This must be a type that only blooms on old wood, meaning it won't bloom on growth from this year. Nikko is an example of a beautiful hydrangea that blooms wonderfully south of me, but rarely blooms in my area because we are a zone colder. Nikko blooms on old wood whereas Endless Summer blooms on old and new. I would move the hydrangea to an area that gets morning sun and afternoon shade (such as the east side of the house), and even better if it's a sheltered location. If you do some searching around on here you'll find instructions for protecting it from winter. You can heap shredded leaves around it, for example.

Only prune in the late spring after it is very clear what is dead (the dead sticks now sticking up can be safely cut off). If you bloom in late summer or fall you are cutting off next spring's blooms (if they make it through winter).

It is possible that even if you do everything right (move it, cover it with leaves, don't prune too late) it will rarely bloom for you. I see Nikko for sale where I live, but they rarely bloom here (once every 3 to 5 years). You might just have a shrub that won't bloom in your area without extreme protection or a nice microclimate.

So, if you want to have a hydrangea that will bloom, check your local sources and ask for a kind that will bloom in your region. Then buy one and get rid of the dud.

Thanks for the info. This the only bush that was planted around the entire house when my bf bought it about 10 years ago. I might move it to the east side of the house, as I do like the large foliage. I'll prune out the dead stuff and do some more research for the winter.

Do these type of hydrangeas generally only get so big? For example, mine never gets much taller than maybe 4 feet high and hasn't seemed to spread out.

Nikkos often get huge, but only in areas that are warmer where they don't completely die back. In my experience, hydrangeas are not like rhododendrons or other shrubs that seem to grow bigger and bigger. Because they die back every year they only get so big. I'm not great at identifying type, so that might not be a Nikko. But if it hasn't bloomed for you in all this time it most likely only blooms on old wood. I'd move it and give it a year or two. If it still doesn't bloom and you don't want it just for the greenery, then I'd replace it with an Endless Summer or one of the other new wood blooming varieties.

Your previous home owner must have applied winter protection techniques to make it bloom. These techniques involve things such as building a chicken wire cage slightly wider and taller than the plant in the Fall. Pile oooodles of dried out leaves from elsewhere in the garden until the whole thing is covered. The leaves can be collected starting early in the Fall using plastic bags; use them once the hydrangea goes dormant. Add more leaves in mid winter if there is settling. Protect the end of the stems as much as possible since that is where most blooms originate from. Other people wait until the hydrangea is going dormant to bring down the stems horizontally with a big cardboard. Then they pile the leaves on top. Not sure how they prevent the leaves from blowing away though; I have not tried that. See the link below for more information.

Here is a link that might be useful: Overwintering macrophyllas

Hi Sue - The cardboard method suggested by Luis might work well for you, as your H seem to have room around for this method.

I've used this method on 3 in a row smaller (2 serratas & a baby Pia) one winter ... splayed canes to ground, piled some collected dry leaves, covered with huge, flattened, heavy box from Office Depot, weighed down with bricks & finally piled more collected dried leaves. For some reason the piled leaves on top stayed put, due to other perennials around, perhaps.

Some one posted in this forum using styroform boards cut to size (like an upside-down box (pieces held together by zip-ties) & easily folded away for following winter. Unfortunately she couldn't succeed in posting her pics ... said was quick & easy to construct.

If what you have is a Nikko, search for 'Hayseedman's Overwintering' thread in this forum ... complete with pics ... great tutorial!!! Â;)

Good luck!