Cutting hydrangeas can be fearful experience

I have a confession: I'm scared to prune my hydrangeas because of all the dire warnings about cutting off next year's bloom.

Moreover, I'm tired of taking cuttings, only to see them die without so much as a goodbye or see you in the next life.

When I got the Master Gardeners notice, then, that last week's work day at Pendleton King Park would include a demonstration by Kay Bowman about pruning and taking cuttings from hydrangeas, I thought the Garden Gnome should be there. Maybe I'm not the only cowardly hydrangea gardener.

"Ordinarily you don't need to prune hydrangea," said Mrs. Bowman, a former manager of the Center for Applied Nursery Research in Dearing, Ga., who named the hydrangea, Chantilly Lace.

Most of us, however, don't have the room a hydrangea really wants, so pruning can be necessary.

Most hydrangeas should have been pruned by the end of July, she said, especially the big-leaf varieties. The Endless Summer variety can be pruned any time after blooming. The Paniculata can be pruned fall to spring. If you don't know which type you have, it's best not to prune after July, just to be on the safe side.

Every few years you will want to cut out the old, hard wood from a hydrangea. Cut the old stems at the base of the plant. If you need to do drastic pruning, do it right after blooming.

If the flower heads have turned brown and ugly, snip them at a 45-degree angle. Cut right under the leaf node.

To make a cutting, choose a stem that hasn't had a bloom on it. Remove the lower leaves and cut those left by half. It's not necessary to use rooting hormone. You can use sand or potting soil.

Fall is not the best time to take cuttings, but if you put enough out you will get some takers. Mrs. Bowman sets her potted cuttings under a tree and lets them go for the winter.

You should probably have root growth within four weeks. It's best to leave it in the container for a year.

You want to keep the leaves moist, but the cutting will rot if the soil remains too wet. If you cover the cutting with plastic to keep it moist, you need to allow for air circulation or it will die.

Cuttings should be from semi-hard wood, not new growth or the hard brown stems.

Another way to propagate hydrangeas is layering. A flopping stem that is bent or lying on the ground is perfect. Scratch away a section of the outer layer of the stem at a point where the stem will touch the earth. Weigh it down with a brick or any heavy object and leave it be for the winter. By next spring you will have a new plant.

As a disclaimer, any mistakes in technique are mine, not Mrs. Bowman's. If you want to see a demonstration, you can watch a video of Mrs. Bowman's demonstration online.

Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.