I have a fully grown lacecap hydranger in the front garden. I have worked out that it will flower on last years growth so I need to prune out the flowering heads to have flowers the year after next. Only problem is I cant find out when it is best to prune, after flowering or next spring?
I prune in the spring.
2 reasons, the heads look good through the winter and do provide some frost protection to buds lower down in the plant.
Jerry
Yup, I have a lace cap and spring prune. I love the look of them during the winter, still all plump and really prefer to leave 'deadheading' until the bush has started to grow again otherwise you are left with a rather unattractive bunch of twigs!
Definitely in the spring. If you prune now the dormant buds down the stems will be encouraged to start into growth by any spell of mild weather, and a sharp frost could then kill them back.
I tried autumn pruning by way of experiment some years ago, and found many of the bushes got killed back virtually to ground level.
The plant in question was looking very sorry for itself 2 years ago when we moved in here. I decided to give it a good mulch and hack it back to a stump.. Didnt flower first year but put on loads and loads of growth, but this summer it was spectacular. So thanks to all your good advice it should continue to look a stunner.