Hydrangeas are easy to propagate at home: a single sprig grows into a young plant identical to its parent within a season. Cuttings are the most reliable method, but layering, division and rooting in water also work. Here is when to take hydrangea cuttings, how to prepare and root them, how to care for young plants and how propagation differs between species. Mature bushes will need proper winter preparation.
Softwood cuttings give the best rooting rate for all garden species.
When to take cuttings
The best time for softwood cuttings is June and July, when young shoots are firm but not yet woody. The shoot should bend rather than snap. Take cuttings early in the morning or on an overcast day while the tissue is full of moisture, and put them straight into water so they do not wilt.
Panicle and smooth hydrangeas can also be propagated in spring: branches left over from March pruning are cut into pieces with two or three pairs of buds and rooted indoors. Learn more about these species in our articles on panicle and smooth hydrangea.
How to prepare cuttings
Choose healthy side shoots from this year with no flowers or buds, from the lower or middle part of the bush. A cutting should be 10–15 cm long with two or three pairs of buds. Make the bottom cut at an angle just below a node and the top cut straight, 1–2 cm above a bud.
Remove the lower leaves completely and cut the upper ones in half so the cutting loses less moisture. Dip the base in a rooting hormone based on indole-3-butyric acid as directed. This step is optional, but it noticeably improves the rooting rate.
How to root cuttings
Use a light mix of peat and sand 1:1 or peat with perlite. Insert the cutting at an angle 2–3 cm deep so the lower pair of buds is below the surface, then water well. Cover with a clear bottle, bag or mini propagator and keep in bright, indirect light at 18–25 °C.
Air the cover daily and mist the cuttings, never letting the mix dry out. Roots appear in three to five weeks, and new leaves are the sign of success. Then remove the cover gradually so the plant gets used to normal air.
Hydrangeas also root in water. Stand the cuttings in settled water with only the lower nodes submerged and change the water every two or three days. Once the roots reach 2–3 cm, pot them up, as long water roots adapt to soil less easily.
Layering and division
In spring, choose a low flexible branch, make a small nick where it touches the soil, bend it into a trench 10–15 cm deep, pin it down and cover with soil, leaving the tip exposed. Roots form at the nick by autumn, and the young plant is separated the following spring.
Bigleaf and smooth hydrangeas can be divided: lift the bush in early spring or early autumn, cut the root mass so that each piece has two or three growth buds and healthy roots, and replant in prepared holes. Panicle hydrangeas grow from a single base and are not divided. More on bigleaf types in our article on bigleaf hydrangea.
Caring for young plants
Pot rooted cuttings individually into 0.5–1 litre pots of acidic hydrangea compost. Feed with a weak complete fertiliser every two weeks until the end of August. If buds appear in the first year, remove them so the plant puts its energy into roots.
Young hydrangeas are best overwintered somewhere cool and bright at 0–5 °C or in a covered cold frame. They are planted out the following spring and usually flower in their second or third year. For growing in containers, see our article on hydrangeas in pots.
Hydrangeas delivered in Kyiv
While your cuttings grow, treat yourself or someone close to cut hydrangeas. Our catalogue has single stems in several colours and ready-made hydrangea bouquets.
June to July for softwood cuttings. Panicle and smooth hydrangeas can also be rooted from spring prunings.
How long does a cutting take to root?
Usually three to five weeks in warmth and high humidity.
Can hydrangeas root in water?
Yes. Once the roots reach 2–3 cm, pot the cutting up.
When will a hydrangea from a cutting flower?
Most often in the second or third year after rooting.
Author: Maria Svitlovir
Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.
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Hydrangeas