Any Plant People??

[StupidBird]

Wait! There are unfortunately different types of hydrangeas that get pruned in different ways - some bloom on old wood and some on the new wood - so pruning advice needs to be tailored to what you have. And diseases, freeze back, and just plain up and die syndrome are not unusual. That being said, a well-established hydrangea is pretty tough.
By althea you mean common name Rose-of-sharon? These, once happy with their spot, can easily become small trees. And self-seed like mad. Mine are restricted / suffer from really lousy soil where they are, and some awesomely resistant aphids and those white fluffy scale insects. Probably would be nice if I threw out a handful of fertilizer for them. If you like the general size/shape, just cut out the craggy oldest wood, no more than 1/3 of the total shrub branch mass, but cut out to the ground. I have seen nice old ones trimmed to multi-trunk tree form.
I have a minor in horticulture and I can still kill plants with the best (worst?) of them! I just feel guiltier about it because I know what I did wrong post-mortum. So don't take what I say too seriously.

 

[amazondoc]

Ohhhh, I forgot about your zone!

Let me rephrase: it's nearly impossible to kill them down here in the south! Good luck!

 

[fordmommy]

My hydrangeas are a hibred of some sort. Made for zone 3 and up. I haven't had to do anything but trim them. I actually wish that some of them would die so I could replce them with something better. They were all planted before we bought the place and had the tags from the nursery on them. That's the only reason I know how to care for them and know what they are.

Don't get me wrong. They are pretty. But I have too many. And I'm not one to just rip it out and throw it away. I'd have to replant it somewhere so I didn't feel guilty for killing something.

Too much work!

 

[countyroad1330]

Thanks everybody! I really do appreciate the advice. All these plants were here when we bought the house. Altheas and Crepe Myrtles grow like crazy down here! The Hydrangea was doing fantastic our first year here, so I feel terrible that it isn't now. We do have an Azalea, which I've been told are hard to grow here. But it does fantastic!

Ok so
1. Cut the Althea, it'll be fine
2. Water the Hydrangea more in summer, wrap it in burlap in the winter, don't prune it, use special fertilizers.

Ok what about Camelias? I know they don't grow well here, but my great grandmother's name came from Camelia, my mother's middle name is the same, and it is my first name, so I HAD to have one! (Cammie) I planted it over a year ago, it hasn't died, growed just a tiny tiny bit... Any advice?