Pest battle with Hydrangea — and how I won

I had a serious problem with dieback from harsh winters on marginally hardy varieties on my Hydrangea earlier this year. Caught it late and had to work hard to bring the plant back. The experience was frustrating but educational.

Now that it's healthy again I can fully appreciate multi-season interest from flowers, berries, bark, and autumn colour, which is remarkable. I've repositioned it in a low-maintenance foundation planting around a house and improved my attention to mulching around the base annually to feed and retain moisture. winter bark and evergreen foliage interest was the proof that the plant had fully recovered — genuinely beautiful. Moral of the story: inspect regularly and catch problems early.