My poor hydrangea... what’s gone wrong?

[Freaking0ut]

I planted this hydrangea last year. It’s one of those which has very big, delicate white flower heads. It is quite delicate but seemed to have come through a pretty wild Welsh winter ok. As Spring came it was growing new leaves and looked lovely. Then we had a big storm a few weeks ago and this is what it looks like
I don’t know what’s wrong. Has the storm killed it? Should I cut it back? Any help appreciated!

Was it winter hardy? Maybe the frost got it?

www.hunker.com/12001412/how-to-save-dying-hydrangeas

Any of these apply? I am a novice but live hydrangeas...

I think it was winter Hardy, it was a reasonably good size when I bought it. It flowered beautifully last summer.

Maybe it has root rot? Literally the day after the storm its leaves were like that and they haven’t recovered. It did get blasted by the wind

Don't despair! A combination probably of cold winds and late frosts have scorched the leaves a little and made it look sad. If you leave it to its own devices it will almost certainly shed the wind burned leaves and put on new growth and be as good as new in a few weeks - especially if you give it a feed with a fertilizer compounded for use on acid loving plants. Good luck.

It's not clear in the pic on my phone but it looks like there's some healthy green shoots from the base? If so, I would cut back the woody dying ones near the base and leave the green ones to grow.

Are you able to repot it? I would try that. Remove all dead leaves and try reporting with well draining soil and leave in the shade away from wind. See what happens?

universal well spotted! it does have some new growth at the base, though when I looked this evening the leaves seem to have been nibbled by something!

harajukubabe thank you for your advice I don’t think I can repot as it’s planted in a flower bed and I’d be worried about disturbing the roots if I dig it up. I do have a lovely big pot I could put it in though. Do you think digging it up would make things worse?

beekeeper Thankyou! I will try and pick up some feed for it this week. I so hope it can be saved, it was so beautiful and shaping up nicely for this year.

It sounds as though the storm has shocked it, as it was probably expecting lovely warm spring weather.
Am I right in thinking there is new growth appearing from the base of the plant? If so, I would leave it exactly as it is, don't cut it back until new flower heads begin to form.
Mine went through a similar thing a few weeks ago - here in the frozen north. The leaves that had already appeared went brown and crispy on the edges, and the entire plant looked rather queasy.
Fast forward to now, and there are now new lovely green leaves forming in their place, and also new shoots appearing from the base.

Keep watering it and keep an eye on it, and it will hopefully pull through.

I agree with what everyone else is saying. But I see no harm in repotting it in the large pot u mention. U will be able to see the roots and ascertain if root rot is what's caused it.

I think u can grow a plant from a cutting of hydrengea so repotting shouldn't harm it. Worst case nothing will change, it's not the roots, best case you have helped if it is the roots

I think it will be fine. Cut back all the long old stems and it will refresh itself from the base.

I'd leave it where it is, and don't feed it just yet. It has already suffered a setback, and it isn't going to react well to having its roots messed with too. It needs all the roots it can muster to rebuild the top.

Cut back the obviously dead stems, and wait a few more weeks before feeding it once it has put on some strong new growth - it will then be able to cope with fertiliser.

I'm no expert but have a couple and one got blasted a couple of years ago. I thought the cold and wind had killed it but left it alone and it is now a picture of health. So I'd bide your time (and I wouldn't move it).

This is interesting as I’ve just planted 2 in my front garden. They appeared to be doing really well at first and now have limp leaves and look as if they are dying. I assumed I had damaged the root ball when I planted but was unsure how they had survived the first few weeks and how I had been so inept as to damage both. Maybe I’ll leave then and see what happens.

I would cut back the dead stems, to below any damage and give it all a mulch with some compost. It should be fine. They can take fairly hard pruning.

This happens to mine every year. I get all excited, there's fantastic growth and I think 'yes this is the year I get a great display' and then we get a cold night and it gets knocked back. I just trim it back and it recovers but I wish I could remember to move it into the greenhouse until late May....