Hi there. Please allow the darkened and frost-killed leaves to remain in-place on the plant. They will naturally drop off as the temperatures grow colder. At the moment, they are helping to insulate the developing buds and shelter them until they can harden off.

This was an amazing find and read!! I have always loved hydrangeas, however I never had the right spot for one, until this year. I have all grades in my garden from karl foresters to wheat grass and the care for these are super easy, however never having a hydrangea shrub before I had NO idea how to care for them before winter. This was such a great article. It being the first year of planting a lot of times you aren’t supposed to do any pruning for winter because it hasn’t settle enough yet. I will do a but more research as this article laid everything out, I was hoping there may be some tips for a brand new hydrangea plant that was planted in spring and has never seen a winter. Thank you so much.