AT A GLANCE
When hydrangeas start sprouting in spring, the young shoots and buds are very susceptible to frost. Without appropriate protection, they freeze easily, which you can tell from the fact that the bright green shoots turn brown. However, hydrangeas usually recover quickly from frost damage, even if they do not flower the following season.
How do I know if my hydrangeas are frozen?
You can recognize frozen shoots by the fact that the shoots mushy and brown are. While hydrangeas in general hardy are, especially young shoots and buds react sensitively to frost.
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Can hydrangeas recover from frost damage?
Don't worry, hydrangeas can take damage from frost usually recover well. However, you have to expect that the flowering will be less or even completely absent this year. Older shrubs with many and already lignified shoots recover more easily from frost as young plants that only have a few shoots.
If your hydrangeas are very badly affected by frost damage, you should wait until the end of May to see if they are still recovering. If you can't see any tender green shoots by then, discard the hydrangeas.
How do I treat frost damage to my hydrangeas?
It is now important to protect the already weakened hydrangeas from further frost damage protection. Cover them with a cold protection, for example fleece, or place the shrub in a sheltered place.
Even if it is an unsightly sight: do not touch the frozen parts of the plant to cut off. The open wounds caused by cuts would only allow the cold to penetrate further and further damage the plant. Instead, you have to wait until the hydrangea sheds the affected parts of the plant by itself after a few weeks and drives them out again.
How can I prevent frost damage to hydrangeas?
To avoid frost damage, you should prevent your hydrangeas from budding before the last frost. You can achieve this by removing the cold protection in good time in early spring. At least during the day you should remove the cover. If there is still night frost, cover the plants again in the evening. Otherwise it can quickly happen that it is under the fleece gets too warm and the hydrangeas start to sprout again.
Tip
How to recognize dead shoots
If you are unsure whether a shoot is frozen or not, you can check this with a simple test: carefully scratch the bark with your fingernail. If it is green underneath, the shoot is still alive. If it is completely brown and dried up, you can cut it off.
