Saving elderly/neglected hydrangeas, advice needed.

10 years ago

My mom recently bought a one-owner house built in 1969. I've been getting the house ready for her to move into. Hacking away at the invasive honeysuckle in two locations I discovered hydrangeas.

One is in full sun planted in a bed of vinca (and giant honeysuckle) and looks awful--very thin stems, only about 6 of them, maybe five pale green/yellow leaves per stem and three flowers on the whole plant.

The other is in partial building shade and also was draped over by the honeysuckle. It also has very spindly stems, but lots and lots of them in a clump about two feet across.

I'm not a hydrangea expert but to me they look like my spindly and droopy Annabelles if the Annabelles had something wrong with them that made the leaves pale and yellow. They do not look they would every have thick juicy stems like my Nikko Blue or be vigorously upright like my mystery lacecaps.

I love hydrangeas and would like to save these grannies if possible. Other than giving extra water to the plant in full sun, so far I have done nothing. In terms of saving the plants (not worried about flowering for now, just health) should I:

Cut them back at all, and if so by how much?

Fertilize them, and if so, with what? (I put composted manure around my Annabelles at home, but they are not anything to brag about, so I'm not sure that is the route to go.)

Move the one that is in full sun to a shadier spot?

Shovel prune because they are 30 year old plants and will not rejuvenate?

Thanks in advance!

Featured Answer

hc mcdole

10 years ago

Take cuttings for some insurance - they propagate pretty easily. Depending on the location (too shady or sunny), it may be best to dig them up and put them in an appropriate sized pot in a semi-shady area until fall when you can decide where they are more likely to grow and thrive. Clearing out weeds will help a lot; providing temporary shade if too sunny or limbing up big trees if too shady should help as well. Watering on a regular basis and some kind of fertilizer will do wonders. Mulch is a good idea as well. If they are competing against big trees, I would dig them up - I dug up six last fall that had been struggling for a few years among big trees and they have doubled in size in large containers this summer. Pruning out dead wood and shaping for symmetry will always improve its looks and you can use the clippings to start new plants. Fun, fun!

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Comments (8)

NHBabs z4b-5a NH
10 years ago
I'd not dig them up for now until you see if giving them the good care outlined by hc McDowell above is enough to rejuvenate them. IME they are fairly resiliant.
maggiepatty thanked NHBabs z4b-5a NH
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maggiepatty
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Thank you. I went back over there today and felt more hopeful. We have had a lot of rain and I think the plant in full sun looks better already. I would never plant a hydrangea where it is situated so it makes sense to move it, but I'll wait until it's had a couple of months of care first, and it won't be so hot out then. I think the other one might be too big to move, but I'm less worried about it since it at least has shade part of the day.

hc mcdole, I have only tried to propagate hydrangeas from cuttings once. It was this year, and it was a total failure. They all dooped and/or rotted long before any roots could develop. :( Hopes dashed. I will try again, perhaps after asking in another thread what went wrong.
hc mcdole
10 years ago
There are lots of advice on this forum and about the web on propagating hydrangeas. Fairly easy but can be a little daunting at first.

Anyway - try, try again! If you can bend a stem down, nick it close to a node and put a rock or a pin over the wounded area to hold it in place (don't forget to keep it watered) on top of the ground, then it should root without much fanfare. Don't sever it too soon though - make sure it resists some tugging on it before cutting and digging up the rooted cutting. You can also place a pot with good potting soil under the wounded stem as well but a bit more precarious because you don't want the pot to tip over and spill out the contents.
maggiepatty thanked hc mcdole
maggiepatty
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks. I will try again. I have nine hydrangeas now but have room for about 20 more, so I am very interested in propagating!
mintcar123
10 years ago
maggiepatty, I've always propagated hydrangeas by cutting off a stem and putting it in a vase full of water. I leave it there for a month and the plant develops roots. Once the roots are 2-3 inches long, I plant it either in a pot or in the ground. I've also done the whole rooting hormone bit but that doesn't seem to work as well for me as propagating in water.
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mintcar123
10 years ago
Here is a pic of my cuttings. I have 3 or 4 in there. Ignore the dirty dishes, lol. No judgement!
maggiepatty thanked mintcar123
maggiepatty
Original Author
10 years ago
I appreciate it so much mintcar! I will start snipping tomorrow morning! I did the rooting hormone and putting them in pots of soil in the shade method. I think the soil was alternating between too dry and too wet--some wilted, some rotted. Some did both! I will gladly try vases of water instead!