It may need some water or the cold weather (32 or less) may finally be getting to the leaves. I do not see any mulch around the base so the soil may dry out fast if sandy and-or if windy. I recently had to water mine because they are in a protected location and sometimes light rain does not reach them well. But the lack of mulch and your well draining sandy soil would allow the soil to dry fast so check first if this is going on by inserting a finger into the soil to a depth of 4" to see if it feels dry, moist or wet. January is also the coldest month in your area so this could also affect the leaves and finally make them dry out although my aunt in Ocala sometimes reported this as late as February. Scheduled temps in the 20s will "help" dry the leaves out so keep the soil moist the night prior to cold temp dips. Water once a week or once every two weeks in the winter if winter is dry.

When it comes to the Hydrangea paniculata, don't over complicate things by worrying about pruning. With all the breeding work that has been done in the last decade or two pick the variety that fits the space and assume everything will get a little bigger than the tag says. These are really no brainer plants. These are my observations with many varieties in my location (MN). If the spent flowers bother you, prune them off late fall through early spring. Get out the shears and do it. No need to fuss with hand pruners and each individual flower. Otherwise the plant will grow over them. Also, it seems like the the more lace cap type flowers tend to break off over the winter. Pruning them back will not significantly reduce their size in a given season once established. I've seen hard pruned plants grow taller than the unpruned specimen of the same variety. Right plant, right place. Hard pruning seems to create a later and more uneven bloom cycle on the plant. I prefer the plant blooming consistently around the whole plant so don't prune or just lightly. I haven't seen a consistent result of pruning and flop prevention. I think age structure are more important. Certain varieties with big, full flowers are more prone to flop with the right weather event. And with some of the new breeding in Hydrangea arborescens those of us in cold zones that don't want to deal with Hydrangea macrophylla even variation in sizes, colors, shapes and timing. Just no blues.

its not a fert issue ... i never fert plants even in my sand... they are plants.. not children ... take a hand trowel.. and dig some random 3 to 6 inch holes around the beds.. AND FIND OUT ABOUT WATER Drainage ... at least that way.. we will have some facts to talk about ... you might also want to have a soil test done.. welcome to the forums.. in EVERY post.. tell us where you are.. big city name ... there are many ways to fix a drainage problem.. but amending a planting hole is not one of them ... do a perk test or 3 and report back https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=garden+perk+test&iax=videos&ia=videos why in the world did this alleged landscaper dig out all your soil??? .. maybe he needed it for someone elses project??? ken

i cant make much out of the first pic ... regardless.. the bottom line is that with no insult to the root mass .. there is no reason it wont rebud and do well next year ... too many peeps top their plants .. or overshear them.. with little or no long term issues ... in this case.. god took care of it for you .... so be it ... buy yourself a good pair of pruning shears.. if you dont have any.. as it might take you a few years to prune it back into a nice shape ... i suspect this thing might go a bit bat s crazy this year.. and you will want to reduce some if not many new branches towards training it into its new form ... dont worry about it . if you already have the hand shears... trim up all the wicked wounds ... cutting just below a spot where a bid will trigger next season ... imo.. wounds are ALWAYS removed on shrubs .... if possible to do it without killing the thing ... imo.. it will be fine next year ... ken ps: im surprised how fast the snow reduced down to what we see in the pic ...