Are Your Hydrangeas Dying From the Heat or Just Done Blooming? How to Keep Shrubs Looking Lush All Summer
Brown flowers on a hydrangea could be sign that your plant is stressed from summer heat or drought – or they could just be done blooming. Here's how to tell.
As summer days pass, blooms in the garden come and go. One of the biggest and most beautiful floral displays each summer comes from hydrangea bushes. These beloved flowering shrubs come in an ever-expanding array of varieties and cultivars. But no matter what type of hydrangea you have in your landscape, eventually their billowy blooms fade.
That’s when the question arises, “Should you cut off dead hydrangea flowers?” Learning how to prune hydrangeas is a vital part of growing thriving shrubs that put out tons of huge blooms year after year. But cutting back plants the wrong way or at the wrong time can hurt your hydrangeas or prevent them from blooming.
Deadheading hydrangeas in summer after they’re done flowering has its benefits, but is it really necessary? I’ll walk you through whether or not you really need to make the cut now and how to do it the right way, if you’re tired of looking at those dead brown blooms.
Why Are My Hydrangea Flowers Turning Brown?
In the middle of summer as temperatures soar, you might notice your hydrangea blooms are starting to turn brown and crispy. This could be a sign that your plants are suffering from heat stress or that it’s time to water your hydrangeas. But sometimes a hydrangea turning brown is just a natural part of its life cycle.
If the only parts of your hydrangea that are dry and brown are the blooms, then your plant is likely finished flowering for the season. In this case, there’s nothing to worry about. The question becomes whether or not you want to leave those faded blooms on your bushes or prune them away for a cleaner, tidier look on your shrubs.
Should You Cut Off Dead Hydrangea Flowers?
It’s not necessary to cut off faded hydrangea blooms in summer, but there are a few benefits to pruning away old flowers. Pruning hydrangeas can sometimes promote a second flush of flowers, depending on the type of hydrangea you have.
If you have a reblooming hydrangea in your garden, deadheading can potentially promote more blooms that will emerge in late summer or fall. But most hydrangeas are not like annuals that will keep putting out new flowers all summer long if you prune away the faded blooms.
The main benefit of cutting off faded hydrangea flowers, however, is keeping shrubs tidy. During a heatwave in the middle of summer, plants often turn brown and crispy from the high temperatures. So pruning off brown hydrangea blooms can help keep your garden looking green and lush.
If you don’t mind the look of the faded flowers on your hydrangea, then there’s no harm in leaving them on the bush. Many gardeners love the appearance of the old blooms and leave them all the way through the fall and winter to add more texture and interest into the garden during the dormant months.
You can then remove them in spring to make room for new blooms. Just be careful not to cut off fresh buds on old wood-blooming varieties like mophead hydrangeas and oakleaf hydrangeas.
How to Deadhead Hydrangeas in Summer
Deadheading hydrangeas is easy. All you need is a pair of sharp, clean pruning shears – these cult-favorite pruners from Felco are a favorite among our team of gardening experts, too. Then simply cut off the faded flowers just above where their stem meets the first set of leaves. You can save the dried hydrangea blooms for crafts, like fall flower arrangements or wreaths.
Stop deadheading hydrangeas by fall to prevent accidentally removing next year’s flower buds on old wood-blooming types of hydrangeas. Pruning plants too late in fall can also stimulate tender, new growth that is easily damaged by winter weather.
