Question on Size Control
(Sorry, I forgot to give this thread a title )

I got a hydrangea from Lowe's in the clearance section. It was very saveable with some leaves dried out completely and others with crunchy edges and still plenty of healthy leaves and stems. I pruned out the dried leaves and removed the dried edges and gave it some natural, slow release fertilizer granules. It had no recent or spent blooms when I bought it.

This is what it looked like the day I bought it, after removing the dead stuff.....


These shots are today:
It's growing

Should I completely prune out the additional leaves with dead edges or leave them and remove just the dead edges?

Buds are showing up


It had no tag, so the cultivar is a mystery. I am no hydrangea expert, but my guess would be Endless Summer, since Lowe's sells a lot of those, and the leaves seem to be correct. 🤷 Any identification opinions are definitely welcome.

The original location I planned for it is full all day sun, and that garden is large enough to handle a full size plant. After reading questions and advice on this forum, I want to plant it in a location with the proper amount of sun at the proper time of day. My other gardens are small (I'm in the city. 42' x 150' lot). I have two possible locations, but I would have to control the size of this hydrangea to about 3 to 4 feet at least in width. Personally, I would prefer to keep it in a sphere shape. My question is it possible to control the size by pruning (not with hedge clippers) on the regular without killing it and it would still bloom? It's a young plant so it would seem I could keep it at the necessary size after it reaches that size. If so, suggestions for a pruning regimen would be greatly appreciated. I am not a chemist gardener. I use natural slow release fertilizer for all my plants, so the flower color does not matter to me.
Thanks gang!

This species of hydrangea is best never pruned as it develops dormant flower buds in July-September and opens them in the spring. Thus, the majority of the time, stems are blooming or have flower buds. And you usually do not want to prune under those conditions.

To control size, consider a rejuvenation pruning technique in which very large, older hydrangeas are maintained: cut the 1/3 longest stems all the way to the ground and leave the rest unpruned. The technique repeats in years 2 and 3 cutting the 2nd 1/3 longest stems and finally cutting the shortest 1/3 stems. This is usually done when dormant.

Note: Lowe's sells cultivars that bloom only on old wood but the ES Collection tends to have unique blue containers. Was your plant in one of those containers?

Okay thank you!

We moved into our house in the fall three years ago. We cut back our four hydrangea bushes because we didn't know better. We only have two flowers on four bushes. We would appreciate any advice on how to revitalize plants. Thank you.

Big Leaf Hydrangeas typically develop dormant flower buds at the ends of the stems in July through September. These flower buds then open in spring provided the buds/stems are not killed, provided the shrub is not fertilized late in the season, provided the shrub is not over-fertilized and provided the stems are not prematurely pruned (prune leafless stems by the end June in OH if they are still leafless). For varieties of Big Leaf Hydrangea that bloom once a year and that are too bloom unreliable in your zone 6, consider either (1) applying winter protection techniques as soon as/before freezing temperatures arrive or (2) grow them in containers with dollies and bring the pots into a basement/etc anytime temperatures are near freezing (try 42F or less). Note: when the shrub only has blooms at the bottom, consider if a late or patchy frost caused the bud damage.