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Hydrangeas losing their leaves

alisoustonsalisoustons Posts: 10
in Problem solving
Hello everyone,  I hope someone can help me.  For the last two years my hydrangeas have lost all their leaves early in the season, and the flowers have turned brown and shrivelled up (I am in France).  Not the mop head ones, just the macrophylla (I think that’s what they are called).  I noticed today that the same thing is happening, the leaves are dying.  Does anyone know what is wrong?
I would be incredibly grateful for advice.
Thanks,
Ally

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    The most likely reason is thirst.

    Whereabouts are you, where are they planted, what kind of soil do you have?
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I agree - a lack of water is the most likely reason
    Hydrangea is Latin and translates (roughly) to Water Pitcher indicating their need for water.
    Depending on where you are in France, could they be getting too much sun?
    The fading on the leaves could be caused by scorch - they are plants most happy in dappled shade.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • alisoustonsalisoustons Posts: 10
    Hi, thanks both of you for answering.   I don’t think it’s the heat, although it is baking here at the moment.  They are over 25 years old and it’s only the last two years that they’ve lost their leaves.  I now think they have powdery mildew, which overwinters in the ground.  They are in a row of hydrangeas, mophead and lace cap, and it’s only the lacecaps which are affected.
    The soil is poor, sandy, we are on the Atlantic coast, down South.
    Very interesting about hydrangea meaning water pitcher in Latin!
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @alisoustons Hydra is the clue lots of water. The only other thought might be dry air temperatures.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Go to your nearest good GC and get some purin of prêle and follow the instructions to use it as a spray against mildew and other fungal problems.

    I am further up on the Atlantic coast and have two inherited mopheads growing against the north facing wall of a ruin.  They were in a sorry state and have been watered, fed, mulched and pruned to reinvigorate them and improve airflow and are now very bonny.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Powdery mildew spores are everywhere, all the time.
    It's only when the conditions are right that it can become a problem.
    The right conditions for mildew is a plant that is stressed through lack of water.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • alisoustonsalisoustons Posts: 10
    I read that mildew appears when days are hot and nights cool.  Àll my tomato plants were wiped out last year and the year before.  I was watering them, but I think they were too close together.  I didn’t know that the spores were omnipresent, interesting.
    I will get the purin de prêle this afternoon, thanks very much Obelixx.
    I’ve cut out loads of branches to increase air circulation, they don’t look great today!
    Thanks to everyone for replying
    Allie
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