Q: I have two Limelight hydrangea trees on my patio that were purchased in April. After a heavy rain, one is drooping severely, like it’s still soaking wet, while the other one looks to be straightening back up. Have the flowers simply gotten too big and heavy?

In your opinion, does it look like their current containers are going to be large enough, going forward, if I keep these trees pruned?

A: The containers are WAY too small for the size of the shrub.

You could try a 24″ diameter columnar pot but you’d need yearly pruning to keep the shrub small. I’d prefer a 30″ wide container or put them in the ground. Hard to say how they’ll do now—I’m sure there has been some root/moisture stress.

Prune off flowers as they fade and replant in fall.