Pruning Conundrums

Well , it turns out that I ’ve beenpruningmy hydrangeas wrong this whole prison term . Not my bigleafs ( Hydrangea macrophylla)—I have only a couple of those leave in my bottom , since they ’re just not built for the late frosts in my region . I know to result those babies unmoved if I want a chance of any peak . No , I ’m talking about my smooth hydrangeas ( H. arborescens ) .

Yes — the easy ones ! The ones that flower on Modern Grant Wood and every textbook tells you to dilute back each year to keep them healthy and summary . I ’ve been following that advice for old age , and I ’m wager perhaps you have too . But that ’s not what we should be doing .

check out out thearticle by Sam Hoadley , and thesidebar on pruningabout midway through . As part of its aboriginal hydrangea trial , theMt . Cuba Centerin Delaware settle to see if there were any long - condition benefit or drawbacks to performing heavy outpouring cutback on these shrub . For three consecutive years , one example of each hydrangea in the run was cut back to about 6 to 8 inches above the priming coat , while others were left all alone . The result ? ( Caution : Spoiler alert ahead . ) “ After three yr of heavy yearly cutbacks , we started to notice a little burnout , typified by lower prime production in the cutback plants , ” writes Hoadley . On top of that , the annual pruning didnothelp curb the floppy habits of the smooth hydrangea .

Based on these observations , Mt. Cuba Center recommends against heavy annual pruning — obstinate to traditional gardening practice . My . Mind . Is . Blown . Maybe you are like me and find pruning to be one of the most complicated landscape practice to grasp firmly . The timing , the proficiency — it ’s all so precise . Mostly , I ’m petrified of doing it wrongly and harming mywoody plantsso poorly that they never recover .

face in gunpoint : I have aKoreanspice viburnum(Viburnumcarlesii ) that for years was growing wildly in every commission . I know I take to prune it , and to do so after it bloomed so that I did n’t sacrifice any flower the undermentioned saltation . But the maze of pass over arm paralyzed me from touching my byword for years — until I in the end had enough , went scallywag , and deliver a hack business so unspeakable that my valued genus Viburnum looks like a classic “ what not to do ” exposure in the bookCrimes Against Horticulture . If only I had waited a class to show Jen Kettell ’s comprehensive article onpruning viburnumsin this issue . Hindsight is 20/20 .

At least this upcoming season I ’ll have more time to research right pruning technique , because I certainly wo n’t be macerate any time cutting back my smooth hydrangeas .

— Danielle Sherry , executive editor

See what ’s inside result # 212 here

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