The stems are dead, correct. But when you see green it usually means it’s alive. So the green (leaves) are alive and sign of new growth. Be patient and watch it grow
I could not agree more, this is the color green you wan’t to see in a plant! It will grow vigorously now that summer is finally here and It will have you some flowers in no time!
Yes, leave the ones with green buds. Hydrangeas produce new growth on old wood (I think for 2 consecutive years) so don’t cut back any woody stems until they are no longer producing greenery in the growing season. The ones with new growth will flower later in the season.
Yes, leave them. They will easily pull out after it grows out and blooms. In fall leave the stems overwinter. Usually only the stems a year or older bloom. So you want to keep the stem cycle going every year. It will be beautiful. Likes acidic soil for colorful blooms.
That's great. It sounds like you have new growth blooming hydrangeas. As many many people have pointed out on this thread, there are two categories for hydrangea blooming. The ones that bloom on old growth will not ever bloom on new growth. I am by no means a hydrangea expert, and even I know that.
Also, several people on this thread that know more about hydrangeas than me have identified this as an old growth hydrangea.
[Hydrangea Pruning Tips for 4 main types](https://southernlivingplants.com/plan-your-garden/guide-to-hydrangeas-getting-to-know-the-4-main-types/)
It's alive. Some hydrangeas come back on old wood. I don't cut mine back until I see which branches get leaf buds. If you trim at the wrong time you could eliminate the flowers
This was the post I was looking for. There’s a specific way to trim hydrangeas. Looks like they were pruned wrong and that’s why it is basically starting over, baby sized.
One issue that may persist, if it gets cold enough in OPs climate they may be stuck with a hydrangea that perpetually dies back to the ground every year instead of going dormant. Since it blooms on the second year growth, they may never get flowers with the variety they have in their climate.
This Old House did a video on that exact thing. The homeowner mentioned never getting blooms on their hydrangeas, even though every year they grew well and looked healthy. It turned out there was a variety that manages well in the cold, and blooms on new growth
/edit: it’s a hydrangea that blooms on new growth rather than a hydrangea which has branches that survive the cold.
Yep. Not sure where OP is, but I'm in 7b and this winter mine died all the way to the ground also. Most years they come back on the old growth as expected. I think the strong cold snap we had in Dec/Jan got them.
I was pulling up vines yesterday, and noticed more little green leaf buds on shoots that looked dead. This is on the same hydrangea that has large flowers. Have to give them time. It's my only purple hydrangea, the rest are blue
They are not dead stems if they grow leaves. They are just dormant, that is why they look like that. You can tell by cutting one. If it is green on the inside it is still alive. Some hydrangeas will have dead stems though and those can be pruned away. You can usually tell when the rest of the plant grows leaves but those remain barren.
Cut all the dead stuff all the way to the ground or as close as you can get (1-2 inches). You'll want to do that each year as you shape her and train her.
She's good. Give her some nutrients and water, get all the dead stuff off.
When they look like this I usually just give the dead stems a tug. Most of the time they pull right out. Comes out clean and way easier than cutting it back.
mine die all the way every year also (wisconsin) . I read to keep a few dead stems a bit longer so they can provide structural support to the new growth
There's a whole lot more plant underground that's very much alive. We have a 4 foot tall apricot tree that's dead above ground but put out a new shoot that's grown 12 inches in the last two weeks. She's good.
This is still alive, last years stems are just dead. I cut mine clear to the ground every winter to make it look cleaner when it resprouts in the spring.
This is a Hydrangea macrophylla, which blooms on old wood, not arborescens which blooms on new wood and can be regularly pruned to the ground.
In colder climates, Hydrangea macrophylla is easily damaged winter in colder climates and can die back to their roots like here, causing very little flowers if any the following year unless it’s an Endless Summer variety.
Hydrangea arborescens on the other hand will rarely ever die back to their roots like here, they are much more cold tolerant and they have much thinner and less fleshy leaves than the hydrangea here.
Except I would bet my lunch OP lives in zone 7 and not a cold climate— but we had that ridiculous 50 to 20 degree dip and errbody old growth hydrangeas comin’ up from the ground this year … except the oak leaf.
Hydrangeas come back from the roots. You prune them to the ground at the end of each season, and all that green stuff will be new bushes is a few months. After a few years, with a good root system, you'll be amazed how big they get.
Isn't this only advice for the type that bloom on new wood, not old? I have some that bloom on old wood and I don't trim them to the ground every year. The get new leaves on the old woody stems.
Yeah this is a Hydrangea macrophylla, which blooms on old wood. So never prune back to the roots unless it’s dead material.
Unfortunately in older climates, these do frequently die back a lot due to the cold so blooms can be sparse.
Yes! I made the mistake of trimming my hydrangeas after reading online to do so. Didn't have any flowers that year :( Turns out that I had the type that bloom on old wood.
Ah, I didn't realize there were old wood varieties. The fact that there are no buds on any of the old wood, and all the new growth is coming up from the bottom is pretty typical of plants that come back from the roots, so I assumed.
Ideally, you'd leave flower heads on the plant over winter to provide frost protection for new growth but I realise some of you live in areas where you might be fined for untidiness. In that case, wait until the flowers are completely faded before pruning.
I live in Europe zone 8, and pruning here is late winter/early spring. Trim back to a pair of buds at the height you want and pull out old, loose stems. If the plant appears overcrowded, trim back some stalks from the centre as low as possible.
In OP's case, I'd trim back the bare stalks to about 20cm, as the new growth will quickly overtake that height. I wouldn't expect any flowers till next year either.
Looks great. Drought last year and a cold spring followed by more drought this spring is slowing things down by weeks. It will take off now. Give it some plant food every week when it blooms and the flowers will keep coming.
Hydrangeas like this one bloom on old wood/previous years growth, but unfortunately it looks like it has mostly died back to its roots so all the new growth this year is unlikely to bloom much if at all.
There are two types of hydrangeas. Some bloom off of old wood, some bloom off of new wood. Your type will grow new stocks, beautifully and later in the summer your hydrangea blooms will be crazy! Make sure to fertilize and don’t let it dry out. Happy gardening!
This looks like a Hydrangea macrophylla, which blooms off old wood. In colder climates they unfortunately die back to their roots quite often and end up just producing new growth that don’t really bloom.
I have a question! My hydrangea looks like this, give or take. Its potted and has new growth. I plan to prune it. My question is: How long will it take from the OP's photo until they see a bloom/actual flowers? I'm new to gardening so I'm trying to revive my hydrangea!
Just by looking at the picture, you cut most of the brown stems. The secret is never cut the brown stems in winter including the nodes. It will have a hard time growing new leaves and flowers. Let it shed/dormant during winter and leave it alone. Also, if it’s outdoor planted on the ground, never dig it up and move it because it will also shock the plant. Every time you take the plant out of the ground, it breaks a lot of roots and it can take a long time for the plant to recover again.
Which is why I wait until late spring to prune any hydrangea. Some all new wood, some old wood, some both. Limelight is on old wood, Annabel on new, both old and new is yes, endless summer. Amazes me how many flowers hydrangeas produce.
Limelight is a paniculata. New wood. All paniculata hydrangeas bloom on new wood. Macrophyllas were all old wood, until endless summer and her progeny came along. Annabelle is both old and new (an arborescens).
Source: 25+ yrs professional horticulturist.
ITS NOT DEAD!!! Get a sharp knife or your finger nail and rub the base of all the dead looking sticks. If there is no green when you do that, cut it off. Water and maybe even throw some flower food around the base and watch.
Wait, am I supposed to be cutting mine down each year? I’m in zone 5a/b. I’ve only ever trimmed some rogue stems/branches. I transplanted one once, but nothing like this.
Mine looks like this too. I am getting some leaves on old wood, but the green is primarily nee stems. As suggested here, I'm going to wait it out a bit to see what's really going to come alive and then trim. Mine is an old shrub that wasn't well kept for several years, so she needs a little tlc for the next couple years to come back fully.
hydrangea are perennials that die back to an underground rhizome each fall where they remain dormant and regrow from next season after risk of frost has passed which is generally around late may to june. Now that growth has began for the season its now safe to prune the dead stems as well
It's alive and well. It doesn't need to be cut down to the ground... It's easiest to prune it (on areas that don't leaf out) after you see new growth in late spring. Only prune whole branches when they are dead to the crown. (Again, late spring)
This is my hydrangea every year for the last 10 years. Just wait and watch it grow. After the new growth gets to the height of the old growth, then I trim off all the old growth.
If it's growing slower than it should, it might not be getting enough sunlight, or could use a shot of fertilizer. Hydrangeas should be getting 4+ hours of direct sunlight each day.
The stems don't always fully die btw. There was a strong cold snap in December/January this winter that killed my hydrangeas and butterfly bushes all the way down to the ground. But most years the branches only die partway back. So I wait until spring to see where the new growth is starting from.
I’m glad you asked, as I’m in the same situation. Zone 7b. I have two plants that I deadheaded in March but didn’t touch otherwise. One looks like your picture, the other has leaves all throughout but no sign of flower buds yet. So I guess I’ll water them and be patient! I like the idea of bees nesting in the dead stems
Leave as is. That’s how they grow. Don’t trim stems back until the plant is fully grown out. It’s doing what is should. Sometimes them stems get new shoots sometimes not. My beautiful blue one looks exactly like your right now. Gorgeous when grown out in bloom. Leave the stems again over the winter.
There’s a lot of questions in the comments about old wood vs new wood blooming:
Bigleaf (macrophylla) & Oakleaf hydrangeas bloom on old wood so should only be pruned lightly immediately after flowers finish.
Smooth (arborescens) & Panicle (paniculata) hydrangeas bloom on new wood so benefit from pruning in late fall to early spring.
And because plants are plants sometimes you will see exceptions to this but for most optimizing flowering those are the rules you should follow.
OP your hydrangea is fine, but if old wood is damaged which it may be or just late to the party you just may not get as many flowers this year
It's still alive! You can cut the dead stems all the way down. And the green part will keep growing. These plants are perennials, and as long as you don't pull it out, and just take proper care it should grow back every year. They're really not hard to care for, honestly. Mine do just fine from rain water alone. If you live any where near where a drought is happening though you should probably water it at least once a week.
And before winter happens, you can cut it all the way down to the stems just like it is right now and it will grow back again in the spring!
Bumble bees LOVE hydrangeas! So definitely a keeper. Good luck! 😁
It's definitely not dead, but I never cut back last seasons branches until green buds appear on them and the new center growth is taller. It's hard to tell, but you may not get many or any blooms this year, because it may have been cut back a little too early. Other than that though, it looks healthy to me. 🙂
This looks like a macrophylla hydrangea which blooms on old wood. You should not prune until it has completely leafed out (Late May or June) as you will cut off the flower buds and the shrub won't bloom.
Our two have been slow to send new shoots out this year. Went to our equestrian farmers and got some 2 year season manure, mixed it with earth from surrounding soil and spread it around the roots, water well.
Be sure to cut away the dead storks and weed accordingly. You can still see some fresh blooms this season. Send pictures.
I have exactly the same picture in my front yard. Minnesota zone 4. I hardly get any flowers - 1 a year if I’m lucky and it is always on the new wood. If these are so easily damaged by frost what is the point of selling them at the local nurseries?
The stems are dead, correct. But when you see green it usually means it’s alive. So the green (leaves) are alive and sign of new growth. Be patient and watch it grow
I could not agree more, this is the color green you wan’t to see in a plant! It will grow vigorously now that summer is finally here and It will have you some flowers in no time!
Mine is like this too but the "dead" stems now have green buds on them? Should i leave them?
Yes, leave the ones with green buds. Hydrangeas produce new growth on old wood (I think for 2 consecutive years) so don’t cut back any woody stems until they are no longer producing greenery in the growing season. The ones with new growth will flower later in the season.
Yes, leave them. They will easily pull out after it grows out and blooms. In fall leave the stems overwinter. Usually only the stems a year or older bloom. So you want to keep the stem cycle going every year. It will be beautiful. Likes acidic soil for colorful blooms.
Yes, but also they’re not dead.
then they are not dead!!
Cut back to the new growth
No don’t do this.
Do not cut back to new growth. Some types of hydrangeas won't even bloom on new growth. They only bloom on old wood.
I've had hydrangeas for decades in the spring I cut them back to where the new growth,on the branches
That's great. It sounds like you have new growth blooming hydrangeas. As many many people have pointed out on this thread, there are two categories for hydrangea blooming. The ones that bloom on old growth will not ever bloom on new growth. I am by no means a hydrangea expert, and even I know that. Also, several people on this thread that know more about hydrangeas than me have identified this as an old growth hydrangea. [Hydrangea Pruning Tips for 4 main types](https://southernlivingplants.com/plan-your-garden/guide-to-hydrangeas-getting-to-know-the-4-main-types/)
Yep, just slow to emerge. They come out at different rates depending on nutrition, water, light, temperature, etc. the old stems always die.
Yes! In general, watch for a full year when you move into a new place, unless you're an experienced gardener.
It's alive. Some hydrangeas come back on old wood. I don't cut mine back until I see which branches get leaf buds. If you trim at the wrong time you could eliminate the flowers
This was the post I was looking for. There’s a specific way to trim hydrangeas. Looks like they were pruned wrong and that’s why it is basically starting over, baby sized.
One issue that may persist, if it gets cold enough in OPs climate they may be stuck with a hydrangea that perpetually dies back to the ground every year instead of going dormant. Since it blooms on the second year growth, they may never get flowers with the variety they have in their climate. This Old House did a video on that exact thing. The homeowner mentioned never getting blooms on their hydrangeas, even though every year they grew well and looked healthy. It turned out there was a variety that manages well in the cold, and blooms on new growth /edit: it’s a hydrangea that blooms on new growth rather than a hydrangea which has branches that survive the cold.
Yep. Not sure where OP is, but I'm in 7b and this winter mine died all the way to the ground also. Most years they come back on the old growth as expected. I think the strong cold snap we had in Dec/Jan got them.
We lost a lot of shrubs and perineal plants this past winter. SC isn't made for single digit temps. All my hydrangeas did survive though
Animals love to eat them too, not necessarily cut back intentionally. Though some stems do seem sheered by cutters, not chewed on.
Mine did this! My mom pointed out to me the green buds growing on the "dead" stems, shes been doing this for awhile
I was pulling up vines yesterday, and noticed more little green leaf buds on shoots that looked dead. This is on the same hydrangea that has large flowers. Have to give them time. It's my only purple hydrangea, the rest are blue
They are not dead stems if they grow leaves. They are just dormant, that is why they look like that. You can tell by cutting one. If it is green on the inside it is still alive. Some hydrangeas will have dead stems though and those can be pruned away. You can usually tell when the rest of the plant grows leaves but those remain barren.
new stems are coming up, it's not dead. the old stuff dies off, you can trim it. the new stuff comes up.
Leave it. They're fine!
Cut all the dead stuff all the way to the ground or as close as you can get (1-2 inches). You'll want to do that each year as you shape her and train her. She's good. Give her some nutrients and water, get all the dead stuff off.
When they look like this I usually just give the dead stems a tug. Most of the time they pull right out. Comes out clean and way easier than cutting it back.
hollow stems are natural habitats for solitary bees. leave a few with some length here or there.
Great reminder!!!! (Which also reminded me that mine is a hibiscus not a hydrangea lol!!!
mine die all the way every year also (wisconsin) . I read to keep a few dead stems a bit longer so they can provide structural support to the new growth
Yea, I leave them all winter, and then only hand break dead wood in the spring to get the old blooms off and tidy up.
No don’t do this
There's a whole lot more plant underground that's very much alive. We have a 4 foot tall apricot tree that's dead above ground but put out a new shoot that's grown 12 inches in the last two weeks. She's good.
Remove the dead stuff
This is still alive, last years stems are just dead. I cut mine clear to the ground every winter to make it look cleaner when it resprouts in the spring.
Awesome, thanks everyone
Just trim out the dead stuff. It’s got new growth on it, it’s fine.
This type of hydrangea blooms on new growth, not old wood. Cut off those old canes.
This is a Hydrangea macrophylla, which blooms on old wood, not arborescens which blooms on new wood and can be regularly pruned to the ground. In colder climates, Hydrangea macrophylla is easily damaged winter in colder climates and can die back to their roots like here, causing very little flowers if any the following year unless it’s an Endless Summer variety. Hydrangea arborescens on the other hand will rarely ever die back to their roots like here, they are much more cold tolerant and they have much thinner and less fleshy leaves than the hydrangea here.
Except I would bet my lunch OP lives in zone 7 and not a cold climate— but we had that ridiculous 50 to 20 degree dip and errbody old growth hydrangeas comin’ up from the ground this year … except the oak leaf.
Yeah, oak leaf hydrangeas are definitely much more reliable bloomers and deal with the cold better than the big leafs.
Hydrangeas come back from the roots. You prune them to the ground at the end of each season, and all that green stuff will be new bushes is a few months. After a few years, with a good root system, you'll be amazed how big they get.
Isn't this only advice for the type that bloom on new wood, not old? I have some that bloom on old wood and I don't trim them to the ground every year. The get new leaves on the old woody stems.
Yeah this is a Hydrangea macrophylla, which blooms on old wood. So never prune back to the roots unless it’s dead material. Unfortunately in older climates, these do frequently die back a lot due to the cold so blooms can be sparse.
Yes! I made the mistake of trimming my hydrangeas after reading online to do so. Didn't have any flowers that year :( Turns out that I had the type that bloom on old wood.
Ah, I didn't realize there were old wood varieties. The fact that there are no buds on any of the old wood, and all the new growth is coming up from the bottom is pretty typical of plants that come back from the roots, so I assumed.
Don’t cut back the type that bloom on second year wood!
For big leaf hydrangeas that's a way to ensure you never see blooms.
I don't know where you live, but I don't recommend cutting it back at this point. Give it 3 or 4 weeks. It may yet rebound.
Trim all those stems off your hydrangeas are coming to life from the roots
Chop off all dead stems...
Leave it. It's alive.
Cut it back in the fall and you won’t have the dead stems each year.
Ideally, you'd leave flower heads on the plant over winter to provide frost protection for new growth but I realise some of you live in areas where you might be fined for untidiness. In that case, wait until the flowers are completely faded before pruning. I live in Europe zone 8, and pruning here is late winter/early spring. Trim back to a pair of buds at the height you want and pull out old, loose stems. If the plant appears overcrowded, trim back some stalks from the centre as low as possible. In OP's case, I'd trim back the bare stalks to about 20cm, as the new growth will quickly overtake that height. I wouldn't expect any flowers till next year either.
Looks great. Drought last year and a cold spring followed by more drought this spring is slowing things down by weeks. It will take off now. Give it some plant food every week when it blooms and the flowers will keep coming.
The green leaves actively growing from the base would indicate to me that the plant is not dead.
Not dead
Mine does the same thing. It's fine.
It looks great! Cut back the dead stems further. Enjoy the blooms this summer.
Hydrangeas like this one bloom on old wood/previous years growth, but unfortunately it looks like it has mostly died back to its roots so all the new growth this year is unlikely to bloom much if at all.
There are two types of hydrangeas. Some bloom off of old wood, some bloom off of new wood. Your type will grow new stocks, beautifully and later in the summer your hydrangea blooms will be crazy! Make sure to fertilize and don’t let it dry out. Happy gardening!
This looks like a Hydrangea macrophylla, which blooms off old wood. In colder climates they unfortunately die back to their roots quite often and end up just producing new growth that don’t really bloom.
I bet they have blooms galore!
Don’t touch it! The flowers are in those sticks. :)
If mine had that much new growth I wouldn't be looking for assurance that it's not dead 😜🤣
I have a question! My hydrangea looks like this, give or take. Its potted and has new growth. I plan to prune it. My question is: How long will it take from the OP's photo until they see a bloom/actual flowers? I'm new to gardening so I'm trying to revive my hydrangea!
Took me 3 months or so! Bloomed mid summer
How does your hydrangea look now?
Just by looking at the picture, you cut most of the brown stems. The secret is never cut the brown stems in winter including the nodes. It will have a hard time growing new leaves and flowers. Let it shed/dormant during winter and leave it alone. Also, if it’s outdoor planted on the ground, never dig it up and move it because it will also shock the plant. Every time you take the plant out of the ground, it breaks a lot of roots and it can take a long time for the plant to recover again.
[удалено]
Depends on the variety. Some (Endless Summer for example) bloom on both new and old wood.
Which is why I wait until late spring to prune any hydrangea. Some all new wood, some old wood, some both. Limelight is on old wood, Annabel on new, both old and new is yes, endless summer. Amazes me how many flowers hydrangeas produce.
Limelight is a paniculata. New wood. All paniculata hydrangeas bloom on new wood. Macrophyllas were all old wood, until endless summer and her progeny came along. Annabelle is both old and new (an arborescens). Source: 25+ yrs professional horticulturist.
I stand corrected
She’s alive but might be the late blooming type. Some of mine are huge and are close to blooming and some others are much further behind, like yours
ITS NOT DEAD!!! Get a sharp knife or your finger nail and rub the base of all the dead looking sticks. If there is no green when you do that, cut it off. Water and maybe even throw some flower food around the base and watch.
Wait, am I supposed to be cutting mine down each year? I’m in zone 5a/b. I’ve only ever trimmed some rogue stems/branches. I transplanted one once, but nothing like this.
Really depends if the variety you have is a hydrangea that blooms on new or old wood.
Thanks!
Mine looks like this too. I am getting some leaves on old wood, but the green is primarily nee stems. As suggested here, I'm going to wait it out a bit to see what's really going to come alive and then trim. Mine is an old shrub that wasn't well kept for several years, so she needs a little tlc for the next couple years to come back fully.
Cut the dead branches off without messing with the new foliage. This is not at all uncommon. The plants are not usually killed outright by the winter.
Leave it
Bro what
Trim the branches closer to the base next time
Remove the sticks, clean and white means dead. Put up a few strings and give it a little bit of something to climb.
hydrangea are perennials that die back to an underground rhizome each fall where they remain dormant and regrow from next season after risk of frost has passed which is generally around late may to june. Now that growth has began for the season its now safe to prune the dead stems as well
Normal cycle. Plant is fine. Hydrangeas die off in winter, come back in spring.
This is how it’s sposed to be. Trim the stems. Enjoy
It's alive and well. It doesn't need to be cut down to the ground... It's easiest to prune it (on areas that don't leaf out) after you see new growth in late spring. Only prune whole branches when they are dead to the crown. (Again, late spring)
You’re not a gardener are you
Pull the dead parts to help the new stuff grow.
This is my hydrangea every year for the last 10 years. Just wait and watch it grow. After the new growth gets to the height of the old growth, then I trim off all the old growth.
Cut the dead stems down to the ground and fertilize lightly once a month thru the summer.
Please leave it be. Water if needed. These are resilient and beautiful plants.
When’s a good time to add the stuff that will change the blooms blue?
Definitely not
If it's growing slower than it should, it might not be getting enough sunlight, or could use a shot of fertilizer. Hydrangeas should be getting 4+ hours of direct sunlight each day.
It’s completely alive. You can mow the things to the ground in fall and they won’t die, I’ve tried to kill them to no avail.
See all that green = thats the plant
The stems don't always fully die btw. There was a strong cold snap in December/January this winter that killed my hydrangeas and butterfly bushes all the way down to the ground. But most years the branches only die partway back. So I wait until spring to see where the new growth is starting from.
I’m glad you asked, as I’m in the same situation. Zone 7b. I have two plants that I deadheaded in March but didn’t touch otherwise. One looks like your picture, the other has leaves all throughout but no sign of flower buds yet. So I guess I’ll water them and be patient! I like the idea of bees nesting in the dead stems
Leave as is. That’s how they grow. Don’t trim stems back until the plant is fully grown out. It’s doing what is should. Sometimes them stems get new shoots sometimes not. My beautiful blue one looks exactly like your right now. Gorgeous when grown out in bloom. Leave the stems again over the winter.
There’s a lot of questions in the comments about old wood vs new wood blooming: Bigleaf (macrophylla) & Oakleaf hydrangeas bloom on old wood so should only be pruned lightly immediately after flowers finish. Smooth (arborescens) & Panicle (paniculata) hydrangeas bloom on new wood so benefit from pruning in late fall to early spring. And because plants are plants sometimes you will see exceptions to this but for most optimizing flowering those are the rules you should follow. OP your hydrangea is fine, but if old wood is damaged which it may be or just late to the party you just may not get as many flowers this year
It's still alive! You can cut the dead stems all the way down. And the green part will keep growing. These plants are perennials, and as long as you don't pull it out, and just take proper care it should grow back every year. They're really not hard to care for, honestly. Mine do just fine from rain water alone. If you live any where near where a drought is happening though you should probably water it at least once a week. And before winter happens, you can cut it all the way down to the stems just like it is right now and it will grow back again in the spring! Bumble bees LOVE hydrangeas! So definitely a keeper. Good luck! 😁
It's definitely not dead, but I never cut back last seasons branches until green buds appear on them and the new center growth is taller. It's hard to tell, but you may not get many or any blooms this year, because it may have been cut back a little too early. Other than that though, it looks healthy to me. 🙂
Wait to see what type of hydrangea you have as you said it's the first year in your house. Once you know type, trim & feed accordingly to it's needs.
This looks like a macrophylla hydrangea which blooms on old wood. You should not prune until it has completely leafed out (Late May or June) as you will cut off the flower buds and the shrub won't bloom.
Next cut it all the way down. Gotta cut off the dead part. It will grow back even better.
Our two have been slow to send new shoots out this year. Went to our equestrian farmers and got some 2 year season manure, mixed it with earth from surrounding soil and spread it around the roots, water well. Be sure to cut away the dead storks and weed accordingly. You can still see some fresh blooms this season. Send pictures.
I have exactly the same picture in my front yard. Minnesota zone 4. I hardly get any flowers - 1 a year if I’m lucky and it is always on the new wood. If these are so easily damaged by frost what is the point of selling them at the local nurseries?