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Perennials Minnesota Gardening Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas demolished by painters - what can I do?

last year

A huge source of joy for me the past 2 summers - I bought an older home Oct 2020 and was pleased to find great big hydrangea bushes lining the side of my home. I absolutely adore these plants and they have brought me so much joy. We had the home repainted and they finished today - I was completely horrified to find the painters have demolished my line of hydrangeas. I am so upset about it, but I know I should do whatever I can to ensure they come back full next year - I was even going to try to use them for my wedding next summer :(

Comments (11)

cecily 7A
last year
Hi Molly, where are you located? For my hydrangeas, it's the end of the season so I wouldn't trim or fertilize if that happened to mine, only water. And cry.
kitasei2
last year
Important to identify the type they are so you don’t inadvertently prune next year’s buds. In the mesntime live with the mess.
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Really old hydrangea, what do I need to do for it?
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The spent flowers could be deadheaded but it such a large specimen now that (a) it may take "forever" or (b) you may not be able to reach many of the top blooms. I would try to remove dead wood regularly but I would do this around the month of May when it is clear which parts are dry and which ones are just dormant. Opening some areas in the top so light can reach the bottom leaves is always useful too (or thin out the leaves a little). Besides this, you can just do the usual things. Apply 3-4" of mulch up to or beyond the drip line so the roots do not have to be watered often. Add a layer of fertilizer below the mulch using either cottonseed meal, compost or well composted manure. Maintain the soil evenly moist as best as you can. And in case this applies to your soil, amend the soil to acidify if you notice signs of iron chlorosis. This post was edited by luis_pr on Mon, Apr 1, 13 at 7:17
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New house with Hydrangea - What do I do with it?
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Hello, teresa. It sounds like you have a hydrangea macrophylla that blooms on old wood. The leaves in the cages are a form of winter protection for these hydrangeas and it should be discontinued once danger of frost has passed. Your local nursery can advice when the average is for your location (and when to put them back in fall). Because Mother Nature is in charge of the weather department, I suggest that you add two more weeks to the average. If at any time it looks as if you will be continuing to have an even longer winter, feel free to postpone removing the leaves once again. If the plants have been placed in a location that supports their size at maturity, there should be no need to prune. When pruning is needed, it should be done after blooming but before the end of July. Flower buds for next spring will begin to be developed sometime in August/September. Keep the soil moist and the plant mulched with 3-4" of acidic mulch up to the drip line. Fertilize once in June with manure or cottonseed meal. Use lighter fertilizers (like liquid seaweed, coffee grounds, liquid fish, etc) during the growing season as desired but stop at the end of July so the plant goes dormant on time for the start of winter. If your soil is not acidic (a soil test can tell you; a nearby local nursery can also help; a soil test kit from Lowe's/HD/etc can approximate) then you will need to ammend the soil once a year or so to prevent iron chlorosis. This condition shows up on the leaves when the soil is alkaline. You combat this by adding soil sulphur, aluminum sulfate or by adding liquids containing iron chelated products. When the plant gets iron chlorosis, the leaves turn yellowish, except for the leaf veins. The veins stay a deep dark green color. If you have trouble watering, use the manual method for a couple of weeks.... insert a finger to a depth of 4" and water only when it feels almost dry or dry. Note the date on a calendar. When the calendar notes indicate some kind of watering pattern is developing (you are watering every 3/4/5 days) then set the sprinkler to water on that frequency. Repeat this if the temperatures fluctuate 10-15 degrees in either direction and stay there. During winter, water only if it is dry and the ground has not frozen (once every two weeks is probably ok). To prevent fungal infections in the leaves, water the soil and not the leaves. The best time to water is early in the morning. Pick up plant debris under the shrubs and check the mulch once a year. Do not plant other shrubs close to the hydrangeas such that air flow between the plants decreases (this could make either plant get fungal infections). Hope this helps you, Luis
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How much of this double-sided stone fireplace can I demolish!?!
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We have a similar issue with our fireplace and, after considering various options, reluctantly decided not to disturb the overall structure. I would caution against removing the hearth. It's there for a reason: It's noncombustible and that's important protection against a fire. Lowering the firebox to floor level and then installing a hearth at floor level will probably be a very big, very messy and very costly undertaking, almost like rebuilding the whole thing. You might be able to remove the raised hearth and install a floor level hearth in its place. I think that would be okay from the safety standpoint, provided the new hearth is about the same size at the old one. You will then need to extend the fireplace surround so it goes under the firebox as well as over and on the sides. That sounds like the work of a mason, or maybe you can install metal -- either copper or powder-coated steel in black so it looks like cast iron, if you like that look and think it will blend. If you want to reduce the size of the firebox, you could consider a fireplace insert. The most popular ones are gas-fired, either natural or propane. They are expensive ($3-4.5K), and typically come with fireplace surround to cover the old firebox opening. I would guess that the kinds of changes you are contemplating would total about $6K or more. And picking a competent installer involves a leap of faith. Ask a fireplace contractor for a free estimate. Then you'll know.
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Painters got spray paint all over Hydrangea
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Comments (12)
It should be fine. Something similar happened to me when the deck above me was replaced and the contractor - and I use that term very loosely - sprayed wood stain rather than rollng or painting it on. Just trying to save time I guess. Anyway, the stain got all over everything, including a number of hydrangeas and Japanese maples I had in containers on my patio. They looked awful for awhile and lost a few of the worst affected leaves but were fine the next season. But I still have overspray on some of the containers and on my patio furniture :-( And there are still marks on my concrete patio where the stain dripped through the decking.
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littlebug zone 5 Missouri
last year
last modified: last year
So sorry. I’m a plant lover too and I understand.

Many years ago we had to have a roof replaced. I told them repeatedly to be careful of my plants and they assured me they would, outlining their plans to protect them. They lied. 🤦‍♀️

Yes, you must find out exactly what type of hydrangeas you have, before trimming.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
last year
last modified: last year
I assume these flowered this year without any input from the OP last year, so I'd leave them alone other than removing completely broken pieces back to healthy stems. Bent bits might spring back. I wouldn't fertilise them either now of for the forseeable future. They're already floppy and weak wooded so you don't want to encourage lush growth.

A propos wedding flowers, I would not rely on growing your own flowers for the main material. Weddings are stressful enough without the worry of watching to see if things are going to bloom on time.
pennlake
last year
Those are hydrangea arborescens. I'd leave any branches be that stay green through fall. Then cut them back hard dormant. They'll be fine next year.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
take out the wedding variable.. and fall back to basic simple pruning rules ...

in this case.. remove all broken pieces just prior to the break ...

and then nothing else ... with no insult to the root mass.. they should bounce back with vigor next season ...

and i totally agree with flora on wedding flower comments hire out your flowers.. and when making the contract.. indicate you will be bringing extra stock from your garden.. if any ...

i did that with my october MI wedding.. because i had no clue if my hundreds of rose bushes would be in bloom in late october in MI .. the florist was tolerant and his sly smile suggested he didnt expect much .. lol..

when i showed up with 5 five gallon buckets of cut hybrid Ts.. he about spit his teeth out .. lol .. i showed him... [btw.. harvesting them during the week of the wedding. and driving across town to his shop .. with a million other things to do.. was also an unforeseen PIA...]

anyway.. i digress .. except for your self inflicted stress.. this isnt that big a deal.. ive been thru august hail storms that did more damage than your pix show.. and by next season... you woldnt have known ...

also.. and finally.. next time.. put it in your contract that they give best effort of maintaining your garden... this damage was just so avoidable. .. imo..

ken
nicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis
last year

I agree with floral..remove only the damaged stems..I like mine taller and don't prune mine..I've read to prune these late winter early spring..I do any touch up clipping in the spring..
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
last modified: last year
btw.. whoever planted all the plant there... did it improperly ... ALL of your utilities should have easy access for workers to maintain said utilities ... yours dont.. and that is why all the damage... keep in mind.. above work was done on ladders sloping away from the foundation plants.. so thats not when the problem happened ...

and if you look close at the pix.. its when those all needed to be painted. is when most of the damage occurred ...

you should .. in the future.. move some of that larger stuff out of there.. and landscape around the utilities in a more utilitarian manner...

most likely.. you have until you hire out the painting again.. to accomplish such ..

ken

ps: and should you decide to dig some stuff out.. call miss dig and have all the incoming utilities marked before you go jumping on a shovel ...
nicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis
last year
last modified: last year

I agree with ken..I left service alleys next to my house on all 4 sides..I love it..

I didn't say it but when I saw your pics I thought "I'd move those"..

I know you didn't plant them..
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
Yes, a selection of hydrangea aborescens. You are perfectly safe to cut these back at will and they will be fine next season, however I would leave them be now (except for watering as needed) until this fall after they drop leaves or very early next spring.
luis_pr
last year
last modified: last year
I would wait until the plant drops foliage in fall or winter so you can see the skeleton created by the stems and prune as needed to re-establish a half moon shrub shape… as close ad you can as possible. Maintsin 3-4” of mulch,; maintain the soil evenly damp at sll times; acidify the soil as needed if it is alkaline. Apply a slow-release fertilizer once the plants starts to leaf out or has nee stem growth but that will also depend on your frost date: the last slow-release fertilizer application should be done 3 months before your average date of first frost. So So, if not appropriate to fertilize this season, wait until your average date of last frost in spring 2023.

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