There is one job you should wait to do instead of completing it in December, experts have revealed. Despite popular belief, gardening isn’t just a spring and summer job. To keep your garden healthy, there are a few jobs that need to be done throughout the year, including December. However, there is one you should not do in December. Instead, you should wait until late winter or early spring to do it to make sure your hydrangeas survive the rough season.
According to Bell Plantation Garden Centre, you should leave your hydrangeas alone in December. Some people might be tempted to deadhead their hydrangeas in December as they look frail, but this is actually the wrong thing to do. In fact, the experts revealed that this can do more damage than good. Although you are not trying to protect the frailed flowers on top of your hydrangeas, you are trying to protect what is underneath.
The faded flower heads actually protect the buds underneath from frost. The new bulbs would be sensitive to frost when temperatures drop in December, so they need protection in the winter months.
The Royal Horticultural Society says that hydrangeas flower between the middle and end of summer on the previous year’s growth. So, do everything you can to protect them when it gets frosty outside.
“Although the blooms on mophead hydrangeas can, in mild areas, be removed as soon as they have faded, it is best to leave them on the plant over winter to provide some frost protection for the buds below,” the RHS says.
“Remove the dead flowerheads in early spring, cutting back the stem to the first strong, healthy pair of buds down from the faded bloom.”
Instead of deadheading hydrangeas in December, there are several other jobs you can complete in your garden. Gardeners can do the following, according to the experts at Gardeners’ World.
Plant bare-root rosesPlant fragrant winter shrubs in potsHard prune overgrown shrubsGive houseplants extra humidityOrder summer-flowering bulbs such as lilies and gladioli
