I do! I do!

Our gardener cuts them back every spring and they grow back beautifully. Although 6-8 inches is pretty small. Is yours a small bush?

Mine are about 4 feet tall and he cuts them down to about half. They bloom every year.

I have the old Annabelle variety. We always cut them down to the ground -- either in late fall or early spring. (We do the same with budelia, AKA 'butterfly bush'.)

It looks like Nikko Blue will not bloom for you as it only blooms on old wood, but in searching a bit it appears that All Summer Beauty blooms on both old and new wood.

Hopefully you will have at least a few blooms to enjoy. I would be sick if anyone did that to my hydrangeas.

Sue

My hydrangea is about 4 to 5 foot tall. Or was. I hope it'll bloom. I did have the butterfly bush cut back.
Leslie

Below is a link to a Hydrangea site that will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about them, and then some more.

It has FAQ, is searchable, has lots of pics, and tells how to prune, fertilize, and proper placement (sun/water needs).

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Hydrangeas

Sue, I was sick when I saw what had been done to them. It's my favorite flower, and I've babied that hydrangea. I do have one called Blushing Bride that will give me some blooms this year.

Hydrangeas are my FAVORITE flower! My Granny has them surrounding her house. When I was little, I was allowed to pick as many of the mopheads as I wanted. I thought I was the richest girl in the world with all those little flowers. I got cutting from her for the last two house we owned but do not have any here in WV. I wonder how the GA hydrangeas would do in WV (GA cats don't like WV, LOL).

Granddaddy would occasionally hack away at Granny's bushed but it never seemed to hurt them. The original bushes are well over 60 years old as quite hardy. Most of hers are about 6 feet wide. I never cut mine back because they were so much smaller- if a branch fell off, I would plant it and the next year is would bloom- pretty impressive since for a year it was just a brown stick in the ground!

Very pretty! I see you are in NE....zone 5

I'm in IN (sure wish it would show our zones/location here like on the gardening forums). I bought and traded for several new (to me) ones last year, and some did not survive the winter. I was thrilled though that some of them made it...including one that has a double bloom on it...I think I may have lost the name on it already....sigh.

Sue

I don't know much about hydrangeas, other than they generally bloom on old wood. But I have to tell you that this happened to a friend of mine, only the perpetrator was her dh who thought he had done a good deed. She was just sick about it!

The Nikko should not be cut back until it is clear where the dead branches are. In my area (zone 5B-6A) I wait until mid May at least then cut off above the green shoots. By cutting the Nikko back like that they cut off this years flowers which actually set last year. Endless Summer is a type of hydrangea will bloom off this year's growth but Nikko will not. Nikkos are beautiful but not reliable bloomers in my area because of the winter kill issue. In my area, unless sited perfectly, they will only bloom maybe 1 year out of 3 or 5.

Annabelle are a different type (arborescens), they can be cut back.

I know how you feel. I had someone pull up lilies that took years to establish because she thought they were weeds (I can see one, but after seeing the bulb wouldn't you guess they weren't weeds?). I almost cried.

Sue, my husband did that to my Iris one year.....he was so proud of himself. He got rid of all those 'roots' in the side bed.......

Hearing such horror stories of helpers, I am thankful I garden alone for the most part, with BF sometimes helping clear brush or maybe run the tiller in the garden.

The last time we were going to cut brush, I told him I wanted to clean up out by the old shed...meaning some multiflora roses, autumn olive and some green sticker vines. He started without me and started cutting the wild raspberries, near the area I was wanting cleaned up, which was not a big deal thankfully.

I just checked my hibiscus to make sure it is greening out. My hydrangea is looking good. It is fun every spring to see what came back up after the dreadful winter.

My dh did that one year! I was alittle ticked. That year we did not have many blooms, mostly foliage. But, they were on the Lace cap variety, so it could be different. Hope all goes well for you. Keep fingers crossed.x