i wonder if anyone has ever recommended doing root surgery when the tree is leafless or dormant ... hmmmmm ... how many other roots were there.. how big is the tree ... i am no fan of the tap root being requisite .... if it could be cut to the first bend ... it wouldnt bother me.. if there were many others left ... especially of the plant was 4 feet or so ... it is.. IMHO.. just another root.. there is nothing magical about it ... pic below ... if i can do this to a 6 to 8 foot tree.. i dont see why you cant do the same .. obviously.. i slaughtered the tap root ken

If you understand the issues around fresh chips, then you can work around it. Fresh chips try to decompose. When piled up, that facilitates the process and the pile heats up. The process requires nitrogen to work, stealing it from nearby areas if necessary. You can minimize problems with using fresh chips by 1)spreading them thinly (no more than one inch or so), 2) sprinkling a little extra fertilizer with nitrogen (10-10-10 is ok) in the area so that any decomposition doesn't rob your plants of the nitrogen that they need. Otherwise, if you need to use it thickly, then I'd let it season until spring. And watch it steam most of the winter!

I have never pruned off blooms from any of my hydrangeas on their first year to "help them", especially what appear to be several years old and almost mature specimens like yours. But, they are your shrubs and you certainly can do that. I would only try that with cuttings that are very young, which are tiny and have just one stem. Do be aware of a few things... if your shrubs are of a re-bloomer variety, they may decide to produce new flower buds/blooms. You will then have new blooms in 1-2 months. This type of hydrangea will produce Spring 2017 flower buds around July here in Texas so, any pruning done after June might end up cutting off the Spring blooms you might expect to see in April-May. So be careful with any pruning done to the end of the stems after June. Wilting is just something normal they go thru at first and when the weather gets hot. If this variety is not a rebloomer then this variety produces flower buds once, after June, and pruning in July would mean no flowers in all of 2017.

Only prune dead, broken or damaged branches on a newly planted tree. That new tree needs every leaf it can muster to photosynthesize to make food for it's roots. And making roots will be the main project that tree will be doing for this season and beginning of the next. You'll get more robust growth next season by doing that. Then, after the tree is established in a couple of season or so, you can begin pruning. Even then you should only remove 25% of the total crown each season.