When Is It Too Late to Cut Back Hydrangeas After Flowering?

When it’s too late to cut back hydrangeas depends on the type you have. Here’s how to prune at the best time.

Figuring out when to cut back hydrangeas can be confusing, especially because if you prune at the wrong time, you could ruin next year’s flower display. So when is it too late to cut back hydrangeas after they flower? The answer comes down to knowing the type of hydrangea you have because the ideal time to prune differs by species. This guide covers four types of popular hydrangeas and spells out exactly when it is too late to cut them back if you want lots of flowers.

When to Cut Back Hydrangeas

Whether your yard is full of white-flowered smooth hydrangeas or the showiest pink or blue bigleaf hydrangeas, if you don’t time the pruning correctly, your hydrangea might have fewer or no blooms the following year. The timing depends on the type of hydrangea you have, because some bloom on new wood, meaning the current season’s growth, and some bloom on old wood. And a few bloom on both old and new wood. When to cut back hydrangeas also depends on your climate and the level of pruning you want to do.

Related: 8 Outstanding Hydrangeas from the Better Homes & Gardens Test Garden

Oakleaf Hydrangeas

Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) has distinctive, dark green, lobed leaves that resemble oak leaves. They turn a beautiful burgundy-red in the fall, and the shrub’s show continues after those leaves drop off and its cinnamon-colored peeling bark is revealed along its stems. White, cone-shaped clusters of flowers appear from late spring to early summer, fading to pink as they age.

When to Cut Back Oakleaf Hydrangea: Flowers bloom on old growth, so it’s best to cut back oakleaf hydrangeas right after flowering, before it sets buds for next year. Once the buds have formed, it’s too late to cut back these hydrangeas if you want flowers the following spring.

If you live where winters are very cold, oakleaf hydrangeas often suffer winter dieback of stems, which will reduce flowers. Cut back cold-damaged stems after the chance of freezing temperatures have passed in late spring. Wait to grab your pruning shears until the shrub begins to leaf out so it’s easier to tell how much of the stems are dead.

Related: The 12 Best Pruning Shears of 2024 to Keep Your Garden in Check

Bigleaf Hydrangea

If your hydrangea has purple or blue flowers, it’s probably a bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla). This beauty either has rounded, petal-dense “mophead” flowers or flattened, petal-ringed “lacecap” flowers that bloom in summer to early fall. Flowers also can be pink or white, depending on the variety and your soil conditions.

Bigleaf hydrangeas bloom on old wood, so much like oakleaf hydrangeas it’s too late to cut back these hydrangeas after next year’s buds have formed in late summer. However, many newer cultivars, such as those in the Endless Summer collection, are able to bloom on both old and new growth. This is a boon for cold winter regions where these shrubs tend to die back to the ground. In these areas, it’s best to leave the old, dried flowers on this plant for winter interest and to help protect the coming season’s flower buds from winter damage.

When to Cut Back Bigleaf Hydrangea: If your bigleaf hydrangeas only bloom on old wood, cut it back just after the flowers fade, but make sure to do your pruning before August. In colder climates where winter dieback happens, it’s best to prune bigleaf hydrangeas and Endless Summer varieties after the threat of hard frost has passed in late spring. Wait until the shrubs begin to leaf out to make your cuts.

Related: When Do Hydrangeas Bloom? A Seasonal Guide to Each Type’s Flowering Times

Panicle Hydrangea

Panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) offers the best cold and heat tolerance of all the hydrangea types. Also known as peegee hydrangeas, these hardy plants start blooming in mid to late summer with white cone-shaped flowerheads that turn pink later in the season. Some hydrangea varieties, such as ‘Berry White’ and ‘Vanilla Strawberry’, bloom in two-tone clusters of pink and white.

When to Cut Back Panicle Hydrangea: Panicle hydrangeas bloom on new wood. This means they create their flower buds after their foliage begins to leaf out in the spring, and at that point, it’s too late to cut back these hydrangeas. Do your pruning in late winter to early spring before growth appears.

Smooth Hydrangea

Heart-shaped leaves and giant, spherical flower clusters that change from apple green to white during the summer distinguish this billowing hydrangea. Smooth hydrangea, also known as snowball hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens), is a beautiful native shrub that produces large blooms on new wood.

When to Cut Back Smooth Hydrangea: It’s best to let this plant grow for one or two seasons before hard pruning. After a few growing seasons, this hydrangea can be cut back in the spring. If you want a larger shrub, you don’t have to prune it at all.

Related: This New Hydrangea Variety Is Made to Give You More Blooms

Tips for Pruning Hydrangeas

For all hydrangea types, prune dead stems back to a pair of healthy buds when new growth appears in spring. Just cut back to the first point of new growth on a stem so you don’t remove any flower buds that have already formed on the stems the previous year. It’s best not to cut any type of hydrangea clear back to the ground if you can help it.

Make your cuts at a slight angle about ¼ inch above a bud so you don’t leave too much unneeded stem behind. Use a sharp pair of pruners to make clean cuts, and disinfect the blades with rubbing alcohol between plants to avoid spreading any plant diseases.

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