I moved into my home 3 years ago and there's a large leaf hydrangea planted on the north side of my house that has never bloomed. I checked on it this morning and there appears to be some "brown tips" at the tops of some of the branches. I'm not really sure what to do with it. Where the plant meets the ground looks "crowded" but having never grown hydrangea before, I'm not sure if that's normal. Can anyone please help?

We treat ours like we do Azealas, every 7 years we cut them back to the ground and let
them regrow. We did this last fall with all our Hydrangeas as we knew we would also be
mulching. Leave at least one of two leaves at the bottom of the plant. All the top that you
cut can be rooted in a shady area.

Thanks so much! Can I cut them back now since they are not blooming anyway?

Welcome to NGA, kat1953. No, I would not recommend that just yet. Please display or comment where are you located (city, state) and your usda zone.

Hydrangea rejuvenation pruning involves pruning the stems in stages during times when the plant is dormant. For example, you can cut the longest 1/3 of the stems one winter, the next 1/3 longest on the following winter and the rest on winter #3. Because this much cutting is stressful, it is best left for times when the plant is dormant.

Depending on where you are located, you should avoid pruning a hydrangea macrophylla now at all costs: they developed invisible flower buds from either late Summer 2020 or early Fall 2020 and then these buds open ahywhere from Spring 2021 through as late as Summer 2021. So pruning now cuts off the flowers for 2021. A hydrangea macrophylla should be pruned after it has ceased to open flower buds but before it produces invisible flower buds in 2021. The normal time in my area for developing new flower buds is somewhere in July so I try to be done pruning before the end of June. In areas north of me, that happens later. In Florida, it happens earlier.

The normal time for opening blooms depends on one's geographical location. The further south one is located, the earlier the plants can bloom. Flower buds start to open here around late March to April but they can open as late as summer in places up north.

However, you can deadhead any leftover spent flower at any time. This, however, is not the same as pruning.

Picture 2 shows some late frost damage but the other two pictures do not show any issues. Dead wood (stems that do not leaf out at all) can be removed at various times based on your location. I usually wait until May to remove dead wood (you can prune stems that do not leaf out all the way down; or you can prune partially those with dead wood only at the end of the stems). I would not prune the stem in Picture 2 as it is leafing out at the ends right now.

If your plant typically does not bloom, consider these causes:
* damage from pests like squirrels, bunnies or deer (you should see where they nibbled)
* pruning at the wrong time (prune only after the plant stops opening blooms)
* late frosts zapped either the flower buds or the stems when the plant breaks dormancy early (winter protect or do not fertilize early)
* winter was too cold so the plant may need winter protection on a regular basis or switch to hydrangea paniculata and arborescens cultivars (your old stems from last year are leafing out so this does not seem to be the case)
* applying fertilizers late in the growing season (this can keep the plant in "grow" mode, just as early frosts arrive and kill flower buds or stems)
* use of high nitrogen fertilizers (this produces lots of nice green lush plants with no or few flowers); watch out for some Micracle Gro formulations with N of 30 in their NPK Ratio.
* established hydrangeas are not hungry feeders like roses so feeding them by letting 2-4" of organic mulch decompose is enough. You can also apply a single annual fertilizer application. But of course, you may need to amend the soil to acidify it (if your soil is alkaline) more regularly. For a plant of that size, you can use a cup of cottonseed meal, organic compost, composted manure or a general purpose, slow release, NPK 10-10-10 chemical fertilizer (per label directions or at half strength). Exceptions: if your soil is deficient in some nutrients (like sandy soil) or when growing in pots. You can use weak fertilizers like liquid seaweed, liquid fish, coffee grounds throughout the growing season but discontinue them three months before your average date of last frost. In Spring, you can fertilize after your average date of late frost.

Thanks. I am in Statesville NC. Someone has suggested that this is a variegated plant and most rarely if ever bloom as well as turn mostly green which this one is. I'm somewhat frustrated because I've looked forward to hydrangeas for 3 summers now and been disappointed.

Well, you should be able to tell if it is a variegated hydrangea once the foliage unfurls a bit more. Variegated macrophyllas and Teller hybrids tend to be hardy in your Zone 7a but may not be bloom reliable. Examples of variegated macrophylla cultivars: Oamacha Variegata, Mariessi Variegata, Lemon Wave, Lemon Daddy, Sun Goddess, Light O' Day and Quadricolor. However, it looks like this year there was not much visible damage to the ends of the stems, where the invisible buds reside. We just cannot "see" the invisible flower buds themselves to confirm all is well but, as soon as they open, it will look like little broccoli heads growing at the ends of the stems. Just be on the look for them thru the end of Spring 2021/early Summer 2021.

Provided that you did not prune at all, at least since the plant developed its invisible flower buds in late Summer 2020 or early Fall 2020, you may be able to get some blooms this year. When did you prune it last?

Variegated hydrangeas can be made more bloom reliable by winter protecting them in the Fall, always providing 2-4" of mulch, fertilizing after your average date of last frost (2nd week in May for Statesville), avoiding fertilizers of all types 3 months before your average date of first frost (Statesville average date of first frost is on 2nd week in October so stop all ferts on the 2nd week of July) and watering deeply before temps crash well below freezing (maybe below 26F or so?).

As a f.y.i., I have had some variegated hydrangeas and I do not think you are missing anything. I was not impressed with the blooms from Mariessi Variegated or Sun Goddess but their foliage by itself was extremely nice. I even started cutting off the blooms early so the plant would look better. But, that was just my cup of tea. ;o))

When planted where they can attain their estimated size at maturity, hydrangeas do not need to be pruned on a regular basis except to cut off dead stems. So normally this should not be something on your gardening "to do" list every year.

I have never pruned this except to pull off dead canes. From all I have learned through you and others I am to the opinion that I would rather dig this all up, donate to someone else to love and and plant some wonderful blooming varieties!!! Thank you for all your help and input.

Hydrangea paniculatas, arborescens, reblooming serratas (from the Tuff Series) and reblooming macrophyllas should perform better from a blooming perspective. The first two are also winter hardier, up to zone 3.