Panicle hydrangeas have no 2025 flower buds at this time or during winter so they can be pruned or deadheaded as early as now or as late as late winter. Or not pruned if not needed. Or not deadheaded either if you wish to let the blooms drop on their own in 2025. There is no measurable difference between pruning now or pruning as late as late winter and or no measurable difference in stem winter hardiness. These panicles will have flower buds by the end of spring or in the summer.

Ignore the AI advice :-) Panicle hydrangeas can be pruned at any time from fall through to late winter/early spring but I would put April as a deadline to prune without any flower disruption.

Thanks, luis!

That was what I thought but it never hurts to get input from you guys who are in the know.

:-)

Your post just popped up as I was posting GG.

All the AI does is rummage through all the garbage that's on the internet, so it doesn't know squat either. lol

Thank you too!

:-)

Not sure if this happens to panicle hydrangeas, never tried, but there are some shrubs (dogwoods for example) that can experience some stem dieback below the pruning cut if they are pruned in late fall in our harsh northern climate. I'm a 'leave them until late winter/early spring' pruner when possible.

Thanks, pennlake!

Maybe I should've named this thread 'How to shape hydrangea paniculata?'.

This plant had a funky form when I bought it, with long branches coming out from the center with shorter branches taking multiple directions.

Hard to get good pictures but here's one that shows some of the branches seem dominant and faster growing than the shorter ones and make the bush look lopsided.

Any ideas on if and how this one should be pruned? Or just leave it be?

I just thought it would look better if it had a more rounded appearance, giving all branches equal chance at the sunlight? Help me out here. :-)

lower portion:

Not sure how long you've had the plant but I tend to not be a big pruner in the beginning. I think these larger growing shrubs need time to outgrow what the growers did to them to try to make them look nice in a pot.

There are some really putzy videos on YouTube about how to prune panicle hydrangeas and I'm like that would take me way to long to do all mine. Electric hedge clippers to take the flowers off and even out any stems I fell like. Done in under a minute or two per plant.

Okay!

This plant was bought last spring and planted soon after I got home.

I trimmed one stem that was coming from the ground outside, next to the main stem also a couple of spindly, thin branches coming from the base.

They do bud profusely in the spring, so I'll just let it go and see what it looks like next season.

Thanks!