when should I prune? and should I go about this ?

thanks Mike

I was hoping someone growing Hydrangeas would answer.

I used to have Hydrangeas in California in zone 8a. I waited until the buds swelled and the old canes dyed (in spring) then cut everything down to 3 or 4 buds (except the dead canes, those to the ground). It worked, they were always masses of blooms in summer.

Now someone will be along to tell you how to do it correctly.

Sorry about the delay, Mike/Daisy. I have been doing a forum search for "hydrangea" and this post did not appear in the answers. I just re-did the forum search again and did not see it. Not sure what is going on....

The answer to Mike's question: depends on what type of hydrangea do you have Mike: the most common is hydrangea macrophylla (a.k.a. French Hydrangea, big-leaf hydrangea, etc.), which can produce mophead and lacecap blooms & comes in two "flavors": rebloomers or not rebloomers; serrata (mountain hydrangea); quercifolia (oakleaf hydrangea); aspera (rough-leafed hydrangea); petiolaris (climbing hydrangea); paniculata (Pee Gee hydrangea); arborescens (smooth leafed hydrangea, Annabelle-like hydrangea), etc.?

If unsure what type of hydrangea you have, check here to see bloom pictures of the most common ones:
https://plantaddicts.com/types...

But may I ask... why do you have a need to prune? If you mean deadheading, you can do that at any time.