Ep 172. When to Prune Hydrangea, Deer!

Due to the mild and wet winter in the Northeast, we've enjoyed abundant hydrangea blooms, so much so that plants are flopping and blocking walkways. 

We revisit a story When to Prune Hydrangea, Deer! (When deer heavily pruned my hydrangea.) And wrap up with a strategy for pruning fading blooms so branches bounce back without risking next year’s flowers. 

Did you know Endless Summer Hydrangeas are sometimes called Endless Disappointment? But there’s no point in crying over spilled milk. Smile. 

Thank you for tuning in. 

 Related Stories & Helpful Links:

When to Prune Hydrangea, Deer – Blog Post 

       8888

I'd love to hear your garden and nature stories and your thoughts about topics for future podcast episodes. You can email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com. 

You can Follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook and Instagram #MaryElaineStone.

Episode web page —Garden Dilemmas Podcast Page

 Thank you for sharing the Garden of Life,

Mary Stone, Columnist & Garden Designer

                                        AskMaryStone.com

More about the Podcast and Column:

Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.

It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.

Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
Direct Link to Podcast Page

Transcript

Ep 172. When to Prune Hydrangea – Deer!

Sun, Aug 04, 2024 6:04PM • 10:10

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

hydrangea, blooms, pruning, garden, deer, fading, buds, wood, big, flowers, plant, sprays, dilemmas, hosta, year, new jersey, deadhead, dry, winter, porch, mary stone, garden, nature, inspiration

SPEAKERS

Mary Stone

Mary Stone  00:00

Mary, Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone, and welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights and Discoveries. It's not only about gardens. It's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learn from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So let's jump in, in the spirit of learning from each other, we have lots to talk about. 

Mary Stone  00:23

Good morning. It's Mary Stone on the screen porch, and we have the cicadas singing in the trees. I was trying to get out here earlier, but boy, they start at the crack of dawn. It is August 1 here in New Jersey, and so we are in the preamble of the school season coming, and those sounds of the cicadas always bring that to mind. We certainly have had a steamy spell here, but that's not abnormal for this time of year in New Jersey, as we welcome August. And I'm not sure about where you folks live, but in this part of the country, we had a bumper crop of hydrangea flowers this year, which is today's topic. 

Mary Stone  01:04

But before that, I'd like to thank those who reached back after last week's chat, fistfuls of pine cones bring happiness. Deborah wrote lovely article as someone who still gathers random bits of nature, I so relate to this. My current find is just one wing of a swallowtail butterfly. It is so amazing to get a look at, since these creatures always fly about in such a big hurry. My grandkids are the same, and a walk around the neighborhood will always lead to pockets filled of special stones or seeds. Thank you for the reminder to notice. And thank you, Deborah, for your kind words. I adore hearing your description of your walk arounds with your grandkids. Here's to fistfuls and pocketfuls of treasures. Yes, indeed. 

Mary Stone  01:51

So on to this week's story, which starts like this. Hello, fellow listeners and readers, Perhaps you've noticed that the hydrangea blooms have been bountiful this year, at least much of the Northeast. I've enjoyed it. Mine are so heavily laden that they are flopping in such a way that access to my front door is well limited. It exposed the dry canes in the center of the plant to remove. I've been breaking them off as I walk by, and Jolee enjoys taking them from me to start a chase. Now that the flowers are fading, I have a dilemma. I want to lighten the load to gain access to the front door, but if I deadhead the blooms fading, will I limit flowering next year? This brings to mind a story I wrote a handful of years ago worth revisiting, titled when to prune hydrangea, dear. And I'm giggling because this was written in 2019 and there's been such a recovery since then.

Mary Stone  02:47

Deer devastation is ramping up in our neck of the woods. I woke to the swath of big leaf hydrangeas mowed down despite precautionary spraying using deer out a natural go to I've used for years. Devastation brought weepy eyes, which seemed silly. In hindsight, no point in crying over spilled milk, one of mom's many idioms often shared I never liked milk. Anyway, they are the same hydrangeas Curt kindheartedly pruned close to the ground in early spring a handful years ago. He confused them with the butterfly bush that I asked him to cut back as they benefit from rejuvenation pruning each spring. After two summers with no flowers, our old wooded hydrangeas rebounded to be profuse bloomers. Their recovery and colorful display are why I've grown so attached. 

Mary Stone  03:37

Speaking of hydrangea, I heard from a longtime friend living in Cliffside Park New Jersey, near the George Washington Bridge. Deer weren't a dilemma when I lived there years ago, but they are now. My hydrangea didn't bloom this year or last. I think it may be due to when I prune them. When is the right time? It depends on the variety. Most folks have, the big leaf variety, hydrangea, macrophylla, or my favorite oak leaf hydrangea, hydrangea, quercifolia, both bloom on old wood. So if you are pruning to manage size, it should be soon after the flowers fade, but before August, 1 to encourage blooms next year. 

Mary Stone  04:18

Panicle and smooth hydrangeas, the paniculate and arborescent, bloom on new wood. You can prune new wood bloomers before the flower buds form in late winter, when the plant is still dormant. The two most popular big leaf hydrangeas are mop heads and lace caps. Rosemary's is the lace cap, which is okay to deadhead to the second pair of leaves when the flowers fade, but the flowers on the mop heads are best left standing. They're lovely to admire dry, especially when frosted with snow in winter.

Mary Stone  04:50

 I was grateful the day Bambi chopped the hydrangea she spared the hosta that sat beside it. I re-sprayed everything diligently, but the next day, I found the big, burly, sum and substance hosta munched to the stalks. Why do we garden anyway? It's time to put into practice what I always preach, to rotate sprays as deer can grow accustomed and chew beyond them. I gave deer off a try. The puterescent egg smell was a tad nauseating compared to the clove oil scent of my tried and true but once it dried, it wasn't bad. 

Mary Stone  05:25

I have to say, in the blog post, there's a photo of my dear Miss Ellie Mae, who was the first to find the culprit of those mowed down hydrangea. I just adore the photo. I will put a link in the show notes to that column post. Late that afternoon, a doe meandered into the woods, sunbeams gleaming in her rust colored fur, her white tail was whisking away. Flies behind her, two youngsters were frolicking as cute as can be. Hello there. Mama looks up. Quit eating my stuff, please. I'm asking nicely. As I stood watching the beautiful family, empathy came over me, understanding their need for nourishment. 

Mary Stone  06:09

There's a newer, big leaf hydrangea, as you may know, called Endless Summer, which blooms on old and new wood. Indeed, there's no point in crying over spilled milk. Garden dilemmas? Askmarystone.com. 

Mary Stone  06:24

So why was this year a bountiful year of hydrangea blooms? It's because of the mild and wet winter without the normal cycle of freezing and thawing that damages buds. There were no severe cold snaps during the winter or spring, and so the buds burst into blooms. Interestingly, while researching why hydrangeas have been so voluptuous this year, I read some call Endless Summer hydrangeas, endless disappointment by those who live in colder zones, such as ours. Apparently, the Endless Summer hydrangea does bloom better on the old wood and during the normal freeze, thaw, cold cycle, those buds can get damaged. And so the plant puts energy into putting out new growth, and then those later blooms are not as vivacious, or sometimes they don't come at all. And so it can be a disappointment. I have seen them not bloom for years at a time here in New Jersey, in my zone six. 

Mary Stone  07:21

By the way, do you know that the USDA zone map changed in 2023 that's the first time since 2012 we used to be considered a zone six A, and now are a 6b due to the average temperatures increasing by five degrees. I still kind of err on the side of caution, because we certainly have had rough winters here, so I plant accordingly, and actually choose plants that are definitely six A, if not 5b.

Mary Stone  07:48

 When hydrangeas don't bloom, we blame it on folks pruning them at the wrong time. Ken Druse who I know fairly well. He's a well known garden writer and photographer, and he lives nearby. He coaches that he read, you should deadhead the first set of blooms on endless summer as the flowers are fading, cut them down to the first set of leaves, but don't cut the second flush of blooms, because when they dry, they protect the buds for next year's blooms. And as Ken advises, it's always good to cut out the dead wood. Isn't that true in our lives? Which are the dry canes, and now they are easy to access around my flopping foliage, so I will take advantage of that easy access. 

Mary Stone  08:28

So back to solving my dilemma. What best to do? I decided I'm going to cut back about half of the fading blooms to get a bounce back of the branches so that I can have access to the walkway. That way, some of next year's buds will be protected to encourage the next year's bounty. Unless you have a better idea, and if you do, I'd love to hear from you at AskMaryStone@gmail.com Besides, I've been around the block on accidental pruning recoveries. That's one thing about life. Whenever we make mistakes, something more beautiful can come from it. And so there really are no such things as mistakes, only lessons gained in the Garden of Life. And for those, I am so grateful, as I am for you joining me each week. 

Mary Stone  09:16

So thanks for coming by and visiting with me and and the cicadas in the trees. I hope you didn't mind the sound again, it's late summer sounding, isn't it? I sure enjoy our time together, and I hope you have as well. And if so, please share the podcast with a friend or two, so more can join us in learning and growing in the garden of life. It means so much. See you next time on the screen porch,

Mary Stone  09:38

You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook or online at Garden Dilemmas com and on Instagram at hashtag Mary Elaine Stone.  Garden Dilemmas Delights and Discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch, and always remember to embrace the. Unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.