With newer reblooming types, like the Endless Summer Series or Let’s Dance Series, when you prune is less critical because these hydrangeas bloom on new growth as well as old wood. Even if you cut off some of the flower buds by pruning the old stems, the plant will still bloom on the new growth. White-flowered paniculata (like varieties ‘PeeGee’ and ‘Limelight’) and arborescens (including ‘Annabelle’) types flower on new wood, so they can be pruned any time other than just before they bloom. Test Garden Tip: To keep spring bloomers flowering vigorously, remove some of the oldest shoots all the way to the ground. This allows younger stems to grow and bloom. Test Garden Tip: Save time by using a pole pruner with a rotating head to remove stems all the way to the base of the plant. That way, you don’t have to bend over for each cut, saving not only time, but also wear and tear on your back! Test Garden Tip: If you’re growing a privacy hedge, reduce the amount of pruning maintenance needed by selecting shrubs that grow only as tall and wide as necessary to provide screening. Allow them to grow into their natural form, and you won’t have to prune very often, if at all. Test Garden Tip: Trees that produce a heavy sap flow when pruned in winter—maples, birches, elms, and dogwoods—are known as “bleeders.” The sap flow may be unsightly, but it doesn’t harm the tree. To avoid the bleeding, you can wait until the leaves have fully expanded in summer to prune these species. Test Garden Tip: To control the spread of diseases while pruning, dip your pruning shears in rubbing alcohol or a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water. Test Garden Tip: Save on holiday decorations by snipping a few branches for winter holiday greenery. Everbearing types of raspberries are an exception. They form a late-summer crop on the tips of first-year canes, so don’t pinch them back in midsummer. Instead, allow the canes to flower and fruit for a fall crop. Remove the stem tips that have produced fruit in winter. The following summer the lower portion of the stem will fruit. After it finishes bearing, completely remove the fruited cane.
