How to Prune Hydrangea Glowing Embers

Remove dead branches of Glowing Embers hydrangea in very late winter, cutting them off 1 inch above the soil line. Dead branches look dry and/or shriveled compared to other dormant but alive branches on hydrangeas. Often by the end of winter the dead branches attain a more gray-brown color, too.

Trim away dead branch tips in mid spring after the leaves unfurl. Sometimes winter cold partially kills back the hydrangea branches. Once the buds swell and leaves appear, you can identify branches with upper tissues that are dead and warrant removal. Make the pruning cut 1/2 inch above a leaf.

Reduce the length of stems across the Glowing Embers hydrangea in early to midsummer immediately following the flowering. Cut back branches, if desired to maintain a shrub that's only 2 to 3 feet tall, by 20 to 30 percent their length. Again, make the cut 1/2 inch above a lower leaf or dormant bud on the branch stem. If you want the shrub to remain natural and grow 3 to 4 feet tall and bloom without the worry of pruning, omit cutting back any branches after the flowering season ends in summer.

Remove one-third of the branches once the shrub is five years old each late spring or early summer. Cut them to stubs 1 inch tall according to the Hydrangeas Hydrangeas website. This retains branches that still produce flowers that year, but new branches grow to rejuvenate the shrub. The next spring remove another one-third of the oldest branches, and again the final third of oldest branches in the third year. This technique rejuvenates shrubs that grow too woody or lose flowering vigor.