Hi Nannyann, If it is Hydrangea petiolaris, you don't need to prune it at all (unless there's a long, straggly branch you don't want), but in my experience they are well-behaved and quite compact. Yes, leaves falling is normal as it is deciduous.

Leaving you with lovely cinnamon coloured branches.

Just love the flowers, does great on shady walls.

The only thing you'll want to do is to cut off the dead flowers sometime between now and when the new shoots appear.

Don't know if you have had any flowers yet but if you haven't , don't worry. That's normal . They are sometimes slow to get going and can take a long time to flower but it's worth waiting for. It's a lovely climber.

Thankyou to all who answered my question about my hydrangia I only planted it this year and am very grateful for all the information I have recieved

I think my info about cutting off dead flowers was a bit too soon, then - but you'll know for the future. Good luck with it, and enjoy it. It has a wonderful autumn display of yellow leaves!

I wouldn't worry too much about cutting off dead flowers - I leave mine on as they are very attractive, and they eventually fall without my help!

Thankyou