Hi Everyone,
I am completely new to Gardening and specifically Hydrangea. We just moved into a new home with a beautiful garden in the backyard and within one month of us being here, the Hydrangea which were once beautiful and lush have browned and wilted and look dying to me. We were staining our upper deck earlier this summer and it looks like some stain may have dripped onto the leaves. I'm not sure if that is the reason for their sickly appearance, or if it has something to do with the extreme heat we have had all summer. I live in Southwestern Pennsylvania and we have been dealing with heat waves of 95+ temperatures for the last 2 months! I have tried to water them daily, but I'm not sure if maybe I over watered them even? I tried to upload pictures as I see that others have done in this forum but I can't figure out how. I'm not sure if I should just uproot them at this point and plant others in their place because they are really just more of an eyesore at this point. I should mention, they have been this way for about one month now with no change!
Any help would be MUCH appreciated!!
Thank you!
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Instructions for posting pictures are in New to Helpful Gardener? under Helpful Tips and Suggestions for New Members. Bottom line is you can't upload them directly from your computer to here, they have to be already on-line first at some kind of photo hosting site like photobucket.com
Without the pics, it's a little hard to say. I doubt it has to do with the stain, which would only affect the particular leaves it was dripped on, but shouldn't affect the whole plant, unless the plant got pretty covered in it.
It has been very stressful weather, but watering daily sounds like it could be too much, depending on how you water. It also makes a difference if your hydrangeas are full size and well established (vs. new young plantings). Well established shrubs should be watered as deeply as you can, once a week or so. That means put the hose there and let it run for awhile. Or water until it starts to puddle, let it soak in and then do that two more times. If you are shallow watering daily, you have made the problem worse, because that encourages the growth of lots of surface roots, which then are very prone to drying out. If you are deep watering daily, then you over-watered.
Without the pics, it's a little hard to say. I doubt it has to do with the stain, which would only affect the particular leaves it was dripped on, but shouldn't affect the whole plant, unless the plant got pretty covered in it.
It has been very stressful weather, but watering daily sounds like it could be too much, depending on how you water. It also makes a difference if your hydrangeas are full size and well established (vs. new young plantings). Well established shrubs should be watered as deeply as you can, once a week or so. That means put the hose there and let it run for awhile. Or water until it starts to puddle, let it soak in and then do that two more times. If you are shallow watering daily, you have made the problem worse, because that encourages the growth of lots of surface roots, which then are very prone to drying out. If you are deep watering daily, then you over-watered.
Hi Rainbowgardener,
Thank you so much for your insight. I have attached pictures below of the two plants. I think it might have been my mistake of shallow watering too often as I typically don't hover over the plants for long watering them, rather I walk up and down the flower beds (there are lillies in between the two hydrangea in a seperate bed.... ) watering for about a minute or two. Can you suggest any tips on how to revive them? Is it too late at this point?
Many thanks!
[img]https://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac335/Jzori/photo-1.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac335/Jzori/photo.jpg[/img]
Thank you so much for your insight. I have attached pictures below of the two plants. I think it might have been my mistake of shallow watering too often as I typically don't hover over the plants for long watering them, rather I walk up and down the flower beds (there are lillies in between the two hydrangea in a seperate bed.... ) watering for about a minute or two. Can you suggest any tips on how to revive them? Is it too late at this point?
Many thanks!
[img]https://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac335/Jzori/photo-1.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac335/Jzori/photo.jpg[/img]
Additionally...as I mentioned, I'm very new to this. We came from a townhouse where I only had bushes to worry about and into this new home with a well established garden. So I have been only watering with a spray hose and no additional plant food. I just bought the Miracle Gro hose attachment to see if that helps revive the plants.
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
They don't look as bad as I was expecting from your description. Maybe not as full and lush as they were, but it has been a really tough summer. As near as I can tell from the pictures, most of what is brown is the flowers. That is their natural life cycle, the flowers bloom and then dry out and turn brown. You can cut the flowers off or you can leave them. They will hang on all winter. Some people like them for winter interest in the garden, when there's not much else going on:
[img]https://www.robsplants.com/images/portrait/HydrangeaLimelight101225d.jpg[/img]
But yeah, sprinkling your plants doesn't get it! You want to be watering the roots not the leaves and almost everything benefits from deeper watering less often.
No, while plants are stressed is not a good time to fertilize them. And you do not want to fertilize hydrangeas too late in the season. They can put out a flush of tender new growth in response to the fertilizer, which then is very vulnerable to winter kill. So at this point, I would probably just weed it out real well, cut down the competition, water deeply then mulch well and then just leave them be (except for watering as needed) until spring.
[img]https://www.robsplants.com/images/portrait/HydrangeaLimelight101225d.jpg[/img]
But yeah, sprinkling your plants doesn't get it! You want to be watering the roots not the leaves and almost everything benefits from deeper watering less often.
No, while plants are stressed is not a good time to fertilize them. And you do not want to fertilize hydrangeas too late in the season. They can put out a flush of tender new growth in response to the fertilizer, which then is very vulnerable to winter kill. So at this point, I would probably just weed it out real well, cut down the competition, water deeply then mulch well and then just leave them be (except for watering as needed) until spring.
Thank you so very much again for your help! Just one last question if you can. Should I just cut the flower right at it's base or lower? I'd love to see them flourish again next season, but want to make sure I do this properly! Yes, I suppose they aren't as bad as I thought. The leaves are still green and alive, but since the flowers have been so brown and wilted for so long, I all but assumed they were dying. I've heard of the flowers drying out as fall/winter sets in, but it being July when they began to fall, it made me nervous!
Thanks again for all your help!
Thanks again for all your help!
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
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- Location: TN/GA 7b
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luis_pr
- Greener Thumb
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- Location: Hurst, TX USA Zone 7b/8a
Hydrangea blooms undergo a series of color changes that vary based on the variety. The last stage is when the blooms brown out. If you knew ahead of time the progression of color changes and you notice that the blooms turned brown before their time, that would be indicative of soil moisture problems. For example, if the blooms were blue and then turned reddish/ark pink, then green, then sandy then brown and your blooms this year went from blue to brown, that woiuld indicate that the shrub experienced lack of water and that it then aborted the blooms. Once they reach this brown color, you can either leave them out there (they fall off on their own by or after February) or you can deadhead them by cutting the strand that connects the bloom to the stem.