I suggest adding organic mulch at the base of your Dooley. I should help not only with plant depth as the mulch decomposes but with moisture retention as well. It's a good place to start before moving your hydrangea.

Deb

Hello, minflick. Wilting is a defensive process that large-leafed plants use when the weather is hot and they loose moisture thru the leaves faster than they can absorb moisture thru the roots. Wilting reduces the area hit by sunlight and reduces moisture loss for the plant. If you are not used to seeing, it can be shocking!

A windy location can also promote wilting episodes. Obviously, this issue occurs more often when we are in the middle of the summer months.

New hydrangeas tend to suffer more from wilting episodes because they have a limited root system (not enough little roots) but even old shrubs can be affected given the right conditions. Here in Texas for example, we get some wilting episodes when temperatures are above 100 from June thru August-September.

By maintaining 3-4" of mulch thru the drip line, you can help the shrub a lot. It reduces the frequency f watering and lets moisture last longer. Most of the time, hydrangeas will return back to normal on their own by the next morning but here is something you can do to help. When the wilting episode looks unusually bad, immediately give the plant about 1/2 a gallon of water to 1 gallon (depends on the size of the plant); apply it only to the soil (not the leaves) from the crown outwards. If the wilting episode looks "normal", insert a finger into the soil to a depth of 4" and determine if the soil feels dry. If it is dry or almost dry, give the plant 1/2 gallon to 1 gallon of water. If the soil feels moist, test the soil again in the morning and water then. If the soil is wet, you may want to investigate why the water is not draining well.

Lots of water in contact with the roots can prevent the plant roots from absorbing oxygen and eventually will cause the roots to develop root rot. The symptoms for root rot are similar to those of a plant that needs water. It will wilt but will remain wilted. At this point, I assume you are simply having a problem due to not enough water or windy conditions that make the plant loose moisture.

If you are using drip irrigation, I would suggest watering with a hose once a week during the hottest part of the year as drip does not water well the little roots in the top 4" or so of the soil and this new shrub has few roots. In about 1-3 years, wilting episodes should be gretaly reduced once the shrub recovers from transplant shock and gets used to the heat of the summer in your garden.

If the plant is still at or above the surrounding soil line, you do not need to replant it. If the plant is below the surrounding soil line, then it should be replanted but I recommend providing more water nowadays & transplanting when the plant has gone dormant in the Fall (less stress on the plant that way).

Luis

It's actually at the height the nursery recommended - I went back and checked. It does recover from the wilt, and it is breezy here most afternoons and evenings. And today, when it's in the 80's in the back yard (a 10 degree drop from most of the last week) it's fine, which tells me it is the heat and breeze doing the 'damage' (scaring me half to death!). As it happens I've got some rice straw and some small redwood bark sitting around doing nothing, so I'll go shift some of both and see how the plant does.

Thanks for the advice, I KNEW I could count on you guys.

OT - WHY do I keep getting a small pop-up for Savvy Summer Skin Care? That's mighty annoying....

Humph! OK, a nice thick layer of rice straw now surrounds Dooley, and I watered well before I put the straw down. I'll see how Dooley does next week, and if this isn't good enough, I'll rake it back, put the bark down, and put the straw back on top of it.

Waiting impatiently to see how this works!

You mean that annoying, mostly blue-ish. pop-up from heck, that moves up and down the screen to keep it centered? Not mighty annoying... incredibly mighty super annoying... Good luck with Dooley!

Heh. Mine is red and white, and it's extremely (all kinds of cuss words here) annoying, yes it is. I think I've seen it 3 dz. times just today.....

It would almost be worth a paid membership here, if that would turn the pop ups off, if they had such, and if I had the money to do it!

If you use Explorer, you can disable any pop-ups: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Internet-Explorer-Pop-up-Blocker-frequently-asked-questions

But if you use another browser like Firefox or Safari you can eliminate them altogther.

FWIW, the only pop-ups I ever see are the iVillage survey signs that appear every now and again.