dead heading hydrangia's

[picksbigwagon]

new house with new landscaping, we (my wife and I) wanted low maintenance gardens since neither of us like to garden, but the mother in law convinced my wife that I could do gardening.....We have a hydrangia's tree/shrub, it bloomed all summer and now those heads are looking pretty cruddy, do I cut the heads off before winter? Should I have cut them off once they started turning rust colored? thanks again for any help......

[Powerstroke]

Personally, I leave them on through the winter. They hold the snow fairly well and add a little winter interest. Then we dead-head in the spring.

[CAMAN]

I do the same as Powerstroke. The flowers actually look pretty cool poking out of the snow.

[Eckie]

Then we dead-head in the spring.

Stupid question -- but when you say "dead-head", does that mean you simply snip the stem, right below the flower?

[Powerstroke]

That is the typical use of dead-heading. Depending on the size of the plant I will cut some of them to the ground or a size I want them to grow from.

But yes, deadheading usually means cutting off just the flower bloom.

[Eckie]

Thanks --

I also have a couple of young "hydrangea trees"....they're a newer 'model' in the hydrangea family (and very pretty) but assume the same theory would apply -- dead-head them in the spring?

[hydro]

I cut my hydrangeas off right at the ground every year just before the snow flies. They come back in the spring very vigorously and have been doing great for years. I guess it would be up to each owner how to manage these plants.

[Powerstroke]

I cut mine to the ground in the spring and they respond just as well. LIke I said, I leave them up for the winter look. Also, mine are not the tree variety. I wouldn't hack down the tree ones or you will be very unhappy.