Newly Transplanted Hydrangeas--Are they dead?
davidsonj33
Posts: 1
I purchased two hydrangeas about month ago. I thought I had done a good job of digging a big enough hole, adding organic compost soil and watering it well after planting. They are both planted up next to my house and there is a slight roof overhang above. They both get full sun but the roof does shield them from rain. After a recent rain storm, I noticed exactly half of each of the plants and surrounding soil was exposed to the rain, but the other half was shielded. When I planted, the one on the right had great big, purple flowers on it. Now they look Both look brown and wilted and I fear there may be irreparable damage. Stems in the middle already look brown. Is there any hope to salvaging these? I'm a very new, inexperienced gardener and I may have the worst luck when it comes to planting new flowers. Any help is greatly appreciated !
Posts
Hi davidsonj. Your plants are going to need a great deal of water until they have settled into their new home. Did you plant them so that the top of the soil at ground level was the same as the top of the soil around the rootball? If they were planted a bit too deeply then gently scrape away any soil that is in excess. Hydrangeas are fairly robust plants so I don't think all is lost. The plant in the second picture looks rather more poorly than the other and some of this may be due to the plant sacrificing its flowers to get its roots established into the new surrounding soil. Snip off the dead flower heads and water well even if it rains. Fingers crossed
You might want to think about re- siting them too (although wait and see if they recover first). Hydrangeas like a lot of water, so they will never be happy in the rainshadow of a roof unless you spend a lot of time watering them. Have you anywhere else they could go?
A combination of house protection with full sun isn't ideal for hydrangeas. Shade and water is their preferred location. If you keep them there, you'll have to work very hard at improving conditions for them. Loads of water and a mulch might help. They can cope with sun if they have moisture retaining soil.
Good luck with them. Don't give up just yet. They're newly planted so would be easy to move.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...