Hydrangeas

[Mags22]

Ought I to deadhead hydrangeas, or leave them alone ? Thanks in advance

[VHG]

A quick search in Google for "deadhead hydrangeas" would get you the answer

http://www.hydrangeas...geas.com/pruning.html

[SlackAlice]

I always deadhead mine, seems to encourage new blooms.

[nungate]

I leave them all winter, the old heads somehow protect the flower buds for the next season - at least that's what I was told and have followed this advice for years and my hydrangeas have always bloomed beautifully. I just dead head them and give them a bit of a tidy up in the spring.

[maggiebee]

I'm with Nungate on this. My father was a gardener all his life and he always said to leave the heads on over winter and deadhead in the spring when the new buds start to form.

[jan01]

yup, i'm with nungate ! :)

[woofgang]

the dead dry flowerheads, if you can spare any from sheltering the new buds make pleasantly weird christmas decorations if sprayed gold and or glittered.

[LoftyLottie]

As per nungate and Maggie and jan.

[ethandron]

I leave them on too, not because I knew you were supposed to but just because I like the look of them, all faded and dried up.

[heathfield]

I leave mine over winter. The garden birds always seem to want to congregate in and under it.

[LoftyLottie]

Good to leave deadheading with lots of perennials until the spring for the sake of birds and other wildlife and also for protection from frosts for the plants themselves. Being too tidy in a garden can be counter productive.