Hydrangeas: Hydrangeas planted too deeply, 1 by jablum

jablum wrote:
Sorry for the delay in responding. The plants are in good health. I don't recall how deeply I planted them. Planting at surface level is not obvious to a beginning gardener so I may have planted them 1"-2" deep. I've attached a photo of where the stems meet the earth for a plant, which produced no blooms.

The only pruning I've done would have been in April-May this year. I believe I pruned a tiny amount of the old wood, which hadn't generated new growth and didn't give me reason to believe it would.

I don't recall when I last fertilized them in 2008, but it could have been in August or even September. I don't believe I fertilized them after July this year.

I didn't cover them last winter. I learned too late that there's an absence of covering/insulating products on the market. I gave up my frustrated search and threw caution to the wind (pun intended)!

I read today in a planting guide where mulch should not touch the plants. What are the consequences of letting mulch touch the plants? Once again, this is not obvious to a beginning gardener.

Thanks for your insight.