Hydrangea - Problem?

jamesandpaul54

Hi,
I have a well established Hydrangea in a container which is now sprouting new growth as you would expect at this time of year.
Most of the new growth is looking really good and bursting into lovely succulent baby leaves but some of the budding new leaf is drying up as it begins to unfurl.  This only occurs on some of the extremities of the plant as growth lower down on the same stem continues to unfurl into lovely new leaves.
Are the drying buds affected by a disease ?  Should I remove these stems affected above good healthy growth ?  Will it correct itself or should I be treating it in some way?

James, East Molesey, Surrey.

yorkshirerose

It sounds as though the new young growth has been caught by frost or cold winds. The plant should recover, but it may be wise to give your plant some protection against low temperatures. Wrap some horticultural fleece around it when the weather is cold, or move your pot, if you can, to a cold greenhouse or somewhere sheltered.

Lyn

That does happen James, it’s very cold at nights, or in the early hours, if you leave it until the second or third week in April and just prune off those top buds, it will do the plant good and will flower on the rest of the growth. 

AnniD

I saw Monty pruning back his hydrangeas on GW as part of the "jobs to do this weekend" item. Couldn't help feeling it was still a bit early.

Johnnyp

Myself likewise AnniD ,I pruned my hydrangea s  last week and it's  back to frost morning's up here on the Morayshire coast , beautiful weather through the day though 😀 hopefully I haven't done any damage it's easy to forget we are still in march (just).

Lizzie27

I've pruned mine as well while I was in the mood. It's not the end of the road if the tips get caught by frost, just means you might have to do it again sometimes.