A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Shrubs and Trees Rusty leaves on my hydrangea

I am new at this forum thing so forgive me if I do this wrong.....
I live in Holland. It is spring and time for hydrangea's to grow. I am new at growing hydrangea's. I have pruned them after the summer last year and they are now starting to make new leaves.
Some of the new leaves have rusty brown edges, some die when they are still tiny. Why is this. Not enough water?

Brown edges is often a sign of water deficiency (or in some cases too much water) and perhaps too much sun. Hydrangeas are very thirsty plants and prefer to be shaded from evening sun (morning sun is recommended for good flowering). Unless you want to prune them to keep the size down, I wouldn't prune at all. You run the risk of pruning off next years buds, especially if you wait to late to prune. In spring you can prune off any dead wood that didn't make it through the winter.

Wow thank you alankhart! I was wondering the exact same in my case it was from not enough water at times.... I thought it mightve been a fungus problem my area gets full sun from the morning till about 5:00 pm.... but its getting better.... hopefully it will bloom this year i got it from my grandmas hydfdrangea it was a another bush that it sent off...

Oh how nice! I have 2 - and I have wondered my self which way was best. ~yes~ I have done both.
never had rusty leaves tho thanks for the advice alankhart!

Thank you alankurt. About the pruning should I then just cut off the flowers that are finished and leave the rest except for the dead wood?

Sorry....alankhart!!!!

Yes, just remove the old flowers as they fade.

I have the rusty leave syndrom too. Thanks for this information. Now my hydrangeas tend to get the white powdery stuff too and I am looking for a organic alternative to fungacide to correct this. I read on Martha Stewarts website years ago that if you mixed water, conola oil and flour together it gets rid of it. Is that true?

Help!!
Thanks