What you need to know about planting and caring for weigela outdoors?

Few will be able to indifferently walk past the garden plot where weigela grows. Planting and caring for this plant in the open field will interest even those who grow only zucchini with green peas in their beds. Throughout the summer, the shrub is so abundantly covered with large delicate flowers that through this continuous cover you can hardly distinguish shoots with leaves. Florists who previously planted only a lilac bush with a short flowering period are now willingly engaged in the cultivation of different varieties of weigela.

How to choose the right variety for your flower bed?

The shrub is so unpretentious that some varieties grow even in the Far East. He also arrived in Russia from the east - China is considered the birthplace of the bush. Weigela is often used there to create hedgesand her pruning pretentiousness is great for forming a bush with a fancy crown. The variegated plant looks like a tender honeysuckle, only with a lot of wonderful flowers, so botanists attributed it to the Honeysuckle family.

Advice! Despite the general unpretentiousness, some hybrids are quite demanding in terms of keeping conditions. For beginner growers, planting Red Prince, Bristol Ruby or Eva Rathke varieties would be ideal.

A small number of shrub species (about 20) successfully compensate for an unprecedented number of hybrids. Snow-white, delicate cream, pink, lily are only a small part of the shades of the color composition of weigela petals. The leaves are a decoration of the bush: dark green, shiny, with a short petiole or without it at all. Gardeners prefer the cultivation of varieties:

• Red Prince. A compact shrub (up to 1.6 m high) blooms in late spring. An unusually vibrant plant - large green leaves combined with purple flowers are a mesmerizing sight. Red Prince bloom lasts more than a month, after a short period of dormancy, it resumes again.

• Eva Rathke. The difference of the variety is its extreme unpretentiousness, the ability to quickly regenerate. Even after being severely frozen in winter, in the spring weigela quickly grows new shoots. The inflorescences of Eva Rathke are of a rich dark pink color, densely covered with them. For a bush of this variety, late opening of buds is characteristic.

• Bristol Ruby. The tall shrub (sometimes over 2 m) is popular with breeders. Bristol Ruby perfectly tolerates drought and frost, blooms throughout the summer. The inflorescences look like graceful porcelain bells of delicate pink color. With the correct formation of the crown, the Bristol Ruby from afar can be mistaken for a sprawling tree.

• Alexandra. The most unusual variety - dark green leaves are laced with ruby ​​veins, and purple buds are saturated with black shades. Against the background of shrubs with white inflorescences, it is an enchanting sight. The absolutely unpretentious variety of Alexander is capable of pleasing with abundant flowering even in shady areas.

Florists prefer these varieties to others because of their high frost resistance, the ability to quickly recover after cardinal pruning. Many of them, like the Red Prince, do not require shelter in winter. And Eva Rathke is valued for its ability to grow in width, it is actively used when decorating garden paths. Weigela hybrids grow by 25-40 cm in just one season.

Where is the best place to plant a flower bed?

It is best to consider the requirements of a shrub to growing conditions using the example of the popular Red Prince variety.Weigela prefers places that are brightly lit by the sun most of the day. Planting in flower beds where diffused lighting predominates will also not affect flowering. Partial shade will negatively affect the opening of the buds - there will be fewer flowers, there will be a loss of their decorative effect.

Advice! Do not plant Red Prince and other weigela varieties in areas where wind blows. The attachment of leaves and flowers to the stem is rather weak, a strong gust of wind can cause damage to the bush from which it will not recover.

The plant grows more readily in soils with weakly basic PH values. One condition is imposed on the soil - it must be saturated with air, dense adherence of the roots is not allowed. The compressed layer of earth will cause rotting sections of the Red Prince's root system. When planting, use a thick layer of drainage material.

How does weigela reproduce?

After flowering, weigela forms a fruit-box. To avoid spilling the seeds, gauze bags are put on the fruits, which are then dried in a dark room. Usually gardeners do not practice reproduction of Red Prince and other varieties by seeds: a flowering specimen can only be obtained in the sixth year after planting.

Advice! You can not use seeds if two or more years have passed since collecting them. Germination will be low, and the quality of seedlings will be depressing.

The shrub is easy to propagate by cuttings in late spring. Any shoots will actively grow roots, but seedlings obtained from young strong shoots of Red Prince will bloom most quickly. The algorithm of actions is as follows:

• Cut the long shoot into 20 cm pieces with a couple of buds on each. Dilute any growth stimulant with a small amount of distilled water and soak the cuttings for a day.
• You can plant cuttings in a small bed. To do this, a layer of expanded clay is laid on the bottom, and the soil is thoroughly ground. He must supply the roots of the future bush with fresh air well.
• The holes are made up to 5-6 cm deep, and the distance between the seedlings should be more than 20 cm.
• After moistening the soil with a spray bottle, the cuttings are covered with glass jars.

The roots of Red Prince cuttings form after a few weeks. All this time, it is necessary to air the seedlings daily, removing the accumulated condensate. Do not forget about weeding and loosening the soil, as well as moderate watering. In the place of permanent cultivation, young weigels are planted in the third year of life. Then we should expect the first flowering of the shrub.

Planting Eva Rathke on flower beds in the spring guarantees one hundred percent survival rate of seedlings. Later planting in open ground is fraught with the danger that the root system of plants will not have time to get stronger by winter. If the seedling was obtained in the fall, it should be buried in a dry place at a temperature of 19-22 ° C. It remains only not to forget to moisturize it sparingly.

Weigela care after planting

Water the plant at the root, abundantly. If the soil is breathable, then there is no need to fear stagnation of moisture. It is necessary to weed the soil, and also loosen it 10 cm deep. Mulching the surface with straw or low peat will help to facilitate the care of the weigela in the open field. For the winter, the bush is covered with spruce branches or burlap.

Weigela does not need frequent feeding. In the spring, gardeners scatter a granular mixture of fertilizers near the bushes. It must contain equal parts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Throughout the year, nitrogen fertilization should be excluded - this chemical element will allow the plant to grow its leaf mass indefinitely, provoking meager flowering.

Advice! Before planting in a permanent place, Red Prince should be added granular complex fertilizers to the wells. After that, you can forget about feeding for 2-3 years.

Eva Rathke responds positively to the application of organic fertilizers. There is a danger that when using organic matter, you can infect the soil with the larvae of harmful insects.Before laying the buds and after flowering, it is worth feeding the weigela with mineral fertilizers. For autumn application, fertilizers with an excess of potassium should prevail to give strength to the shoots.

The root system of the Red Prince and other varieties of weigela is highly respected by May beetles and bears. If parts of the plant are covered with yellow spots, and it itself began to dry out, you need to generously water the ground under it with an insecticide solution. The same solution can be used for attacks:

• Aphids. It is easy to recognize a disease by the accumulation of pests on the most delicate parts of the flower.
• Spider mite. Airy shiny threads between the leaves do not decorate the flower, but lead it to death.

Weigela is perfect for creative gardeners. She needs constant pruning in spring and autumn... Breeders, when carrying out this procedure, form the crown of the bush to their liking. Planting weigels in the ground will be an excellent opportunity to create masterpieces on your site.

The most famous variety, Red Prince, is actively used by landscape designers when landscaping squares. In flower beds, weigela will go well with roses, alyssum and hyacinths. They should be planted in the front position so that the tall bush does not shade the neighbors. And the fruit trees in the background will give the group of plants a sophisticated completeness.