Help!

[lighteningmcqueens]

Can anyone tell me what's wrong with my hydrangeas please?!

I'm a total gardening novice but planted these a few months ago and I've just noticed the leaves look like they have fungus on. Should I cut them off or just admit defeat!?

Will try to attach a photo

Well you're lucky I haven't had any flowers this year! Yes it looks like mould, maybe the rain and the warmth was too much for it. Just remove the leaves and don't compost them. Trim the whole plant back and mulch for the winter.

Thank you! Do you mean dead head them?

Well I'd cut the lot down (including the flowers) because of the mould. It'll come back next year. Maybe change it's position? Is it near a fence? or wall?

It's a bit early to cut them back. You need to wait for next year's buds to appear, and then cut just above them on each stem. You can remove the leaves with mildew, but I wouldn't cut the stems back just yet.

It actually looks like mildew. It happens when the leaves get wet and the roots don’t get enough water, especially in the first year after planting. I would just strip off the affected leaves.

Yes, leave the flower heads on and, if you wish, pinch off the leaves with mildew. In my experience it won't make a lot of difference if you leave them on, so nowadays I make decisions based on how much photosynthesis I think the leaf is doing as to whether the plant's better with it on or off. And aesthetics too, of course.

Mildew spores are everywhere so if conditions are right you will get it.

I have a dahlia that has been badly affected in the same way. I have just cut off the worst affected leaves. There is not much you can do about it as they are air born spores. The wisdom is to keep lots of ventilation around the plant. That said, my dahlias tucked in a corner are fine and the one in the open has the mould. Like a lot of gardening, it is just down to luck. It won’t damage the plant.

Don’t cut back. The leaves will fall off naturally at the first frost. Remove them from the soil.
Leave the flower heads over the winter, they protect the new shoots from frost. New flowering shoots are formed on the stems, so next March/ April you should see pairs of shoots on each stem. Then prune the stem down to the first pair of shoots from the top.

Try spraying with a 60:40 milk:water mixture. You'll have to keep reapplying every time it rains though... When it's dry, once a week should be enough. It's good as a preventative measure on plants that are prone to mildew too. You can buy fungicides too but personally I prefer to avoid spraying chemicals everywhere.

.......I prefer to avoid spraying chemicals everywhere

yes yes yes.