Time your pruning correctly
It’s important to time your shrub pruning properly, especially with showy specimens like Hydrangea paniculata. When this hydrangea blooms, it’s an awesome show with white panicles covering the shrub. But you have to make sure the small, developing flowers don’t go missing when they’re still inconspicuous.
I witnessed one such accidental pruning earlier this summer. Dudes were talking and snipping shoots that looked out of shape. But they failed to notice the small developing flowers. By the time one of the owners noticed the deed, it was too late.
Oh well!
Now, luckily the lady was good about it. “It happens” attitude is nice to have but as a landscape manager I want my crews well trained. The lesson here is that Hydrangea paniculata should be pruned in fall, winter or early spring before flowers start developing. Once you see flowers, the shrub is off limits. Leave it alone and enjoy the show from mid-summer on.
When I examined the shrub, the developing flowers were still green and not easy to spot so the workers need to know the shrub and correct pruning time. That takes time and repetition.
I got to see the shrub in late July and, from a distance, it looked ok. But up close, you can see the incorrect cuts up top where the growth spikes would have attracted landscapers bent on controlling every shrub.
So, it’s not a complete disaster but the show is slightly diminished, which is unfortunate.
Conclusion
Be careful when you prune! Carefully consider your targets and ask yourself why you’re pruning. When you see a few spikes on top of your shrub, relax, and examine the shrub for flowers. This should be easy to do in your own garden because you know your shrubs well.
If you do mess up, then learn from it and do better in the following season. It probably isn’t a huge disaster.
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