Name this plant?

prose

looksee

I think its a particularly pretty lace cap hydrangea.

quercus

it's a hydrangea paniculata.

looksee

Yes of course it is! The lace caps are the ones with the 'frilly edges'. *Puts paniculata on shopping list*

prose

Thanks guys for replying!

kylith

Does anyone know how hydrangeas cope with pruning? I think they're a lovely plant but my garden is tiny so I'd have to keep it small.

quercus

kylith wrote: »

Does anyone know how hydrangeas cope with pruning? I think they're a lovely plant but my garden is tiny so I'd have to keep it small.

it all depends on the type of hydrangea you have , the paniculata variety's like the one in the picuure at the start of this thread can be pruned at any time except when they are showing flower bud, because they flower on old and new growth.
so this means you can prune them right back every spring and keep a small flowering bush.

The more common macrophylla(or mopheads) are different they flower on second year growth, so what this means is that if you prune these hard every year you will never get any flowers because you will always have fresh young growth.
so let them flower leave the old flower heads on all winter then in march as the plant awakens just cut the old flower heads off to the first set of new buds.
then as the plant gets 3 years or so you can remove one third of the older stems to the ground, this leaves room for new shoots to grow and flower the following year.
continue this practice each spring and you will be able to keep a neat compact shrub.