OMG Hyed. Your garden is lovely. I was just reading about turning your hydrangeas into tree form. Do you prune off the top part of the branch where I said it looks like a wish bone. I think that is where the flowers were previously? A tree form is something I might look forward to later down the rode. Once I know what I am doing. lol - What are those gorgeous blue flowers called beside your stunning Quickfire? Thanks for your nice reply.

Diane, Hydrangea paniculatas bloom on growth that is produced each growing season so it doesn't really matter where exactly your prune - you will still get flowers :-) However, the harder or lower you prune the shrub, the greater the chance the stems that will hold the new flowers will be too soft or too weak to support them and you will get a lot of flopping. Limelight is a big plant (6-8' or more) and with very large flowers. I'd be more inclined to leave the major stems longer and just clean out all the little interior branching laterals. Each one that remains has the ability to produce flowers and that will be a lot of weight on a short plant.

The blue flowers are also from a hydrangea, Hydrangea macrophylla.

I try to prune just above a pair of buds on the stem. You have done this on the branch that is in the lower left corner of the photo. As GG48 said, the more of the old branch structure that is left, the stronger the structure will be. In fact, except to remove damage and crossed branches, I never prune my panicled hydrangeas, so it isn't needed for the plant to do well. I usually just trim off the old flower clusters around this time of year.

The LLs are about 15yrs old and 8’...I used to cut back to 3’now I just prune the old blooms and shape up.... the blue Hys are Mathilda Gutges with a Bobo

I think you did a great job! Well done.

Thank you everyone for helping me with this. You've all been very helpful to me.
Diane

Looks like a good pruning job to me also.

Gardengal, your pruning suggestion made a lot of sense to me...thanks!

Eventhough, I know how to prune, it's probably what I'll do this year...SOON!

My foot is in a boot......sooooo, I must trust my brother to trim four of my larger

ones like next week!! I like to grow them large for more blooms to sell at my

market.

I agree, it looks like a good pruning to me, too!

Like you, I remove crossing branches, but unlike your pruning, I haven't cut my paniculata's down height-wise. I also removed spindly "suckers" that will never amount to a branch that can support flowers, and I make sure that no more than 2-branches originate at the same spot. For example, your "wishbones" are good, in my opinion, because 1 branch splits into 2. However, I can see several branches that split into 3-or-more at the same point. I tend to prune those back to only 2-branches, removing branches that are inward, weak or crossing.