The Gardening Task To Do In Late Summer For Bigger Hydrangea Blooms In The Spring

Nothing says summer quite like vibrant, colorful hydrangeas — and when it comes to these blooms, bigger really is better. If you're looking for ways to keep your hydrangeas robust and thriving year after year, there are some great gardening tricks for successful hydrangeas blooms you can follow. One of the simplest and most effective is called deadheading. When done at the right time — often in late summer — this simple task will help ensure your new flowers emerge healthy and full in the spring.

Deadheading is an easy technique that involves removing the spent flowers from your hydrangeas. You do this by cutting the flower's stem below the head of the flower. This practice is different than pruning in that it only involves snipping off the flower heads, whereas pruning is more involved and can also include cutting back dead stems and shaping the plant. While cutting off the flowers may seem damaging to the plant, the opposite is actually true. Deadheading a hydrangea prevents it from continuing to produce seeds, which allows it to reallocate that energy toward strengthening the roots, leaves, and making new flowers. This will help keep the plants healthy over time and can lead to larger blooms next season. Deadheading will also make your garden look neater, if you prefer not to look at the dry, brown flowers in fall and winter.

It is often said that deadheading should be done in late summer. The reason for this is because the flowers have often dried out by this time. However, while this tends to be true for certain types of hydrangeas — particularly those that bloom on the previous year's stems, known as old wood – the best time to deadhead will depend on the specific type of hydrangeas you're growing as well as the climate where you live. Old-wood bloomers like bigleaf, oakleaf, mountain and climbing hydrangeas should be deadheaded as soon as the flowers wilt. Hydrangeas that bloom on new growth, including panicle and smooth hydrangeas, can be left alone until early fall.

When determining how low to go when trimming your flowers, the general rule is to cut the stems back to ¼ inch above a new leaf or bud. There are some mistakes to avoid when deadheading. For instance, it is possible to deadhead your flowers too much. If you trim them too low, you could risk cutting off new buds that would have otherwise bloomed next season. You also want to be sure to cut only the green stem, avoiding wood pieces. When deadheading, it's important to use sharp, clean shears to avoid damaging the plant and prevent spreading fungus or mold.  While deadheading is an easy task, it can be time-consuming if you're dealing with a lot of hydrangeas. If this is the case, you may consider breaking your garden up into smaller sections, tackling a little each day.