Don't give up on your sunburnt, drooping hydrangea plant just yet - try this instead

There's no escaping it; the consistent hot, dry weather has really done a number on our garden plants. Especially florals like hydrangeas, which tend to get a rather intense sunburn when the sun is particularly strong. But luckily, there is hope for even the saddest-looking hydrangea plant.

Even when you've done everything you can to prepare your garden for a heatwave, some temperatures are simply too high to save your plants from. And with nationwide hosepipe bans, it's difficult to water your garden plants properly, which leads to even more plants perishing, or looking like they're about to.

However, if you've spotted your hydrangea plants drooping when sorting your garden out this month, there may be hope for them just yet.

Wondering why your hydrangeas are turning brown? Whilst there are various reasons for this, during particularly hot, dry summers it's usually down to one thing.

"If your hydrangea is looking a little on the sad and droopy side, you may be thinking it's too far gone, but actually it will recover. We just need to figure out, one, what's wrong with it, and two, how do we fix it," begins Ish, garden design expert and influencer on Instagram @gardening.with.ish.

"Now I can see here I've got some green leaves, a little bit of yellow too, but they're very droopy, which tells me that it's just not getting enough water, so the number one solution here? Well, watering," he continues.

"Now most people will just stick a load of water on the top, but what I'd do is go right to the bottom and aim it straight down at the roots. It'll soon take care of itself, but you need that moisture to be in the ground," Ish adds.

Should you have a south-facing garden, then you might have to help your plants recover from sunburn quite often. If so, your hydrangeas may look a little crisper.

"If it was in a really sunny area, the chances are these would be all yellow and crispy, and be getting scorched, especially with the weather we've been having. So rehydrating that is going to be the best thing you can do," says Ish.

"In terms of feed, what I'd do is I'd give it a good watering for a week or so. When you start to see signs of recovery or new buds, that's when you can introduce a multipurpose feed or a slow-release feed like blood, fish and bone. Just to help it recover a bit," he explains.

Even after you've helped your garden recover from a heatwave like this, there's still a chance the plant will wither a little more or lose some foliage. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's dying.

"After a few weeks, some of these leaves may drop off, but you will get new buds, and they should look as good as new. So, don't worry too much about throwing this out, as chances are it's perfectly fine," Ish points out.

"One last thing you can do if you're not sure is reach to the bottom and do a scratch test; just take a little bit of bark off. If it's green underneath, it's totally fine; if it's brown, it's too far gone," he finishes.

Trying a scratch test is also a great way to see if your plant has survived winter too; it's a simple yet effective way of avoiding throwing away plants that are perfectly fine.

Aside from hydrangeas, you can revive other struggling potted plants with a few simple care steps. Ish shares his advice for helping even the crispiest of plants come back from the brink of death.