Die Back on Oakleaf Hydrangeas

2 years ago

Attached are a couple of photos of a branch I pruned from a Ruby Slippers Oakleaf Hydrangea. We had a prolonged three-month drought from January thru March. Many of the branches on these shrubs had leaf shoots on them in March that would have pushed out new leaves, but instead died. Many of the branches that had die back in them still have new healthy leaves growing, so it doesn't appear to be a disease. All of my Ruby Slippers and Snow Queen Oakleaf Hydrangeas had this happen to them. I also had a Limelight Hydrangea with some dieback, although to a lesser degree. My Diablo Ninebark, located in a different area of my yard, had A LOT of die back. My Chinese Pistache tree, Rosy Glow barberries, Summer Wine Ninebarks, and Gold Mound Spireas were not affected. So do you think it is a result of that drought or something else.

The dead branch is in the foreground, and you can see the new leaf shoots that are now dead. Every branch was this way.

Here is a pic of the cut stem of the same branch. As you can see, it's dead as a mackerel.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

luis_pr
2 years ago
Sorry to hear that. I learned to monitor for dry winters the hard way too. Lost an Annabelle when I turned off the drip due to extended cold weather and forgot to turn it back to "on". It wasn't until some evergreens started drying out that I realized that my sprinkler system was not running. Oops. Good luck. They will recover if you water and mulch. Maybe wait until May to prune dead wood in case some of those dead looking stems have some life still in them.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
where are you. big city name ...

winter dieback is not all that uncommon ... in my MI ... it seems i used to have to prune out dead stuff just about every year ... you sound surprised thats even a possibility ...

and that dead part.. look like its been dead a lot longer than since march ...

as your plant finally establish a very mature root mass... then this sot of stuff will be more minimal ..

btw ... how did you rule out cold damage to buds in jan/march???? .. perhaps its due to your unknown location ...

ken
Related Discussions
Oakleaf Hydrangea and Snow Queen Oakleaf
Q
Comments (4)
According to one site: Some improvements make this Oakleaf Hydrangea significantly better. Its upright habit is useful in small spaces; its rich green leaves take full sun and its large, white, well-filled flower heads are held on rigid stems and do not droop after rain.
...See More
Advice for Oakleaf Hydrangeas
Q
Comments (2)
I have 5 munchkin oakleafs planted on my home's very shady north side in a raised bed. No direct sunlight- ever. Zone 9A. Florida. I bought them in October from hydrangea.com. Great experience. They arrived in full green foliage. I limited watering them while I waited for stone masons to finish completing a raised bed against my foundation. I up potted them to 3 gallon containers and significantly limited my watering because everyone had me scared to death about root rot. Their foliage turned red (beautiful) while I waited. Finally planted them in their bed beginning of December. Placed the root ball 3-4" above the soil (because the area doesn't drain well). Turns out the original homeowner 62 years ago burried a sidewalk with 8" of dirt. I didn't know that before I had the raised bed made. Now I have 16" of poorly draining soil... The munchkin are still doing great, though They're still beautiful. Red. Still holding onto their leaves. I have not covered them for two brief frosts. For reference, my Harmony on the southern side is 90% green and 10% red. Hasn't lost any leaves. My southern exposure snowflake has all of its leaves and is a mixture of green, brown and red. So what I'm trying to say is that my munchkins that get no direct sunlight via a northern exposure are doing just as well as the oakleafs getting hours of sun every day (in the same bed as Endless Summers that are still producing flowers!).
...See More
Oakleaf Hydrangea help
Q
Comments (17)
Yes, those trees will really soak up the moisture faster than your shrubs and perennials can take it in. OkPrairie - you could fertilize now and then don't fertilize anymore until next spring. But, I would do it quickly, unless you just fertilized it within the last month. If so, just try to mulch it with some pine needles or pine straw, and that should help until you can give it a dose of fertilizer or manure again next year. Overfertilizing can do more damage than not fertilizing at all. I'm leaving the flower heads on mine this winter, too. They look so nice in the wintertime. It is planted about 20' away from my contorted mulberry. The CM just looks really good in the winter when you can see the branches. It's a good 16-18' now. It's a fast grower, too, so I suppose I'll lose it to the Oklahoma winds one of these days as well. But for now, I'm enjoying it much more than the Bradford pear! Impatience, my heuchera has done better this year than ever before with all the moisture we've had. I had Raspberry Swirl (?), a Tiarella species, and a seed-grown heuchera that I planted out this year (grew from seed last year). I also planted another epimedium rubrum this year as a little groundcover next to my hellebore (lenten rose), hellebore foetidus, a typhonium groundcover, couple of Aristolochia serpentarias (groundcover) and epimedium Wushanense hybrid. All are looking really good! I couldn't have asked for a better year to start new plants, really. Susan
...See More
Hydrangea pruning, much die back.
Q
Comments (12)
As it happens, I ran across the tag for the second oak leaf I planted after Alice: it was actually Ruby Slippers, not Alice. It was my intention to buy the same again, so that’s what I remembered erroneously. I think the selection must have been low, and I picked the best looking oak leaf that would have fall color in the size range I was looking for. So comparisons between the 2 are welcome, SpringwoodGardens . Both are listed as “fast growers”; I hope that will be true. The Alice in particular is meant to fill a big hole in the landscaping. How do they define “fast,” I wonder? It’s like 2 weeks after my original posting, and each are showing a bit of green. Tiny leaf buds, only a couple per plant, and all from either the bottom 2 inches of the plant, or completely from the base. The most sheltered Twist and Shout (the last planted) has the most, seemingly coming from underground. I’m not going to prune any dead wood until every bud has had a chance to show that it’s alive. Hydrangeas aren’t grafted are they? So what comes from under will be true to variety?
...See More
Tim
Original Author
2 years ago
So I'm in South Central Kansas (zone 6b). Wichita, KS is the largest major city. We very rarely see temperatures in the single digits around here. When we do, it's not prolonged...maybe one night. We have dry windy summers and dry windy winters. Winter die back is uncommon but not impossible. In 2020 we had a cold snap to 5 degrees for two days (very unusual) that killed every crape myrtle and nandina to the ground, but not my oakleaf hydrangeas. It didn't even phase them. However, we had a prolonged ( 2.5 to 3 month) drought from Jan thru March. No Temps below 20 after the end of January and nothing below 30 after the end of Feb. The shrubs in question are each about 5 years old so well established. The oakleaf in the photo also got damaged when the roofers dropped plywood and shingles on it. Almost sheered it in half.
charles kidder
2 years ago
If the problem is happening with multiple types of plants, it's probably the drought. Plants don't need much water when dormant, but I guess they still need some. If the roots are still alive, the oakleaf will be fine as will the ninebark. I agree to wait until May and cut off anything that has no new growth.
Tim
Original Author
2 years ago
I'm sure they will be fine. I'm not concerned about that as all the shrubs are pushing out new foliage and stems that look healthy and clean. I just wanted to make sure my drought theory was on the right track, since I've never experienced this much die back on half my shrubs at one time. Good lesson learned: give the less drought tolerant shrubs some water during the winter droughts.

Die Back on Oakleaf Hydrangeas

Comments (5)

luis_pr

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Related Discussions

Tim
Original Author

charles kidder

Tim
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Die Back on Oakleaf Hydrangeas

Comments (5)

luis_pr

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Related Discussions

TimOriginal Author

charles kidder

TimOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Tim
Original Author

Tim
Original Author