Has this hydrangea had it?

[Spectacles22]

Hello,

I am a gardening novice and bought a few of these hydrangeas for £10 each thinking they would look fine by Spring time but am now doubting myself.

I planted them on Sunday so before that they were in their pots. I think the yellow leaves are caused by iron deficiency (?) so have bought some sequestered iron to deal with that.

But they are also very leggy which I hadn't really noticed and now I'm wondering if this will fill out come spring time or will they always be quite leggy? They need to cover an ugly fence so I do need them to be full bushes. Is it worth persevering with them or scrapping and buying some new ones?

Thanks for any advice!

That looked dead to me sorry @Spectacles22

My potted hydrangea looks exactly like that at this time every year and it’s 4 years old. The leaves are about to fall off and the flower heads are dead. I was always told to leave it alone until after the first frost then dead head it as the old flower heads protect the new growth.
Very happy to be told otherwise though.

I’m not so sure it’s dead. Hydrangeas have had a hard time this summer, as it’s been so hot and dry. I’d reserve judgement until the spring.

Isn't it just yellowing/loosing leaves now due to the time of year? Have you tried scratching the bark to see if it is still green underneath?

I would leave it for now and see if it perks up in the Spring.

Oh I would definitely give them a chance,
sometimes they can go a whole year without flowering. Keep feeding them and caring for them and they might pick up.

No, it's fine.

Hydrangeas are deciduous, which means their leaves do turn colour and drop off.

They don't look especially leggy to me, but if you wanted to, or if you are in an exposed area and you're worried about wind rock, you could cut them in half.

(And don't feed it now. It's about to go dormant. If you feed it, it may put on a lovely spurt of growth just in time to get frosted. Just let it settle in until next year.)

It’s probably fine. My potted one has started to lose leaves and become looking leggy now it’s winter. Just leave it until early spring and there should be buds on it. You can then prune and it will become full and hopefully have flowers.

IME most hydrangeas are bombproof, but they might make you doubt them for a year or two.

It's just dropping its leaves which all of mine are in the process of doing because it's autumn. They are pretty hardy and should come back next year. If you think it's a bit leggy you can give it a prune back to the leaf bud behind the flower.

They're fine, absolutely not dead - let them go dormant. Don't water them unless the pot is bone dry. Cut the down a little bit. Next spring they will bud and leaf again, then you water them, feed them and wait for the lovely flowers. When they're in active growth don't let them dry out too much.

They look fine for autumn. They will be stick plants during winter.

In early spring they will start to bud. Look for a plump pair of buds, a third or halfway down the branch, and prune to just above those buds. If there are no pairs, choose the plumpest single bud. Fertilise well at that time.

Good luck!

Just leave them as they are until spring. Then you'll be able to see where the regrowth comes from, and it will save you needlessly pruning out bits of plant that are still alive. The parts that have died back will help protect the living plant underneath over winter. Hopefully it will be establishing its roots and look a lot better next year.
Then you can get on the RHS website for pruning instructions.
(It's not tricky, you just need to cut immediately above a leaf node.)

It’s called Autumn

Thanks all for the advice. I will relax until the Spring then - phew!