Gardeners are urged to get a simple task done this month for an abundance of flowers through the rest of summer

Hydrangeas are a popular plant to grow, bringing a wealth of colour and scent to any garden display. To fill spaces on walls, fences, and even trees, some gardeners may opt for a climbing variety over a traditional one.

Climbing hydrangeas feature white, lacy flowers that can grow on vines of up to 12 to 15 metres long. You may have noticed that your climbing hydrangeas have already flourished, but there’s an easy way to grow a second flush without much hard work.

Gardening expert Michael Griffiths recently shared his list of gardening jobs for July, including a summer prune for climbing hydrangeas. Michael said in a recent video: “Climbing hydrangeas can also be pruned after flowering.”

If you’ve already got a climbing hydrangea in your garden, you can expect them to flower between June and August. Typically, these plants require a hard and thorough prune in late summer, as this allows enough time for the flowers to grow fully come the next season.

However, Michael suggested that established hydrangeas — ones that have grown a first flush of flowers this year — can benefit from a quick prune in July. Pruning now helps them produce a second flush of flowers throughout the rest of the summer.

Michael explained that this particular variety of hydrangeas can be snipped not long after they have flowered.

Firstly, inspect the flower to see if there are any spent flowerheads with droopy, wilted or discoloured flowers. When giving the hydrangeas a summer prune, gardeners will want to trim the stem about an inch above any of the new buds.

This will help direct energy to the new flowers, rather than the old. It’s really that simple. You won’t need to give the plant a full prune just yet, simply trim any leftover flowers to help make way for new buds to flower later this summer.

Removing any spent flowers will help divert energy away from those which are near the end of their life cycle, stimulating the growth of new side-shoots. A summer prune directs the plant’s energy into building fresh, healthy wood that will support the next season's buds, while also improving light and air circulation throughout the vine.

Giving climbing hydrangeas a summer prune will also help keep the plant looking neat and tidy, too.

Gardening experts usually recommend pruning only in the later summer months after the hydrangeas have flowered completely. So don’t be tempted to give these plants a serious and hard prune now, as this will be counterproductive, and could result in bare plants for the rest of the season.

Gardeners' World warned that if your climbing hydrangea has grown too large, you’ll likely have to sacrifice the flowers “for a few years”. To get the plant back in shape, the hydrangeas will need to be given a harder prune in autumn or spring.

If you’re struggling to grow flowers on a mature plant could be due to incorrect pruning. Gardeners World explained: “Climbing hydrangeas produce flowers on last year’s shoots, so in order for the plant to have enough time to develop flowering wood for the next year, prune in summer straight after flowering. Don't cut the plant back too much.”