Well I stuck my finger down to about 3-4 inches and it was dry! Very surprised. We’ve had a lot of rain the past couple of weeks but then warm temps. So I watered. I’m learning that I still need to water despite the rains. The clay and the other amendment was very well mixed so I hope it avoids the bathtub fx. These hydrangeas changed from nice white blooms to a dirty pink. Looked good until about month ago. When will they go dormant? Thanks as usual.

Sounds like the soil drains well then. But remember that with newly planted hydrangeas, you need to provide them with evenly moist soil.

If the soil dries out, then you water, then the soil dries out again, etc, it may loose foliage, specially paniculatas at the bottom of the shrub. If the leaves start to brown out from the edges inwards, that is a sign that it is drying out too much. If the blooms go directly from white to brown, that is also another yellow/red flag. Also, keep them well mulched with 2-4" of organic mulch throughout the whole year to protect from temp extremes and so you do not have to water a lot due to soil moisture loss in the summer months. Test the soil daily for 2-3 weeks to see how many days (after you water) before you need to water again. When watering new hydrangeas by hand, never water the leaves and water the soil from the crown outwards in all directions (basically, cover the area of the plant's plastic pot). Its roots have not grown too much farther than that so it pays to get it wet where most of the roots are.

In its first year, it is hard to guess when it will go dormant as the wholesaler made it break dormancy early in order to produce blooms early as well (this is so the plant nursery could sell the hydrangeas with blooms open or about to open). It may go dormant earlier than in future years. But you should note things like all of the foliage browning when it shuts down, blooms also browning and the stems changing colors as they harden in preparation for dormancy and winter. Make a note in a wall calendar for reference in future years. Down here, they shut down between the end of November or the first half of December. Except for the ones that stay evergreen.

They go dormant here after frost, typically late October.

I'm just amazed at how quickly the ground dries out and we've had days of rain recently. I did add a layer of mulch from oak tree cuttings this summer. Don't know if that is a factor. The branches are looking really dry and dead. The blooms looked good for weeks before they went brown. Planted some irish moss beside the HY and they look good. I guess I'll pop one out of ground and take root pic for you all. I do keep diary but had not entered anything on them yet as they just went in this past spring.

thanks,

Al

Sandy soil drains very well and sometimes requires that (a) we add about 50% more water than "normal" and (b) add a layer of organic compost regularly... as sandy soil does not contain enough of some minerals/nutrients. Adding mulch can help with nutrition. Dead stems with no green leaves may or may not be dead. You can very lightly & carefully scratch to see if you "see" green". If not, you can cut them to the ground.

If the issue is that it is dry, I wouldn’t bother with disturbing it. Just check every few days to see how the soil feels several inches down and water accordingly. Once the leaves have fallen, far less water is needed and rain may be enough. After they are well settled in here, I don’t give mine supplemental water because they are well mulched and we have good rainfall amounts. These need less water than many shrubs once established, but until they are a few years old, you need to keep an eye on water. You may need to as well in summer in some areas, such as where Luis is, so I don’t know about where you are.