Hydrangea cuttings

[Oxo01]

Here's a picture of my hydrangea ive had it for a few years.
I just been cutting it right down sometime over winter period but recently in feb or so and kept fingers crossed.
Its in normal soil and in a shady spot in the front.
Its grown wide and higher now and I love it .
Just wandering
Can I take cuttings and grow more from it ? If so how / when.
Can it be divided in to 2 if I wanted to plant some of it in my back garden or would this kill it ?
Thanks

You can take cuttings now. Select non flowering stems and cut at about 10 cms, under a pair of leaves, remove all but the top pair of leaves. Immediately put them into a pot already prepared with damp compost. You can put several in the same pot, around the edge. Cover with a plastic sandwich bag that’s tied tightly. Put on a warm windowsill or greenhouse and make sure they don’t dry out. When you see new leaves appear then they’re rooted.

Thank you Beebumble2
I will try that.
Any idea about cutting it in half to plant elsewhere and survival rate
Also if I just move the whole thing would that be better fir it to survive ?

No, you can't cut a shrub in half. You can split a clump of herbaceous plants like that because they grow by division anyway.

Sorry to jump in

What happens if all the stems have flowers on them - would it still be ok to take cuttings from these?

I have an extremely precious plant and I don’t want to fuck it up!

I think the perceived wisdom is that non flowering stems have a better chance of rooting due to the energy not having been put into producing the flower.

Ah, that makes sense!

Huge thanks x

Thank you @OutOfApricots
But i could move the whole plant to somewhere else without harm ?

I would not try moving it especially not in summer. Hydrangea are one of the easiest to take cuttings from. I don't cover with plastic or put in greenhouse and they take really easily just put in pot in semi shaded place and watered. The colour flowers may change depending on the acidity of the compost or soil in the area you plant it. I would take cuttings now and if you must try moving it do it in spring when you'll hopefully have some mini plants as replacements if it dies.

Thank you for info

You could, but not when it is in full leaf and full flower, in midsummer when we are about to have another heatwave. The damage to the roots during the transplanting could cause serious harm and even kill it.

The best time to move shrubs is in autumn or spring.

Yes I would do it later
Thank you

Hmm, have another look, it's quite unusual for there to be no non-flowering stems at all. You can see in OPs photo there are several of non-flowering stems to choose from on her plant which can be cut without damaging it.

Funnily enough I took a cutting from a very pretty hydrangea the other day, following the Bob Flowerdew rule that the best time to take a cutting is when the owner's not looking. In my defence it was a very large shrub and was outside an office - I didn't nick it from a private garden.