Now that spring is truly here, I keep discovering more shrubs that have either died or were severely damaged by last summer's drought. It is painful to see the bare trunks of these once lovely shrubs. There are some, like this New Harmony Oak leaf hydrangea that have some new growth beginning, but others are completely gone. At first I was encouraged by the small signs of life in the damaged shrubs, but after reading an article by Bethany O'Rear of the the Alabama Extension Service, my heart broke once again. Bethany explained that many of these severely damaged shrubs are merely taking longer to die. Their root systems are so badly injured that they cannot support even this attempt to grow back; they will very likely only last a season or two before succumbing to the drought damage.
According to Bethany, it is important not to fertilize these shrubs because fertilizer will force them to grow their canopies beyond what their weakened root systems to support. This year, we should just prune out the dead wood, water them gently and hope for the best.
Perhaps, this summer, we will have rain.
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