Climbing hydrangea is a beautiful plant that can be grown on walls, trellises, fences, and other vertical surfaces. To keep it looking its best and promote healthy growth, pruning is necessary. However, pruning climbing hydrangea can be intimidating for some gardeners who are not familiar with the process.
In this blog post, we will guide you through the steps of how to prune climbing hydrangea properly.
Understanding Climbing Hydrangea
Before we delve into how to prune climbing hydrangeas properly let us first understand what they are. The Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala petiolaris) is a deciduous vine that attaches itself by aerial roots or clinging pads onto structures like walls and trees. It produces large white flowers in summer which often last until fall when green fruit capsules appear.
When Should You Prune Your Climbing Hydrangea?
The best time to prune your climbing hydrangeas is late winter or early spring before new growth emerges in the season ahead. This timing ensures that any damage caused by pruning will heal quickly without affecting their ability to produce blooms later in the year.
Tools Needed for Pruning
To prune your climbing hydrangeas properly you must have appropriate tools such as:
– Hand pruners
– Loppers
– Gloves
– Safety glasses
These tools help make cleaning cuts that don’t damage plants while also keeping gardeners safe during tasks involving sharp blades or falling debris.
Steps on How To Prune Climbing Hydranges Properly
Step One: Assessing Your Plant’s Growth Pattern
It’s important to assess your plant’s growth pattern before beginning pruning activities so you know where and how much material needs removing from each area. Identify areas of the vine that need attention such as damaged branches or dead twigs; these should be removed first using hand pruners.
Step Two: Removing Deadwood
Deadwood is a part of the plant that no longer produces leaves or flowers. It should be removed to encourage new growth on the plant. To remove dead branches, use loppers and cut back to healthy wood at a slight angle.
Step Three: Pruning Young Plants
For young climbing hydrangeas, you can prune them in early spring after planting by cutting back any side shoots to about one-third their length using hand pruners or scissors.
Step Four: Controlling Plant Size
If your plant has grown too large for its space, you can reduce its size by removing long stems from the main trunk. Cut these stems as close to where they originate from the trunk as possible using loppers.
In some cases, it may also be necessary to remove older branches entirely if they have become too thick or are causing overcrowding among other flowering plants nearby.
Step Five: Encouraging Healthy Growth
To promote healthy growth in your climbing hydrangea plant each year after pruning, make sure it receives plenty of fertilizer and water throughout the growing season. This helps ensure that new growth will emerge strong and healthy next year when pruning time comes around again!
Conclusion
Pruning Climbing Hydrangea is not difficult once you know what steps need taking place; this guide has provided an overview of how best to approach this task with confidence while promoting healthy future blooms for years ahead! Remember always wear gloves and safety glasses while working on your garden tasks safely enjoyment without injury!
