Unlock massive hydrangea blooms with expert radical pruning tips

Gardeners lamenting over their hydrangeas' puny blooms need fret no more , as Rochelle Greayera guru in the garden who founded Pith and Vigor reveals the jumbo-sized secret . For "basketball-sized" flowers, its all about gutsy pruning.

Offering some crucial tips , Rochelle advised: "Here is the trick CUT THEM BACK HARD. Very hard. Don't panic, but the trick is to take every branch down to just a few inches above the soil."

She elaborated: "It is scary, but trust me on this one. Cutting like this is going to make you have a very different plant than what was growing naturally."

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Additionally, she explained the compromise: "You need to understand that once you cut hard, you are not going to have a bushy bush. You will instead have long sticks with pom poms on the ends."

The expert further expounded on the trade-off: "This is the sacrifice you are making a nice landscape shrub or a weird-looking shrub but the flowers are at least six times bigger. And if you took them to a farmers market they might sell out in minutes."

Do remember, keen pruners must only cut back new wood hydrangeas at this stage. Old wood varieties such as big leaf or oakleaf hydrangeas should be spared, for they've set next year's flowers, and cutting now would spell bloom doom.

Key to pruning hydrangeas is knowing which type you're dealing with to avoid mistiming the cut. Early-bloomers latch onto old wood, whereas those favouring the season's tail end spring from new growth.

Gardening guru Rochelle advises opting for new wood types like the limelight if your hydrangeas are reluctant to blossom. She also gives thumbs-up to low maintenance candidates such as panicle (peegee) and smooth hydrangeas (hydrangea arborescens).

Rochelle mentioned, "I would start with Limelight and then move on to other varieties as you get confident."

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She believes in the resilience and adaptability of Limelights, saying, "Limelights are very adaptable and easy to grow, tough as nails, and it is hard to truly mess them up permanently so you can go forth in confidence that you aren't going to kill them."

For hydrangeas that still won't flower post-prune, ensure they're watered adequately and planted in well-draining soil, as waterlogged roots are a no-go.

Rochelle has found through her own tests that, "In my experiments, better soil and more regular water does matter to size and will lead to bigger blooms. I actually suspect that water is more key than soil quality."

She stressed, "Wet roots and poorly draining soil are the worst things for these plants the root ball will rot and you may not get any flowers."

Pruning hydrangeas and ensuring they receive adequate water is the "special secret" to achieving larger and more luxurious hydrangea blooms.

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