Q&A – Why does my Hydrangea have thin, curled leaves?
Question:
"My 2 year old hydrangeas have some shoots where the leaves are thinner, smaller, and curled. The plants overall seem healthy. They each have this deformed foliage in random spots. It looks similar to rose rosette disease, which we do have on our knock out roses in the front yard. I'm not sure if that can be transferred to non-rose plants or if this is some kind of fungus, virus, etc. It looks very similar though. (Lots of deformed leaf production with no blooms)" - Nichole, Memphis
Answer:
There are several things that could cause this. The most likely is herbicide. Herbicide does not need to be sprayed on the plant. There are herbicides that will travel through the air or soil and affect the plant. The plant should grow out of it, and assuming more herbicides don’t get on the plant it will have normal new leaves. The problem may also be caused by a virus, though this is unlikely. The virus may not kill the plant but it will always have misshapen leaves.
Related Resources
A Tennessee Landscape Contractor's Guide to Hydrangeas
Hydrangeas
"My 2 year old hydrangeas have some shoots where the leaves are thinner, smaller, and curled. The plants overall seem healthy. They each have this deformed foliage in random spots. It looks similar to rose rosette disease, which we do have on our knock out roses in the front yard. I'm not sure if that can be transferred to non-rose plants or if this is some kind of fungus, virus, etc. It looks very similar though. (Lots of deformed leaf production with no blooms)" - Nichole, Memphis
Answer:
There are several things that could cause this. The most likely is herbicide. Herbicide does not need to be sprayed on the plant. There are herbicides that will travel through the air or soil and affect the plant. The plant should grow out of it, and assuming more herbicides don’t get on the plant it will have normal new leaves. The problem may also be caused by a virus, though this is unlikely. The virus may not kill the plant but it will always have misshapen leaves.
Related Resources
A Tennessee Landscape Contractor's Guide to Hydrangeas
Hydrangeas