When do you need to do this? Fall is not an ideal time for pruning any shrub or tree as still warm weather will encourage new growth that will not have sufficient time to harden off before winter sets in. Do these plants really need to be pruned? Have they outgrown their space? Can you post photos?

Just an aside but many in colder zones find Endless Summer difficult to grow well and flower under normal or standard circumstances and pruning or cutting back before the plant goes through winter with whatever that might hold in store for it and leafs out in spring would not be a recommended practice.

just my opinion but I doubt that anyone wouldn't make an offer because your hydrangeas were 5x5 instead of 3x3..a good cleaning and decluttering of the INTERIOR is more important..the new owner can prune the hydrangeas (or not) in 15 minutes..I would just tidy up the outside and not worry about pruning..they probably won't notice..in fact if you leave any spent blooms that might catch their attention..they might think "bet that's a pretty plant" whereas a shrub with a bunch of cut stems looks blah..

Thanks,

The house will be put on the market in February or March.

We would like to take photos of a neatly keep front entrance for the home's marketing aspect; that's the reason for the pruning.

The plants have really overgrown their space at the current size.

I understand..you want the front of your house to be flawless..but where you see "flaws" a potential buyer probably won't notice..

How about a few pictures to see what you are working with

In February or March, the hydrangeas will just be bare sticks anyway, so the need to reduce size at that time may be overstated.

We would like to reduce the size for a neater appearance now so we can take photos to post with the sales listing.

I will post a few pictures asap.

I have a attached a full curbside view of the house

And a close-up of the hydrangea(s) I'd like to prune for a neater curb appearance

The main objective is to clean up the area for a neater look for re-sale.

Not a complete transformation.

Thanks

the hydrangea does block a little of the window..just my opinion but if you prune the hydrangea don't make it flat..I hate that

I agree, I was hoping to get a few suggestions and tips on how to prune the hydrangeas to maintain their shape while reducing there size to approximately to 3' x 3'.

Thanks hyed

I would start by checking to see that there are enough interior leaves that the shrubs will still look full after pruning. You want to not cut back to bare branches. I wouldn't prune to 3x3 since at that point they may look undersized and sparse. Try taking 6"-8" off every branch with hand held clippers. Place the cuts so that you aren't leaving long stubs, but the cuts will be hidden by the next pair of leaves. If you take too much off, you may be exposing some sparse foliage on the adjoining plants since the hydrangeas have most likely shaded them.

How does this sound?

I was going to cut approximately 8"-10" off the tallest interior branches and use the cutting as I measuring guide and work my way out of the center holding up the cutting up the next branch and cut at that length as I go.

I would not rely completely on a cut branch as a guide..still look carefully before you cut..some may look better with a little more or less..

Then again you could have a landscaper remove then and transplant them maybe in the backyard....that’s a very busy area the ESs are crowding out the other shrubs .. but again it will be Winter

Does it bloom? If not you can remove it.

Curb appeal aside, do you think a prospective HO puts weight into how a shrub looks. I would probably just trim it to below the window height and then focus on the important stuff a prospective HO looks at - like staging each room for the most appeal ;-)

If you're still living it it, staging is even more important.

If you've moved and it's just empty, that might be to your benefit as rooms look *larger* when empty. 2 sides to a coin I suppose. One can also use *rental staging furniture* as well to dress a house up

I pruned the ES today, they look okay.

They kept their shape using the first cut branch as a guide.

guyground,

this year the blooms were okay but sparse.

last year the plants were beautiful with many large blooms.