if the Hydrangea blooms on old wood.
If you cut these old wood bloomers back any other time, then you risk cutting away the flower buds that will bloom next year. Cutting back your Hydrangea after the blooms die will ensure that you leave enough time for the plant to generate new flower buds for the next season. Old wood Hydrangeas include bigleaf (H. macrophylla), Oakleaf (H. quercifolia), lacecap, and climbing varieties.
If your Hydrangea blooms on new wood, you should only cut it back during late winter or early spring while it’s dormant and before it begins actively growing. New wood bloomers are varieties like Pee Gee, Limelight, Panicle, Annabelle, and Smooth Hydrangea.
Not sure which type of Hydrangea you have and want to double check before you start pruning or deadheading? Read this article for detailed information on old wood versus new wood bloomers.
Pros of Deadheading Flowers
Especially if you’re new to gardening, it can be intimidating to start clipping off flowers from your plants. However, I promise that it’s quick and painless and you will be happy with the end result.
Let’s look at some of the benefits of deadheading flowers:
- Improves the overall appearance of the plant. As flowers die off, they wilt, turn brown, dry out, and lose their petals. Even a lush, beautiful shrub may look sickly with spent blooms on it. Removing these less visually appealing flowers can improve the plant’s appearance and help make it look neat and clean.
- Encourages healthier re-growth. Removing spent flowers encourages the re-growth to come back even more robust and healthier. You may find that the second round of blooms even lasts longer than the first!
- Encourages additional blooms. Some plants, including Hydrangeas, will bloom again after the spent flowers are removed. This is because the plant is attempting to produce seeds for propagation. When the flower and future seed pod are removed, the plant reinvests energy into producing another round of blooms.
- You can use flowers for an arrangement. If you deadhead the flower early, while it still has a somewhat healthy look, you can put it in a vase or arrangement and have some of the fresh-floral beauty inside your home. For more information on using Hydrangeas as cut flowers, read this article.
- Helps conserve energy. When you deadhead spent blooms, the plant can use the energy it would have directed toward seed formation to improve its overall health and form new growth. Some plants won’t rebloom even with deadheading, so this energy will be put right back into developing additional, hardier foliage and improving the root system.
However, you should note that deadheading a Hydrangea will not necessarily make it produce more flowers, but it will help the flowers bloom faster as more energy is available to use on this task.
Cons of Deadheading Flowers
The biggest con associated with deadheading a Hydrangea is that if you do so too late in the year, you may risk cutting off the blooms that will turn into next year’s flowers. For this reason, it is important to stop deadheading flowers after the summer. Once the temperatures start to drop, some Hydrangeas (those that bloom on old wood) will start to produce buds for the following season. Cutting too aggressively or too late in the year can reduce the number of flowers next year.
How to Deadhead Hydrangeas That Bloom On New Wood
Hydrangeas that bloom on new wood develop their buds on this year’s growth, meaning that they’re a little more forgiving if you go overboard with the clippers. (To learn more about how to tell what kind of Hydrangeas you have, check out this article).
For new wood Hydrangeas, you can remove old and fading blooms anytime without causing damage to the plant. However, it’s typically best for the shrub to not deadhead any blooms during the late fall or winter months.
Hydrangeas that bloom on new wood can be cut lower on the stem than those that bloom on new wood. You can go down to the first set of leaves or even down to where the stem attaches to the larger branch to make the cut. Snip quickly and cleanly at a 45-degree angle for best results.
How to Deadhead Hydrangeas That Bloom on Old Wood
For old wood bloomers, you can safely remove faded and wilting blossoms anytime as long as you do not remove too much of the stem. The reason for this is because next year’s blooms will begin to develop within the wood right after blooming, so you don’t want to cut them away accidentally.
The best time to deadhead these is shortly after they begin to blossom. In the summer months (June or early July), you can remove the bloom along with longer stems if you would like to use them in a vase or arrangement. The buds won’t start developing until later in the summer, so it’s safe to cut more of the stem.
However, if you deadhead flowers in August or later, you should clip them just below the bloom (or with only a very short piece of the stem). You could also look closely at the stem to see if any bloom buds are developing and ensure that you cut well above where the buds begin.
Once you’ve identified when and where you should make your cut, use your snips to make a clean cut at a 45-degree angle.
Will Hydrangeas Rebloom This Season?
There are some varieties of Hydrangeas that will continue to bloom again and again. The most common example of this is the “Endless Summer” variety of Mophead Hydrangea. Hydrangeas that bloom on both old and new wood will typically rebloom more than once each season.
Even if you cut too much stem of while deadheading your blooms, these varieties of Hydrangea will continue to supply you with beautiful flowers for many months each year:
- Endless Summer – This is the original rebloomer that will produce mophead blossoms again and again. These beauties will bloom 10-12 weeks longer than traditional bigleaf Hydrangeas and can be grown in colder climates. These Hydrangeas will bloom pink or blue depending on soil conditions.
- Let’s Dance Starlight – This is the original lacecap rebloomer that will bloom pink or blue depending on soil conditions. This is a more compact cultivar and blooms on both old and new wood.
- Penny Mac – This is another bigleaf mophead that produces large, lush blossoms in shades of blue or pink, depending on soil pH. Penny Mac will typically grow up to 6 feet tall.
- Forever and Ever – This is a smaller version of the mophead that produces blooms that are about the size of a softball. This bigleaf is one of the reddest Hydrangeas out there, with show-stopping blooms that will change to an amazing shade of purple—these bloom on old and new wood.
- Everlasting – These unique mopheads can bloom in various colors and can even have multiple colors on one plant. They tend to start blooming in the spring and will rebloom well into the late summer months.
When to Deadhead Your Hydrangeas
As a general rule, you can help your Hydrangea rebloom this year (and protect next season’s blossoms) by following these guidelines for deadheading (if you’re not sure if your Hydrangea is old wood or new wood).
Time of Year | Deadheading Technique |
February – July | Cut spent blooms with long stems. Check for small bud development and cut above buds. |
August – October | Cut just above the first full set of leaves, but be careful to avoid areas with new bud formation. |
November – January | Do not deadhead Hydrangeas in winter if possible. |
Putting it All Together
Your Hydrangea can be a showpiece in your collection each summer if you give it the love and care it needs throughout the year. The good thing is that these plants are low maintenance and typically don’t require pruning or cutting, unless you need to contain the shrub in a smaller space.
Many Hydrangea experts promote the benefits of deadheading spent blooms because it will allow the plant to spend its energy on new blossoms and developing stronger, healthier foliage rather than trying to keep a wilting bloom alive. There’s definitely a benefit to removing these blooms from your plant. Not to mention, it will help improve the overall appearance of your Hydrangea.