I just finished up with some early pruning of both my Lace Hydrangea & Sno Ball. I have had the snowball for 3 years and the lace Hydrangea for like ten years which seems to be somewhat overgrown. I was under the impression that you can prune in late fall or early spring. All of these shrubs are somewhat protected from adverse wind and weather near the house. Please advise.

It's definitely a good time to prune the Snow-ball, but if the lace one is a variety of macrophylla it would be better to prune in summer since it blooms on old wood.

It depends on which type of hydrangea you have.

Lacecap macrophylla, serrata, aspera, climbing - they develop flower buds for Spring 2021 in late Summer/early Fall 2020 (the flower buds are "invisible", located at the ends of the stems) so, wait until after blooming to prune but feel free to deadhead spent blooms at any time.

Lacecap arborescens - they develop flower buds for Spring 2021 in early Spring 2021 (the flower buds are "invisible", located at the ends of the stems) so, wait feel free to deadhead spent blooms at any time and you can prune any time after blooming but before Spring starts.

* you can prune any stems that do not leaf out by the end of May 2021 all the way down.

* if planted in a location where they can attain their estimated size on the plant label, you should not need to prune for pruning sake.

Viburnum Snowball should also be treated as a lacecap macrophylla as it blooms on old wood too. Prune it after it blooms in Spring, not now.

Your reply is greatly appreciated. I may have overdone it at this stage, however the coming spring will certainly tell the tale. Thanks again.

Two SnoBalls One small shrub and one Sno Ball Tree I simply would like someone's opinion on the current status of these two shrubs. The smaller of the two seems if it has seen better days. Please advise.

Pictures 1 and 2 show too many crossing stems. Pictures 3 and 4 show symptoms of inconsistent watering during a possibly rough (hot, dry) summer. The foliage will regrow in spring but not usually much ths fall. Review how it looks then and decide if additional steps are needed in spring. A lack of mulch will promote the soil drying at a depth of 4" in the summer. Hydrangea roots are shallow, fibrous, and start at around 4 -6" deep. Try to keep the weeds and grass away. Pruning of hydrangeas that bloom on old wood is not recommended as the inside of the ends of the stems now have spring 2023 flower buds.

I have frequently watered the sadly looking ones and I also have irrigation. Even with the periodic watering, this summer has been murder even with my irrigation every other day. I know of others who have lost both shrubs and lawn as well.
Thanks for your advice.

I hear you. I had large water bills too. Maintain 3-4" of organic mulch always to minimize soil moisture loss. It helps here in Texas, especially this last summer when we hit daily 100+ temperatures from June through late August. The top few inches dry out quickly, more so when planted by themselves. When watering, water deeply and use enough water to moisten the soil down to a depth of about 8". In sandy soils, you should be watering about 50% more than in non-sandy soils. If the soil is already wet, skip watering. Investigate the soil depression in the last two pictures.