Hi. I'm in zone 7a, don't know what zone you're in, but it may not matter. I agree with morz8. But I have some additional comments. The plants that you received from your friend were probably badly shocked by being dug up during the summer. So, heavy pruning probably helped them out for their first season in your yard, and helped them to recover. However, don't do that again. As morz8 explained, you won't get any bloom if you prune drastically. Here's how I prune hydrangeas in my yard. I don't do anything at all in the fall. Just leave them alone. Wait until the new growth starts in the spring. In my zone, this is in March. Now, you will be doing 2 things when you prune: 1 - prune each stem just above (1 inch) the new growth. 2 - prune (close to the ground or trunk) any stems which have no new growth at all. These branches are dead (this is normal) and will just form a thicket of dead stuff after several years. Now, just to be thorough, many of the new modern hydrangeas bloom both on old wood and new wood, meaning that drastic pruning would not eliminate bloom for the year. But, your hydrangeas are most likely the old-fashioned ones. Blooming only on old wood. Don't prune themn drastically. Hope this helps.

Yep---we are on the same wavelength---I'm wanting the same thing from my hedge. The only advice I have is from Deborah Silver, the landscaper who planted the limelight hedges in the pictures I posted a while back. She says to give them a shag haircut---where the top is a little shorter, and the sides are longer. This is too abstract for me to visualize, so I like her second explaination better---to trim them like an egg on its side. So an oblong oval so to speak. I suppose this will encourage the sides to branch into one another, and the front branches to hang down a bit--making it seem less leggy. Hope that helps--it is what I plan to do with mine :)

Oakleaf hydrangeas, like H. macrophyllas and serratas, develop invisible flower buds in July-August (July for me in the South and August-ish for you in the North) near the ends of the stems. These buds stay on and open in the Spring when you then get blooms.Since the stems that you have now grew from the base this year, the plant has not had time to produce flower buds until now. The flower buds that it has developed (or is developing) will open in Spring 2017 if the stems do not get killed by winter. Because flower buds develop during July-August, any pruning that is needed should occur after it has bloomed but before the plant develops flower buds in July-August. If you prune an oakleaf stem now, there is a chance that you will be cutting off the 2017 Spring blooms. Because oakleaf hydrangeas are hardy to Zone 5 and you are in Zone 5, I would suggest winter protecting to make sure that the flower buds and the stems are not killed during the winter months. I personally prune in late June when needed. That way, I get to enjoy the blooms as long as possible. Being further in the north, you can probably wait to prune until mid-July or the start of August. This can vary every year so play it safe and maybe do it in early to mid July. With all growth originating from the crown now, consider your plant as if it was 'newly planted' and expect some branching later. Be aware that pruning of hydrangeas is typically not needed unless you have some safety issue, dead stems or the plant is in a small location where it does not fit (in that case try to transplant it elsewhere so you do not have a yearly pruning chore). Except for removal of dead wood or minor aesthetic issues, I normally do not prune any hydrangea. I had one Alice that died due to root rot during an El Nino Year that dumped lots of rain in my yard and forced me to get a landscaper to fix drainage issues. I now replaced Alice by smaller oakleafs. Enjoy your Alice!

Ken, I think you’re referring to the Joe Pye in the green planter? They were small plants from Bluestone received this year in early May. I was tiding them over until we finished regrading our yard and installing drain tile and a dry bed to put them in the ground. They looked lovely last Monday morning lol. Re the weather, it’s been hot and dry, for MI anyway. Very dry. I was watering deeply ~3x per week. For fertilizer, I haven’t added anything since maybe the Fourth of July weekend. I’ve read you shouldn’t fertilize after July as it encourages new growth that may not have time to “harden off” before the frost comes. Prior to that, the blueberries, azalea, viburnum and hydrangeas got some HollyTone in April. Blueberry and azalea also had some Ericoid mycorrhizae watered in around April and May. Viburnum had a foliar iron spray in June as it was looking chlorotic. Otherwise, they’ve all had a few waterings with diluted orchid fertilizer. I sprayed most all of my plants with pre-diluted copper fungicide in May or June. I can’t think of anything any of them, healthy or the currently unhealthy/dying/dead, have had since late June/early July. Prior to these two rain showers, some looked a bit droopy but seemed to perk up after a good watering. The only plants I had concerns about prior to this last week were the blueberry bushes. They all had some dark spots developing and 1-2 canes of the dry silvery-bronze foliage that’s overtaken all the leaves now. Those canes were pruned out roughly 3 weeks ago.