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Notebook · Guide 1 October 2026 · seasonal

Pruning hydrangeas: why your mophead didn't flower

Mophead and lacecap hydrangeas flower on last year's wood; paniculata and arborescens on this year's. Which you've got decides whether you snip lightly or cut hard.

seasonal
Identification line-up of three hydrangea flower heads side by side: a rounded blue mophead, a flat pink lacecap with a ring of larger florets around tiny central flowers, and a white cone-shaped paniculata head.
1Mophead (ball), lacecap (flat disc) and paniculata (cone) — each is pruned differently.

"I pruned my hydrangea and it didn't flower" is one of the most common garden complaints in Britain, and the answer is almost always the same: it was a mophead, and it got the haircut meant for a paniculata. Hydrangeas aren't one plant to prune; they're three or four. Find out which you've got and they're simple.

In pictures

  1. A mophead hydrangea stem in early spring: the dried brown papery old flower head still at the top, and a honey dashed cut line just above the first strong, fat pair of green buds below it.
    2Mopheads in spring: cut just above the first strong pair of buds below the old flower.
  2. A mophead hydrangea in winter with all the faded, dried brown flower heads left on the plant, lightly frosted, protecting the buds beneath.
    3Leave mophead flower heads on over winter — they protect the buds below.
  3. A Hydrangea paniculata in early spring after pruning: a low woody framework about knee height with stems cut back to pairs of healthy buds, beside a small inset of the same plant flowering in summer with large white cones.
    4Paniculata after its spring prune, and the same plant in flower that summer.

01First: which hydrangea?

  • Mophead or lacecap (Hydrangea macrophylla) — big rounded heads or flat lacy discs, often pink or blue. Flowers on last year's wood. Prune lightly.
  • Paniculata — cone-shaped flower heads, usually white, ageing to pink. Flowers on this year's growth. Prune hard.
  • Arborescens — big round white heads (the 'Annabelle' type). Flowers on this year's growth. Prune hard.
  • Climbing hydrangea — the self-clinging one on walls. Prune after flowering.

02Mophead and lacecap (macrophylla)

  • Over winter: leave the faded flower heads on. They protect the buds below from frost — free insulation.
  • When: usually late winter or early spring, once hard frosts are over.
  1. Follow each stem down from the old flower head to the first strong, healthy pair of buds, and cut just above them.
  2. On an established plant, also cut one or two of the oldest stems out at the base to keep it young.
  3. Frost damage? Cut back to just above the first undamaged pair of buds on healthy wood.
  • Lacecaps: the RHS suggests cutting faded heads back to the second pair of leaves below the head after flowering, to stop seed forming.
  • Renovating an old mophead: you can cut all stems to the base, but you lose that summer's flowers.

03Paniculata and arborescens

  • When: early spring.
  • How: cut last year's stems back to a pair of healthy buds, keeping a permanent low framework.
  • For bigger flowers: cut to the lowest pair of healthy buds, giving a framework no more than about 25cm high.
  • For a taller plant: cut to about 60cm.

04Climbing hydrangea

Prune after flowering, and leave the top alone — most of the flowers are up there. If it needs drastic reduction, spread it over three or four years.

05The ones that barely need pruning

Hydrangea aspera and the oakleaf hydrangea (H. quercifolia) need only minimal tidying in spring.

06Mistakes that cost you flowers

  • Hard-pruning a mophead. The classic.
  • Deadheading mopheads in autumn. You lose the frost protection.
  • Trimming the top of a climbing hydrangea to tidy it.
Save your money
Don't buy a bloom booster for a mophead that didn't flower. Check the pruning, and the frost damage, first.

Before handling or planting where children or pets play, check the safety flags on our hydrangea profile.

How we checked this

Every care and safety claim on this page is verified against horticultural and veterinary sources.

Sources: RHS — Hydrangea pruning

Checked 1 October 2026. If our advice ever conflicts with the RHS, believe them and tell us.