Help save my oakleaf hydrangea!

6 years ago

Gardening newbie here, so please bear with me :) I planted this Gatsby Moon hydrangea in late summer of last year. It survived the winter...barely. Some branches died and only half of the plant seems to be leaving out properly—and some of those leaves are starting to turn a brownish color.

Here’s some more info:

NY Hudson Valley (zone 5b)
Shrub is planted on north side of my house, so it gets FULL sun. I was under the impression that would be appropriate since I’m in the low end of its hardiness range.
Soil is rocky and leans neutral-acidic, but I have not tested this specific spot. I have some Little Lime hydrangeas a few feet away that seem to be doing OK.
We did have two late freezes, after the hydrangea started leafing.

Any idea what might be happening here and how I can save this plant?

Featured Answer

luis_pr

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

The reddish tint in parts of the leaf in picture 3 suggests that the plant leafed out early and a late frost hit the plant. Some leaves got hit more than others but I would leave them unless the plant browns them out.

I could not tell if the two stems on the right of picture 1 have leaves. If they do not, try doing a scratch test very carefully near the base to see if there is "green" or not. If not, prune them down.

The location in full sun is not good in areas like mine, where the sun is harsh but it may work where the sun is weaker.

I do not see the leaves reacting to too much sun (the leaves in direct contact with the sun turn all yellow, including the leaf veins) but as temperatures get to 85F or higher, there may be some wilting of leaves and-or blooms. Typical of hydrangeas. If the soil is maintained as evenly moist as you can, the wilting will disappear overnight when the soil is moist enough. If you still see it wilted in the morning then the soil was not moist enough and thus, water it as soon as possible. Once established in 1-3 years, they are the most drought tolerant of the hydrangeas.

A check of your temps shows numbers above 85F so increase the amount of water to summer time levels from now until they recede in the Fall.

The first picture shows that the soil is not moist. To know when to water, insert a finger into the soil to a depth of 4" and water if the soil feels dry or almost dry. Try wateiing about 1 gallon per plant in Spring and increase it now that temps are warm/hot. If you watered enough, the soil should be moist down toa depth of about 8" so water the soil, wait a while and then insert a finger into the soil to a depth of 8" to see if the soil feels dry or not. Do this in several spots around the plant. Water from the root ball outwards and never water the leaves.

The plant will develop leaves when it so chooses to do that and will do it wherever it wants to do it so know comes the game of waiting to see what it does. You may have to wait until either temps cool down or Spring 2021 as I doubt the plant will stay in grow mode long enough if the temps are in the 90s over there. I would not worry though.

Feel free to provide additional shade to new plants if you want. I have had to use outdoor chairs on new plants in years1-2 before.

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Comments (8)

ulisdone
6 years ago
I’m just curious what your foundation planting is in the first picture?
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carrienations
Original Author
6 years ago
@ulisdone that is a variety of ferns, though I'm not sure of their specific names (they were there when we bought the house). There is also what I believe is bishop's weed mixed in :)
ulisdone
6 years ago
Ok, thanks. The ferns look great!
carrienations
Original Author
6 years ago
@luis_pr thank you so much for your advice. I started watering the hydrangea more, but unfortunately I think whatever damage it incurred with the late frost is done, at least for this season. The tiny leaves on the branch in pic 2 eventually shriveled up and fell off. The healthier-looking leaves in pic 1 and 2 turned darker and sort of shriveled as well. No more flowers emerged. However, I did a scratch test on all branches, and all were green. I guess I'll just wait and see what happens next spring!
luis_pr
6 years ago
I can relate to that. One of my mophead hydrangeas that was getting shade from a Crape Myrtle Tree got damaged by debris, hail, winds after a severe thunderstorm. Branches of the tree fell on top and it eventually lost all foliage. With temperatures in the 100s, it did not leaf out promptly afterwards and waited until Spring. Good thing that I kept the soil as evenly moist as possible until then! If yours does not leaf out by the end of May 2021 then I would consider it dead. Do not fertilize it but some liquid seaweed (a "weak" fertilizer with secondary nutrients) would be ok. Provide extra shade during the worst of the summer. Good luck.
Amy VanRoekel
6 years ago
Luis_pr,

I live in Colorado and you seem to have a lot of knowledge about hydrangeas, so if I have leaves that have wilted (very few), should I prune those?
luis_pr
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
No. They leaves wilt when temperatures reach/exceed 85F, when it is very windy, when the soil lacks enough moisture, when there is low humidity and-or any time when the leaves lose moisture faster than the roots can absorb more water. If the plant has enough moisture in the soil, the wilted leaves will perk up on their own at night and appear fine in the morning. If the leaves remain wilted in the morning (6-8am), give the soil some water then. While it is possible to give the plant twice a day waterings, this is something that requires very good draining soil as it otherwise risks making the soil wet for too long of time and this then leads to root rot. One of the symptoms for root rot is wilted leaves but in the case of root rot, the wilted leaves remain wilted always, 24/7, even after you water the soil. Pests like voles can also injure roots, which causes the leaves to appear wilted for prolonged times.

Since we are in the summer months, check to make sure that you are now watering more than you used to water back in the Spring. The roots are typically around the top 4" so:

* to see if they need water, insert a finger into the soil to a depth of 4" and water if the soil feels dry or almost dry.

* to see if you watered enough, water as usual, wait a while, insert a finger into several spots that were just watered. See if the soil feels dry or almost dry at a depth of 8". If yes, use more water.