How to Deadhead Hydrangea Blooms

Mophead types (Hydrangea macrophylla)

• 1

  Time the task as soon as the blossom has faded or earlier if you want to bring the blooms indoors for a bouquet. The sooner you deadhead, the more time and energy the plant will have to produce another bloom. In some climates and for some cultivars of macrophylla, they will not re-bloom at all in the current season, so timing is not a consideration for everyone.

• 2

  Cut the least amount of stem possible using hand pruners. Remove the bloom and one set of leaves. Cut just before the next set of leaves. If you cut any deeper, you may be cutting off a bud formation -- for either the current season or next season.

• 3

  Fertilize after blooming to help encourage another bloom cycle. Use a prepared formula meant for hydrangeas or other blooming plants.

Peegee types (Hydrangea paniculata)

• 4

  Choose a time suited to your garden goals. Many gardeners leave the old flowers on the plant throughout the winter to provide some structure and interest in the garden. Whether you deadhead during fall cleanup or spring cleanup will not affect the blooming on this plant. You can actually leave the old blooms alone and they will eventually fall off on their own.

• 5

  Snip the bloom off with hand pruners. You can snip anywhere along the stem. Sometimes you can just pull the old bloom off with your fingers depending on the amount of decomposition that has occurred. This is a good time to do some pruning to control the plant size if necessary.

Annabelle types (Hydrangea arborescens)

• 6

  Remove spent flowers as soon as they have started to turn brown. Unlike some hydrangea blooms, Annabelle blooms do not get "character" with age. They detract from the garden quickly. They do not usually re-bloom in the same year, although some lucky gardeners may get a second flush of blooms in late summer. Simply cut the bloom to the next set of leaves.