Hydrangeas will be 'healthier and look better' if you do 1 simple thing before late autumn

As summer fades and autumn sets in, your hydrangeas require some end-of-season care to ensure they remain healthy and strong for the winter months. One important task during autumn is deadheading. Along with deadheading, there are a few other essential steps you can take to help your hydrangeas thrive when the weather turns cold.

When you deadhead hydrangeas, you aren't harming the plants at all. Removing the spent blooms triggers flowering shrubs to stop producing seeds and instead put their energy toward root and foliage development. Deadheading is a great way to easily help support the health and happiness of your hydrangeas. Gardening experts at Millcreek Gardens explained: "This makes plants stronger, healthier and look better, so by deadheading, you'll be doing your hydrangeas a favour."

Deadheading means removing the spent bloom from the hydrangea. To properly deadhead, all you have to do is cut the faded bloom just below the flower head and above the next set of large leaves.

The experts said: "Deadheading is an easy gardening task, one many people enjoy. All you need to deadhead hydrangeas is a pair of garden gloves, pruners and a container to hold the faded flowers."

Before you start, wipe the pruner blades clean with a cloth soaked in denatured alcohol. Keep the cloth handy, as you'll need to wipe the pruners between snips to make sure you don't spread disease through the shrub.

To deadhead your hydrangeas, simply take each spent bloom and follow its stem down to the next set of large leaves - that's where you cut.

While deadheading can be done now, you should make sure to stop in mid to late autumn. Leaving that final set of blooms on your hydrangeas "provides gorgeous winter interest" and "ensures you don't remove the buds that will become flowers next spring".

When it's time to stop deadheading hydrangeas, you need to start thinking about overwintering this flowering shrub.

Apply a two to three-inch layer of mulch around the base of your hydrangeas. Organic materials like pine needles or shredded bark are ideal.

Mulch helps protect the roots from temperature fluctuations and provides insulation during cold snaps.

Deadheading, along with mulching, sets your hydrangeas up for success through the winter and into the following growing season. With just a little care in autumn, your hydrangeas will be ready to emerge healthy and full of blooms when spring returns.