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by Linda Hraban
(Westfield, WI USA)

hydragea-tree-21935729

Pink Hydrangea

Hello, My husband bought a Strawberry Vanilla Hydrangea tree and it was looking beautiful with green leaves and blossoms started to bloom

He thought there was little bugs on the leaves and was going to spray tree with some bug spray and accidentally sprayed it with Weed Killer.
He was just sick can’t believe he grabbed the wrong bottle.

a lot of the leaves turned brown and died off but there are quiet a lot of
beautiful blossoms. Will this tree be ok? Not a lot of leaves. But if it was dead there wouldn’t be any blossoms right?

Is there anything he can do to boost this tree?

Comments for Hydragea Tree

Aug 06, 2020

Ugh!
by: Jacki Cammidge, Certified Horticulturist

What a disaster! Your tree is most likely doomed, as that’s what ‘weed’ killer does. It kills everything not just weeds.

Your only chance is to completely remove all the leaves, and yes, the blooms too. If you do it in time, it will prevent the chemical from being translocated to the roots. But honestly? I don’t think it will survive.

And no, blooms just mean that it’s trying really hard to reproduce itself by blooming, right before it dies completely. Cut them off with the leaves (or cut the whole thing down to the ground). Then wait until next year to see if it recovers.