Hydrangea not doing well - Ask Extension
I planted this hydrangea last fall, and noticed through the spring that the leaves were very small. Now it looks like It may be dying. I have been wat...
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Hydrangea not doing well #878102
Asked July 21, 2024, 11:21 AM EDT
I planted this hydrangea last fall, and noticed through the spring that the leaves were very small. Now it looks like It may be dying. I have been watering regularly through the extreme heat we’ve been having. Is there anything I can do to try and revive it?
Montgomery County Maryland
Expert Response
The leaves we can see look normal-sized, and the flowers actually look very good.
Are the brown, dead flower heads from this season or last?
Your hydrangea looks like a panicle-type. If that is correct, it would be normal for those spent flowers from the year before to look like that, and the shrub is pruned back in spring as new flowers are produced on new wood made during the current growing season.
Here is our page on Hydrangea where you can learn more about the type that you have:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/hydrangea-identify-and-manage-problems/
You are doing heroic duty keeping the plant watered as most of central Maryland is now within pretty intense drought conditions, which you can see here:
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?MD
Make sure that your mulch is no more than 3" deep and keep it pulled back from the stems/trunks/crowns of plants.
Here is our watering information as well:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/watering-trees-and-shrubs/
Christine
Are the brown, dead flower heads from this season or last?
Your hydrangea looks like a panicle-type. If that is correct, it would be normal for those spent flowers from the year before to look like that, and the shrub is pruned back in spring as new flowers are produced on new wood made during the current growing season.
Here is our page on Hydrangea where you can learn more about the type that you have:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/hydrangea-identify-and-manage-problems/
You are doing heroic duty keeping the plant watered as most of central Maryland is now within pretty intense drought conditions, which you can see here:
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?MD
Make sure that your mulch is no more than 3" deep and keep it pulled back from the stems/trunks/crowns of plants.
Here is our watering information as well:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/watering-trees-and-shrubs/
Christine
