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Hydrangea Pruning Chart: When to Prune Each Type

Every common hydrangea on one page: the type, the varieties people ask about, the wood it flowers on, when to prune it, how, and what not to do. Each line names the extension services it comes from. Print it and keep it with your pruners.

Published October 31, 2026 ¡ Cite this page

The chart

New wood: prune in late winter or early spring. Old wood: prune right after flowering, or not at all. If you do not know the type, the hydrangea zones page lists each with its zones.

Type Varieties Flowers on When to prune How Don’t Source
Panicle Hydrangea paniculata Limelight guide Limelight, Vanilla Strawberry, Quick Fire, PeeGee (‘Grandiflora’), ‘Tardiva’, ‘Little Lime’ New Late winter or early spring, before new growth Heading cut just above a fat bud; as low as the ground, or to 24 inches for big heads Prune after the new shoots are up Minnesota; Iowa State; Penn State; Ohio State; Clemson
Panicle, tree form Hydrangea paniculata on one trunk Hydrangea trees guide Larger panicle cultivars trained to one stem New As for panicle Prune the head as for panicle; keep it to the one stem it was trained to Prune after the new shoots are up Ohio State; Penn State; Cornell (Orange County)
Smooth Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle and Incrediball guide Annabelle, Incrediball, Invincibelle Spirit, ‘Grandiflora’ New Late winter or early spring; Ohio State also late fall To the ground, under 4 inches, or 6 to 12 inches; less for a bigger shrub Hard-prune a plant in its first season or two Minnesota; Iowa State; Penn State; Ohio State; Cornell (Orange County)
Bigleaf Hydrangea macrophylla By type guide ‘Nikko Blue’, ‘Forever Pink’, other mophead and lacecap types Old Right after flowering, before August Heading cut; no more than a third of the plant Prune in late summer, fall or winter Minnesota; Clemson; NC State; UNH
Reblooming bigleaf Hydrangea macrophylla Endless Summer guide Endless Summer, Blushing Bride, BloomStruck, Summer Crush, Twist ‘n’ Shout, Let’s Dance Old and new Dead wood once leaves show; any shaping right after the first flush Remove dead canes only in spring; deadhead in summer Prune in late summer or fall Minnesota; Iowa State; UNH; Clemson; Cornell (Orange County)
Mountain Hydrangea serrata ‘Bluebird’, ‘Preziosa’, ‘Blue Billow’ Old Right after flowering Dead, damaged or weak stems only unless reshaping Prune in fall Oregon State; Iowa State; Cornell (Orange County)
Oakleaf Hydrangea quercifolia Oakleaf guide ‘Snow Queen’, ‘Snowflake’, ‘Sykes Dwarf’, ‘Pee Wee’ Old Soon after flowering; winter damage in spring Minimal; stems back after flowering when needed Prune in fall or late winter Clemson; Iowa State; NC State; UGA (Fulton County)
Climbing Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris ‘Firefly’ Old Wayward stems after flowering; winter damage in spring Little to none Prune it for shape Minnesota; Iowa State; Cornell (Orange County)

Compiled by USGrowersGuide from the publications listed under Sources. Months are not given by zone because none of these sources gives one: they time pruning by what the plant is doing. The variety guides linked in the chart print your zone’s freeze dates beside each region’s timing.

More on hydrangeas

Reading the chart

Flowers on. Ohio State Extension: old wood is the previous year’s growth, whose flower buds formed the year before; new wood is the current year’s growth. Minnesota says bigleaf hydrangeas form next year’s buds in August and September, which is why their window closes before August; NC State says do any pruning of bigleaf hydrangea before August 1.

When. Clemson, writing for South Carolina, and UGA Extension in Fulton County, Georgia, give the same split as the northern sources: panicle and smooth hydrangeas in late winter or early spring before new growth, bigleaf and oakleaf immediately after flowering. Iowa State waits for leaves before taking dead wood out of a bigleaf, and UNH says remove only dead canes in mid to late spring.

How. Minnesota makes a heading cut about 1/4 inch above a bud. Oregon State says take no more than a third of the plant at a time, and Clemson says the same for bigleaf hydrangeas. Iowa State renews old panicle shrubs by removing several of the largest stems near the ground.

Varieties. Each is named by at least one source as that type: Limelight, Quick Fire and Endless Summer by Minnesota; Vanilla Strawberry, ‘Tardiva’ and Incrediball by Iowa State; ‘Little Lime’ by NC State; ‘Nikko Blue’, ‘Pee Wee’ and ‘Firefly’ by Ohio State; ‘Bluebird’, ‘Preziosa’, ‘Snow Queen’ and ‘Sykes Dwarf’ by Cornell Cooperative Extension in Orange County; ‘Blue Billow’ by Clemson; Let’s Dance by Iowa State.

Before you print

  • Check the type, not just the name. Penn State says read the plant tag and ask at a nursery. A “mophead” can be a bigleaf or a smooth hydrangea, and they are pruned in opposite seasons.
  • Fall is the risky season. Ohio State says an old-wood hydrangea pruned in fall has little to no bloom the next year. See hydrangea winter care.
  • Dead wood is never wrong to remove. Every source above starts with it; on the old-wood types, wait until leaves show so you can see it (Iowa State).

In the South

The chart’s Southern lines are Clemson’s, NC State’s and UGA Extension in Fulton County’s, and they agree with the northern sources. We found no Texas A&M or LSU source on pruning hydrangeas, so Texas and Louisiana advice here is limited; ask your county extension office.

Every pruning guide

Questions

Is there a simple rule for when to prune hydrangeas?
Yes: new wood in late winter or early spring, old wood right after flowering. Clemson and UGA Extension in Fulton County both sort the types that way: panicle and smooth hydrangeas flower on new wood, bigleaf and oakleaf on old wood. Reblooming bigleaf types flower on both and need the least pruning.
How do I tell old wood from new wood on a hydrangea?
Old wood is last year’s growth; new wood is the current year’s, Ohio State says. If you do not know the cultivar, Ohio State says watch the new growth for flower buds during the season. Penn State says read the plant tag.
Can I print this hydrangea pruning chart?
Yes. Print the page from your browser: the site’s print styles leave out the menus and keep the chart and its sources. The chart is this site’s summary of the extension publications listed below, not an official chart from any of them.

Sources

This chart is this site’s summary of the extension publications below, not a chart published by any of them. Every type, timing and cut on it is quoted from those sources, each written for its own state or county.

Nothing here replaces your own state's cooperative extension service, which knows your county. Where this site's numbers come from.

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