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Can this hydrangea be saved?
Bob45
Posts: 4
Hi all,
Long time lurker but first time posting. Today I was given a possibly dying hydrangea to see if I could save it (and to keep if I can). I'm on a real budget here so ideally I don't want to spend a lot, but I'd love to save this beautiful plant.
Should I cut off the dead flowers? Is there a trick to doing that? I'm an absolute novice, so please explain like I'm 5 
Ive read that brown leaves are indicative of too little water, so ive watered it today; should it be watered daily?
Thanks all!
Edit
Can't figure out how to upload a photo from my phone to this post so please see below for a photo of the plant:
Last edited: 24 August 2016 19:21:05
0
Posts
Hi Verdun, thanks for your reply! Ive updated the OP with a link to the photo, having a couple of technical issues haha
Figured it out I think!
I should say, most of the stems are held up by sticks or else they'd flop over the side
Last edited: 24 August 2016 22:12:59
It looks as if the pot it is in is far too small. I would tip it out and see what state the roots are in, trim any grotty ones an put it in a proper sized pot. Then take all the flowers off for this season. If you cut off the dead heads it might not lose quite so much water and look a bit less stressed.
To me it needs a bit of over winter protection from any extremes of weather and I would not worry too much about protecting next years flower buds if it stops the whole the whole plant from dying.
'You must have some bread with it me duck!'
That needs a bigger pot, or better still, plant it in the ground in a semi-shaded spot.
Dont take the flowers off. They're needed to protect the next flower buds. Remove them in the spring when the buds begin to break.
Once it's been repotted or planted out it won't need any cosseting. Hydrangeas are perfectly hardy.
Last edited: 24 August 2016 23:03:34
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I have another hydrangea planted in a spot which it seems to be doing ok in, how far apart should I plant this from it? Also the one already planted seems to have one or two little caterpillar holes, ideally I don't want to kill them since we have few enough butterflies, but will I need to for the sake of the hydrangea?