How to care for a hydrangea from planting to flowering

Garden hydrangea, planting and caring for which are considered quite difficult, is often called in another way - hydrangea (Hydrangea). It is a beautiful deciduous shrub, sometimes a liana or a small tree, which is often grown in a personal plot. It can be grown from seeds or cuttings. This gorgeous plant continues to bloom all summer long. When it blooms, huge air caps of white, purple and even burgundy inflorescences almost completely cover the bush. But in fact, this is a relatively unpretentious plant to care for, it can be planted not only in the country, but in parks, squares and near houses, and every year the flowers will delight passers-by with their splendor, and the oak-leaved hydrangea will attract attention with unusual foliage.

Types of hydrangeas

Especially popular, at the same time blue and pink, large-leaved hydrangea. For the conditions of central Russia, panicle hydrangea is considered the most suitable (Phantom and Limelight varieties are especially famous) and tree-likeas they are frost resistant. Other species common in our latitudes - oak-leaved hydrangea, rough, large-flowered - are much more thermophilic, they will need additional shelter for the winter.

The panicle hydrangea has cone-shaped inflorescences that can change color, for example, in the Limelight variety, the lime flowers turn white, the Sunday Fries initially have a green panicle at the end of flowering - pink. The Laimlat variety is also distinguished by strong shoots that can withstand an endless abundant flowering. They are also diverse in size - the Phantom variety is considered one of the largest.

Popular varieties of panicle hydrangea

• Grandiflora is a very lush shrub, the panicle is first white, then pink.
• Limelight - at the beginning, the inflorescences are painted in a bright lime color, as indicated by the name of the variety. After the flowers change color to lemon, and then to white.
• Wim Rutten - creamy flowers exude a honey aroma (like the Phantom variety), over time they turn pink and then wine-red.
• Vanilla Fries - the flowers of this variety look like clouds, the inflorescences are pink with a white tip, by autumn they become crimson. Created in the French nursery "Renault", requires shelter.
• Sunday Fries is another brainchild of Renault nursery, fluffy inflorescences change their color from green to bright pink.
• Phantom is a record variety, the length of its inflorescences is from 30 cm, the bush grows up to 2 m.

Popular varieties of tree hydrangea

• Annabelle is a variety on the basis of which many modern hybrids of tree hydrangea are created. Blooms all summer. Inflorescences are white, large, up to 20 cm in diameter.
• Invincibel - inflorescences change color from dark pink to a lighter shade.
• Incredibol - huge caps of white inflorescences, about 30 cm in diameter.

Popular varieties of large-leaved hydrangea, also known as "blue" hydrangea:

• Freedom;
• Perfection;
• Jomari;
• Mini Penny.

Oak-leaved hydrangea is represented by Harmony and Applause varieties. Thanks to the leaves, it is decorative for almost a whole year. Other types of hydrangea - ash, Bretschneider, serrate - are less common.

Hydrangea care

Hydrangea care begins in March. It is better to check the condition of the plants under the shelter in advance, and if the weather is warm, begin to air them a little. During a thaw on the site, you need to ensure that there is no stagnation of melt water at the roots: you can dig drainage grooves.Shelter is removed from large-leaved shrubs when the threat of frost has passed. It is very important to prune the hydrangea correctly. If for some reason the pruning was not carried out in the fall, it is necessary to do it in March, when the snow has not melted. Due to the fact that sap flow begins early, if you are late or do not do this at all, the plant may begin to "cry", this will greatly weaken it and may even cause death.

Advice

It is important to remember that all parts of the hydrangea contain toxic substances, therefore they must be protected from children and pets and, if trimming or planting seeds, wear gloves.

In mid-April, when the air warms up to + 10-12 ° C, and the soil thaws to a depth of 20 cm, hydrangea begin to feed... Young shoots for the season give a strong increase, often up to half a meter, therefore, for active growth, they need nutrition - nitrogen fertilizers are best absorbed by the roots: you can take 1 tbsp. l. calcium nitrate and dilute it in 10 liters of water. Plants will also be grateful for organic feeding, then the flowering will be more abundant, and the flowers will be larger.

When young leaves begin to grow, the shrub should be mulched with rotted manure or humus. This will inhibit the growth of weeds, improve the structure of the soil and serve as an additional fertilizer. Garden hydrangea, judging by the name, is very fond of watering, therefore it is important when summer comes to water it abundantly - this will require at least 10 liters of water. The Phantom variety requires about 30 liters. If potted plants were purchased, they can be planted in the country in May.

Planting hydrangeas in open ground

If you plan to plant a hydrangea, it is important to remember that its roots are superficial, they are actively growing in width, so the hole must be dug correctly: it will need to be shallow, but wide. Large-leaved hydrangeas should be planted in the country in such a place that the sun illuminates them for at least 6 hours, but falls on the leaves only in the morning and evening. Shade-tolerant enough paniculata (for example, varieties Limelight, Phantom), treelike and oak-leaved hydrangea. If the earth is clayey, so that the water does not stagnate, drainage from broken bricks is placed at the bottom of the planting pit. Before planting a shrub, the root system should be soaked in a bucket of water, gently spreading the roots.

The pit needs to be filled with the following mixture: 4 buckets of humus or quail manure, 2 - peat, 1 - needles and garden soil in small quantities. It is better to immediately add complex fertilizer, superphosphate and mix the resulting substrate. For example, the Phantom variety, with a lack of nutrition, begins to produce pale inflorescences. It is necessary to plant shrubs in the country carefully, the soil should be mulched with a thick layer of coniferous litter. After planting, the earth must be shed well, so that not only the soil in the pit becomes wet, but also the lump in which the hydrangea grew. Further care of the plants consists in abundant watering, which is gradually reduced to 1 time in 7 days. But the Phantom variety should be watered a little more often.

When summer comes, the garden hydrangea will lay flower buds. New shoots are actively developing, therefore, nutritious feeding with mineral fertilizers, where there is a lot of phosphorus and potassium, is again required. This is the best time to successfully propagate hydrangea by cuttings. In July, when large-leaved hydrangeas form inflorescences, you can change their color from pink to blue. The best way is to water the shrub with alum (aluminum salts). Another option is to use special ready-made preparations.

Advice

Aluminum salts begin to act only in an acidic environment, therefore, hydrangea must grow in acidic soil to change color.

With a neutral or alkaline reaction, the soil will have to be "acidified". To do this, before planting the plant, add moor peat to the pit and use it as mulch.Watering the soil with a weak solution of vinegar or citric acid should help. Watering can be repeated once a week. Throughout the summer, you need to continue abundant watering, especially if the shrub is located in a bright, well-lit area. To make the flowering almost endless, in mid-July you can feed the plants for the third time phosphorus-potash or humic fertilizers with a low nitrogen content.

Hydrangea wintering

In early autumn, while there is no constant rainfall, the shrub is watered abundantly, and the soil is mulched with wood chips and dry foliage. Pruning begins in October. If cuttings were rooted in the summer or a blue hydrangea in a pot was purchased, you need to properly prepare young plants for wintering as follows:

• dig pots into the garden;
• cover them with dry foliage;
• cover with lattice boxes on top;
• put the film on top, leaving the side walls of the box open.

Thus, rooted cuttings winter best. Most decorative types of hydrangea need to make a winter shelter every year. If there is a threat of frost, heat-loving species are covered with a special material, after removing all the leaves and tying the shoots in the form of a sheaf.

There are several ways to properly cover your shrub for the winter.

1. You can bend the stems to the ground and fix with staples, and cover the base with a thick layer of peat. Put arcs on top with a cross, on which to put the non-woven material in several layers - depending on its type. Before the frosts hit, you can leave vents for ventilation.
2. Shoots are pinned to the ground, spruce branches or covering material should be placed under the stems. Then - a layer of peat or compost, and on it - a sheet of slate.
3. A frame is made under the bush, the hydrangea is covered with pine needles or dry foliage, the frame is covered with non-woven material in 2 layers. Above, you should cover the shrub from excess water. In the spring, the shelter should be removed in stages, completely - when the threat of frost has passed.

Reproduction of hydrangea

You can grow hydrangea from seeds, propagate by dividing the bush, cuttings and layering. Growing hydrangeas from seeds is easy, they are immediately sown into the ground in March, without stratification. But this breeding method is the longest. It will take more than one year to wait for flowering. Hydrangeas from cuttings bloom the next year. To propagate a flower in this way in the summer, you need to cut the shoots with two pairs of leaves from the middle of the bush. You should choose those where there are no buds. Their length should be up to 17 cm. The cut is made oblique, a centimeter below the buds, leaf plates can be cut by a third to reduce moisture evaporation.

The bottom of the cutting is powdered with rooting enhancers, they are planted in pots with a light, moist, breathable substrate. They are placed in a greenhouse, for example, by making it from a plastic bottle. The containers are placed in partial shade; rooting takes about 6 weeks. Caring for cuttings consists in periodically moistening the soil and ventilating the greenhouse. When new growth appears, it can be removed. But the easiest way to reproduce hydrangea is to divide the bush.

Correct pruning

For many gardeners, pruning hydrangeas is only about removing dried or weakened shoots, they do this all year, believing that it is right, and then disappointed in the flowering of plants. For large-flowered hydrangea, crown care in the first year of life consists in shortening the shoots to a strong bud and mulching the roots. Only weak branches are cut in autumn. In the second year, in July, strong shoots at the base are cut off to the growths that have grown below. In the third year and subsequent ones in July, dried and old shoots are removed.

Some varieties of hydrangeas bloom on last year's shoots, therefore it is correct to remove only faded inflorescences with four leaves in the middle of summer, since flower buds are laid in August. Drastic pruning of such plants will deprive them of flowering next year. In the Phantom variety, branches are removed without affecting the skeletal ones. By following these simple rules, it is easy to get an attractive, abundantly flowering shrub.

Output

Hydrangea is an ornamental shrub that can decorate any corner of the garden. Several of its species are winter-hardy in central Russia, but the rest require shelter. The most common and resistant to cold are paniculate and tree-like. A popular variety of panicle hydrangea is Phantom, and a tree type is Annabelle.

These plants require annual pruning. When planting in a hole, nutrients are added. In hydrangea large-leaved in acidic soil, when using special alum, the color of the inflorescences changes. You can grow these plants from seeds, propagate by dividing the bush and cuttings.