what to do with hydrangea

I suspect your hydrangeas are pot bound. Either repot into larger pots with fresh soil/compost or plant out in the ground. Take care to tease the root ball open when you replant and water well until the hydrangea has recovered from the move.

i agree moon grower and i heard you shouldnt cut them back, only the dead flower when you get them that is

Yup they aren't keen on being pruned

Straggly outside shoots or congested ones in the middle can be cut right out in sping just as growth begins but the normal regime is just to take off the old flower heads as Sanbaz says. If they are going to stay in the same pots in the same compost for a few years, they will benefit from a good feed each spring

Thanks for all your advice, I don't really have the room for planting out as I'm not sure how big each variety will get. My old next door neighbour used to regularly cut back hard on his hydrangea, but I've never had the courage, perhaps just as well in view of the advice:-) Perhaps just odd straggly ones but Andrew, will they flower that year if I cut back in spring or will that be the end of that shoot?

You need to repot t hen worry about flowering/pruning...

Moongrower, do you mean that if I repot there will not be straggly and I'll get decent leaves and flowers next year? cos this is not my worst specimen, one has smaller leaves and no flowers. Should I repot now?

We had a hydrangea in the ground and it just kept on getting stragglier an stragglier... we just pulled it out

Bornagain yes I would definitely repot now and give the shrubs time to settle down before winter starts. See how they look in early spring and follows Andrew's advise re pruning.

Thanks will do, must find larger pots:-)

Good luck... don't forget the stones or crocks in the tights in the bottom :-)

:-)