Now that you have completed cutting back your new wood blooming hydrangeas, it's time to look at what's happening with your old wood plants. Which ones are these? Your old wood plants include hydrangea macrophylla (big leaf), hydrangea serrata (mountain), hydrangea quercifolia (oak leaf) and hydrangea petiolaris (climbing) . Even if your plant is a rebloomer it retains old wood flower power and buds can be there that formed on last year's growth. 

TIME TO PRUNE YOUR HYDRANGEAS, YES AND NO Time to prune your hydrangeas, but not all of them. Pruning hydrangeas is one of the hardest things for gardeners to grasp since it varies by species and it's not a once a year thing.   This time around, the subject is hydrangeas that flower on old wood: big leaf (hydrangea macrophylla), mountain (hydrangea serrata), oak leaf (hydrangea quercifolia), and climbing (hydrangea petiolaris). They all bloom on flowers that were produced on last year's growth. Some big leaf and mountain hydrangeas can also flower on stems that will grow this year (rebloomers). More on that in future posts. Before you even start, however, make sure you have the right tools including some kind of disinfectant. You don't want to unknowingly spread disease as you move from plant to plant. A simple spray of rubbing alcohol (70%) from the drugstore is all you need to protect your plants. Pruning Tools Including Rubbing Alcohol Spray Basic...