OUTAGAMIE COUNTY (NBC 26) — NBC 26 Today Meteorologist Lauren Larsen connected with maintenance manager Jeremy Stryhn with Lowney's Landscaping Center. Stryhn talked us through how to prune our hydrangeas and how they differ from other plants.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story, with additional details added for the website.)
In the nursery, we are looking at hydrangea shrubs that have yet to be planted this year. Earlier this week, I was on the job site learning how to care for hydrangeas year-round. Check it out!
A few weeks ago, we learned about pruning trees. Now this week, we are learning how and when to prune hydrangeas. Jeremy is here to teach us about that. Lowney's Landscaping Maintenance Manager Jeremy Stryhn says the best time to start pruning these trees is late winter and early spring as the snow is melting. A lot of people like to keep the flowers on during the winter to keep their yard interesting.
"This particular variety of hydrangea flowers from new growth," Stryhn said. "What you want to do is take all of last year’s growth off, all the way back to the node. It will completely grow back throughout the year."
"Can you cause harm to the plant by pruning too early or late?," Lauren asked.
"The good news is that it is not the case with this variety," Stryhn said. "You can take it back to any point. We like to take the plant all the way back because it can get too big and heavy. If you get any snowfall, the branches can snap. After you finish taking the stems back all the way, you want to look in the middle and make sure there aren’t any crossing branches and nothing that is rubbing on each other.
"Once you are done with all that, this shrub will be half of its actual size," Stryhn said.
This is something you can do yourself, but Lowney’s does it as a part of their spring clean-up package!
It was great being out on the site, watching the Lowney's team in action, and providing valuable information about our plants.
