First, the biggest problem during drought is over watering. Just moisten
soil enough to provide water to the absorbing, non-woody roots which are in
the upper four inches of soil.

Proper mulching can help you with water. If you are interested in
information on nurse logs which have the potential to become water
reservoirs please let me know.
Proper mulching: Mulching - http://home.ccil.org/~treeman/sub3.html
and
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/M/ Look up "Mulch"

Your question about pruning is a good one. You could prune them after the
flowering. It would be wise to prune to the proper targets. Then there are
two times when small mistakes can make serious problems. When the leaves
are forming (flushing) or when the leaves are falling. proper pruning site.
If I get a chance I will prune a hydrangea and add it to the web site.
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/tree_pruning

Further, no time is a good time to improperly prune.


--
Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Consulting Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.


wrote in message
oups.com...
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.