My yard, which was never in great form, is a complete disaster with
this extended dry hot weather. I'm in Nashville, TN, Zone 7, clay
soil with cruddy subdivision fill dirt over it, and the other areas
limestone with cruddy subdivision fill dirt. Azaleas do poorly for
me, even when not stressed by so much dry, and I've given up on most
of my azaleas. For a partly shady area, (foundation planting), who's
got suggestions for something that is more likely to survive abuse,
like something a bit more native? Up to 3 feet tall would be fine, as
the height difference between the azaleas and the mountain laurels
looks a little silly. For the record, my crape myrtles, despite being
wacked by our hard late spring frost, are doing great, without any
watering (sunnier area), and the mountain laurels (same area as the
azaleas) are also doing well, although I have watered them a bit
recently.

Next and last question - I have some oakleaf hydrangeas by the side of
the house (even shadier area) that are always abused from lack of
water (much more inconvient location to water), so they are scraggly
and poorly filled out. I want to keep them however, as they look so
nice when doing well. When should I prune them to encourage a bushier
growth? If it started to rain soon, would it be awful to prune them
then, because we will have lots more warm weather to follow?

Thanks.