Hydrangea that hasn't grown in 2 years

drew.rycroft

Hi All.

Have a Hydrangea at home which has been planted in the ground for 2 years and it has never grown any bigger than the size it was in the pot we originally bought it in. 

What would I need to do to let it reach its full potential? 

 

Dovefromabove

It looks very stressed. Is it in a sunny spot. The combination of lack of water and bright sunshine will cause a problem. Hydrangeas need a lot of water ... they’re very thirsty plants ...they can cope with bright sun if they get plenty of water.

 I would give it a bucket full of water three times a week for the next few weeks and see if that perks it up. 

Omori

Soil looks very dry and on the poor side, I would water deeply/regularly, and add a top dressing of some nice organic material/compost etc.  

Fairygirl

I'd agree - and the surrounding ground needs some attention. All those weeds need removing, and the ground beefed up, as Omori says.
They can be slow to get going if they don't have the right conditions, but a bit of tlc and it might be ok.
Was it thoroughly soaked before planting, and not pot bound? These plants are often forced into flower early in the year for sale, usually for Easter, and they can be a bit restricted in their pots. The roots may have simply been going round in circles all that time if not teased out a little first. 

Lyn

I agree with Fairygirl, take it out of the ground and pull the roots apart, I would say that’s the problem. Roots go nowhere if you don’t untangle and spread out. 

JennyJ

And mix some moisture-retentive organic matter into the soil when you replant it (compost-bin compost, or bagged well-rotted manure or similar should do it), as well as a mulch after a good watering-in.

drew.rycroft

Thanks for the advice. Will definitely look at replanting and checking the roots. 

Will a John innes based compost help the ground? 

With the mulch will barkwood chip mulch work and will it be effective for supressing the weeds? 

Also with the weeds what is the best way to eliminate Oxalis?  

Have been digging them up and using a hoe but they seem to constantly come back

Relatively new to gardening so any advice is appreciated. 

ladygardener2

Oxalis can be difficult to remove and you might need to dig down deep to get all the little bulbetts. (sp) I agree with the others about your Hydrangea, it's a beautiful plant and should do very well given the right conditions.
Barkwood chip mulch will work fine so long as you have it deep enough but remove as much as you can of all the weeds first.
John Innis based compost will do grand. Good luck.

Fairygirl

Oxalis is quite hard to get rid of, so you'll have to be vigilant if you don't want to use a chemical solution.
Bark is an excellent mulch, and will also gradually break down adding to the general health of the soil. 
To be honest, any decent compost will help the soil structure, and you can also use well rotted manure to improve it [I think @JennyJ already suggested that]
Over time, the regular addition of these will boost the health of your soil anyway. Just make sure when you add anything, that you leave the main crown, or stem, of plants clear, so that you're not burying them