I have two potted hydrangea in my yard, a Nikko Blue and an Annabelle Arborescens. As always, the Nikko is taking off...has leaves all over the place.

The Annabelle...this is probably it's 3rd Spring and I've had no problems up until now. I have never done any pruning on this plant thus far, except of a broken branch here and there.

About a week ago when I was watering all my plants, I noticed the Annebelle didn't have as many leaves as the Nikko, and that some Annabelle stems were completely bare of leaves. The stems that did have leaves...the leaves were all limp and starting to turn brown. I then also saw that the water in the Annabelle was not draining. I checked the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot and saw a huge knot of roots. Once I cleared that it drained just fine.

I suspect that with all the rain we had in the weeks prior, that perhaps this plant was holding too much water and that it was never able to drain. Perhaps this in turn caused the plant to not look so good.

Anyway, the plant is no longer water logged, yet it does not seem to be improving as I hoped. It essentially looks the same. I DID check a stem where there is no growth, and the inside of the stem IS green.

So.....should I do some corrective pruning? If so, what should I do? Normally with most plants I go with my gut, shaping it as I see fit, making a cut 1/4" just above another set of leaves/stems. But I seem to recall that with hydrangeas the pruning is a bit more specific. I also know that growth comes from old wood. I do not seem to have any new wood on this shrub, save for the few new leaves I have.

Any tips?

Thanks!

Pic can be found in link below.....