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Prune hydrangeas now for abundant spring blooms


This lacecap hydrangea variety goes from lavender/white to green and red in fall. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

Key to consistent flowering? Well-timed cuts



Why don’t hydrangeas bloom?

The answer almost always comes down to pruning, either at the wrong time or too much or not in a long time. For great masses of blooms next spring and summer, prune now.

Hydrangeas can be pruned while they still have their foliage or after they shed their leaves. Don’t wait past November; the bushes need a little time to recover before spring.

Most hydrangea varieties bloom on second-year wood. Those are stems that grew the season before. In late summer and fall, the stems form pointy buds at their nodes, found at the base of leaves. Those buds are next year’s mopheads and lacecaps.

Stems that bloomed this spring will bloom again. Keep those stems, cutting down by a third. Make the cut 1/2 inch above buds.
Hydrangea buds are visible at the base of the leaves.

Leave alone soft stems with lush green growth. They’re still developing.

After that, pruning is a matter of balance and air flow. Remove woody stems that have lost their vitality (they feel brittle and light) or that crowd the center of the bush. Avoid overpruning; the bush should be about one-third smaller than it began – not down to the ground.

At a minimum, deadhead hydrangeas, removing spent bloom heads. That retains the second-year wood and prompts bud development.

Cut now, hydrangea flower heads can be dried and used in wreaths of other decorations. Many varieties turn interesting shades of red or green, a perfect holiday combination.

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Garden Checklist for week of May 11

Make the most of the lower temperatures early in the week. We’ll be back in the 80s by Thursday.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)

* Plant dahlia tubers.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Add mulch to the garden to maintain moisture. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch-to-1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.

* Remember to weed! Pull those nasties before they set seed.

* Water early in the day and keep seedlings evenly moist.

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