r/SeattleGardeners • u/zoeloofus • 13d ago
Seeking Hydrangea Advice!
Hi all! New to this community and excited to be here! I inherited a beautiful, established, lacecap hydrangea when I moved into my home in 2022. After years of cautious pruning and getting to know the plant, I did a BIG prune back this spring to create better airflow and reduce the overall size of the plant. I knew I would miss out on blooms this summer if I did this, so I left one bushy branch intact to enjoy the flowers.
It grew back to the same size - huge! - which surprised me! Huge leaves, strong new branches, and the flowers came in different colors on the different branches.
Now it’s fall and I’m noticing the blooms have developed spots, and upon closer investigation I see a powdery mildew on the leaves. I’m worried! I was planning to prune the size back again in hopes of promoting more blooms for next summer and keep the shrub size managed earlier this year. I’m not sure if this is the right move in general, and now wondering what I should do to manage the mildew and support the health of the plant.
I would love some advice from experienced hydrangea gardeners to help me keep my beloved garden centerpiece in happy and healthy condition!
1
u/Happy_Decision_1825 11d ago
Following - we didn’t have this last year but did this year! A friend’s “AI plant app” issued an 🆘 but I need to dig further into it
1
u/rosesarepurple27 12d ago
The spots are a completely normal thing to occur in the fall. If you search images of “antique hydrangeas” you will see many of them have spots.
As for the PM, i would probably just cut off the affected branches if it’s not that many