Noticed a couple dead limbs on my var. hydrangea last week but thought nothing of it since we've had some storms the passed month and I thought they might have been damaged by falling tree limbs but yesterday I noticed a couple more dying limbs on the bottom of the plant. What's happening?
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Dead limbs
bigred, none of us are responding because we don't have a clue. I've seen your posts before, so I know you know hydrangeas. I would just cut the dead wood back to the ground, water it and care for it like I do my other hydrangeas. I guess it's in a place where hydrangeas like to be - at least high shade, no afternoon sun, adequate watering and minimal fertilizer.
this hydrangea(variegated leaf) has been in the same location for a number of years so it's not location nor water since it's next to the a/c,plus I water when we haven't had any rain. My hydrangeas (and other folks in this area I've talked to) have been doing poorly and all we can figure is we had a mild dry winter last year.
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You've given me an opportunity to address my favorite issue - minimal rainfall in the late summer and fall in the south. I've read much about it and I experience it virtually every year here in central Alabama. I'm convinced that most people lose more plants from failing to water in the late summer and fall (because they are tired of gardening and SEC football is goin' strong) than for any other reason. I see it year in and year out. I speak to gardening groups (I'm no expert - just concerned) and this is always a part of what I talk about. I don't know that it is a part of your problem, but it may well be. Well, that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. Good Gardening!
Well, that was a dumb response - you said it wasn't water. Sorry, I'm just fixated on the failure of many of us to give the plants the deep, soaking water they need in late summer and fall. Our winters are generally mild, but until the first of the year, we don't get the long, soaking rains. I'll try to do better next time.:))
maybe my fault still, I generally don't water much in the winter and since we didn't have much of a winter and barely any rain...there ya go*S*
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