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Hydrangeas suddenly dying

junius721892671junius721892671 Posts: 2
in Problem solving
Hi, most of my hydrangeas suddenly started turning black at the new growth, and wilting, curling below. I've never seen this before and it's affecting several plants, as far as 20 metres apart. I'm hoping one of you can help me figure out what's happening so I can try to save them.
The only thing I can think of being a factor is that I was working on the lawn sprinklers a couple days ago and the plants may have gotten a little bit of extra water while I was adjusting the heads but can't imagine it was more than a few mm. It has been a pretty windy season here for the past few weeks but don't think anything too out of the ordinary.
Hope someone can help.
Many thanks.

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited October 2023
    Hi @junius721892671  and welcome to the forum 😊 

    I assume your garden is not in the UK  … it would help us to know whereabouts it is and what recent weather conditions have been like. 

    I’ve never heard of hydrangea being damaged simply by too much water … it’s usually a lack of water that does the damage. 

    Have any lawn treatments , weedkillers or pesticides been used in the area recently? 



    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • junius721892671junius721892671 Posts: 2
    Hi, thanks for the kind welcome.
    I'm in Christchurch, New Zealand, where it's middle of spring (I guess, sometimes hard to tell with the crazy swings).
    I just got off the phone with the local garden centre and they suggested that what I'm seeing is on account of a frost we had a couple nights ago.
    Went out to check on some of the other plants after and the fig tree is looking pretty sad as well, so the frost seems to make sense.
    Please send me your thoughts.
    Cheers.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    My first thought was also frost … I think the garden centre is right. A shame but at least it’s not fatal. 😊 



    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I agree. It won't be a problem though - that dead material will drop and new growth will come through. It's quite common, especially if they come into growth early, or have been more protected and are a bit softer. They're tough, so they should be fine, and they look nice and healthy apart from that   :)

    Mine all have some frosted top growth which is effectively the same, although at the other end of the season. They wouldn't normally still have so much softer foliage by this time of year, so it wouldn't tend to be noticeable when a frost arrives, but it's been so mild that the foliage is still on them, then we had a few frosts which affected that very top level.
    Those odd periods of weather we all seem to be experiencing - regardless of where we are.  :)

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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