I planted 3 macrophyllas in our north facing yard last August, and I have 2 issues with them. I attached pics to illustrate my issues. 1) One plant bloomed large heads of blue flowers, but the stems were so weak, the flower heads toppled over into the dirt. I suppose the term is leggy? A friend suggested I cut them back, to the lowest viable bud, and the plant grew back rounder (although did not rebloom). Do I do this again when it starts growing in spring? 2) The other 2 plant that did not bloom, now look like this heading in to winter. Taller than the bloomer, but with these buds(?) at the ends. Do I cut this back as well in spring, or just let it sort itself out? Thanks for any advice!
Joymot, steams of hydrangea which bloomed last year won't rebloom this year. The ones which didn't bloom last year will bloom up this year. So it's better to cut downer the ones that will not flowered on this year. When cold time is comming up, they go dormant doesn't matter if they still have some bud or not. When you cut down the branches, leave at least 2 eyes, just in case one of them do not thrives.
Those young strong brown stems in pic 2 will be next yrs flowers. I would prune the one that bloomed back to a good strong set of buds as suggested by mama flora http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1386708.htm The instructions for pruning time are for Southern hemisphere http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/20...niques_and_tools/pruning_hydrangeas_in_autumn Liz
