I weeded and cleaned the front of a relative's home. She has a very large hydrangea bush. She loves it, even though it is monstrous in size next to the home.

I cut it down a few years ago. It came back, larger than ever. It now my height. I like my bushes small.

Can I successfully trim it very small in a ball-shape - will it survive? I want to hack away at it. Online, it says you should not do that. However, it is way to large for where it was planted. No, I don't think I can move it. I also dont know where to put it.

Can I make it very small and ball-shaped? I read this isn't good for it. The article said it is a risk.

I made it small with shears once before. I don't want to hurt the hydrangea, since it is valued by a relative.

Also, what product can I use to change them into a pink color?

Thank you!

Before giving you some suggestions, can you please give me a little bit more information? Do you/the relative know what type of hydrangea this one is? Or do you/the relative know the variety name? Can you post several pictures of the plant that include the flowers? What color changes do the blooms go through?

luis_pr said:Before giving you some suggestions, can you please give me a little bit more information? Do you/the relative know what type of hydrangea this one is? Or do you/the relative know the variety name? Can you post several pictures of the plant that include the flowers? What color changes do the blooms go through?

Hi there, I responded to your question here:

The thread "Help: Pruning Extra-Large Hydrangea" in Ask a Question forum

The foliage looks like it belongs to a hydrangea macrophylla (aka Big Leaf Hydrangea, French Hydrangea, Hortensia). An initial 'cornflower blue' bloom color also suggests that it is a macrophylla. Around at the middle to end of summer 2021, macrophyllas develop invisible flower buds for spring 2022 (they are located at the ends of the stems). As a result, you should avoid moving it or pruning it now or you may not get blooms in 2022. Instead, I suggest doing rejuvenation pruning, a technique i which you prune all the way down the 1/3 longest stems in Year 1; you prune the next 1/3 longest stems in Year 2; and you prune the rest in Year 3. Pruning now will force new growth so wait until the plant has gone dormant and all the blooms and leaves have dried out and turned brown.

You can also transplant the plant but again, avoid that now; that is best accomplished later, during fall/winter when the plant is dormant when the leaves and blooms have dried out and are brown.

Most of hydrangea roots are tiny, shallow, fibrous, usually found a few inches in depth. For a 15-20 year old specimen, you can assume more depth, perhaps about 1 foot or thereabout. The more of these roots that you move (unharmed/undisturbed), the better... as they are the ones that absorb moisture.

I tend to prepare the new hole the day before, water deeply before moving, transplant in a cool/cloudy day and extract as much of the root ball as possible; use help if possible. Mulch 2-4" (no rock mulch) and water when the soil feels dry if you insert a finger to a depth of 4". Stop watering if the soil freezes but consider watering if winter is dry and warm. Fertilize in spring 2022 after your average date of last frost. For Gloucester (Zone 6b; just an example), that date would be around the 2nd-3rd week in May.

Try not to handle the shrub by the base of the canes.