Hortensia is a beautiful garden flowers with fluffy colorful hats. They are represented by several types: by type of shrubs up to 3 m high, small trees and lianas, which can braid a tree up to 30 m in height. Hydrangea will bloom from spring to frost, delighting with its spherical inflorescences. However, there are species that have this time less.
Landing Hydrangea Rules
You can plant hydrangea in early spring or autumn. In this case, the first option would be preferable. For hydrangea need to choose the right landing site. She prefers a sour soil with good moisture. As for illumination, these flowers can feel comfortable in the sun and in partial shade.
The whole process of landing can be divided into several stages:
It is necessary to dig a hole 40-50 cm deep and 40 cm in diameter. If the bushes or processes of hydrangea are small, it can be made a little smaller.
Now you need to prepare a soil mixture consisting of fertile land, humus and peat. It is advisable to add to it 50 g of mineral fertilizer. If possible, this mixture is left in the pit for 15 to 30 days. If the soil at the planting site is rich and fertile, then the plant can be planted directly into it without prior preparation.
The prepared seedling should be placed in the center of the planting well so that its root collar is not deeply buried. Around the plant should be carefully covered with soil and compacted so that the roots are well pressed and there is no void around them.
Planted bush should be poured abundantly with water. It is desirable to additionally sprinkle the soil on top with sawdust, bark or peat.
After planting a hydrangea bush, it is better to cover it from sunlight for several days. This will allow the plant to reap faster. Hydrangea can be planted both singly and in groups. At the same time the distance between the bushes should be about 1 meter.
Basic rules for the care of hydrangea
Caring for hydrangea is primarily reduced to proper watering, timely feeding, pruning and loosening. If you do everything right, the bushes will be lush, and the inflorescences will be large and bright.
Watering
Hydrangea is a moisture-loving plant that requires frequent watering. It should be abundant in 15 - 20 liters for each adult bush. In hot weather, this should be done once a week. In the hot and dry summer watering can be increased to two times a week. It is necessary to focus on the condition of the soil, given how quickly it absorbs moisture and dries.
For irrigation, it is best to use separated soft water at room temperature. Periodically, it needs to add a little potassium permanganate, which will prevent the appearance of rot. It is necessary to water hydrangea in the morning or in the evening, when it is not too hot.
Top dressing
For good development and lush flowering, hydrangea needs to be fed. For this fit both organic and mineral fertilizers. Especially important is their use during the period of intensive growth. You can buy ready-made fertilizers that are rich in magnesium and iron. A good composition will be fertilized in the form of a solution of bird droppings with water in the ratio of 1:10 in combination with the mineral composition of 20 g of superphosphate, 10 g of nitrate and 10 g of urea. It is possible to use any slurry as a fertilizer, only to comply with the measure, otherwise the buds will be too large, because of which fragile branches can break.
Hydrating should be fertilized not only during planting, but periodically as it grows. The first such dressing should be done at the end of May. After two weeks, it should be repeated. You can fertilize flowers throughout the summer, but in August it is advisable to stop feeding, so that the shoots can become woody by winter.
Mulching
Thanks to mulching of the trunk circle, the hydrangea roots will be protected from overheating and rapid weed growth. You must first make organic mulch, consisting of wood chips or peat. It should be scattered evenly around the shrub. This will help make the soil more acidic, which is necessary for hydrangeas. Such a mulch will gradually become part of the soil.
It is best to bring mulch under the bushes in late spring, when the soil is well warmed. It is also possible to mulch in late autumn, when negative temperatures occur. Periodically, shrubs need to loosen the soil to be more moisture-permeable.
Pruning
Pruning is done on plants that have reached the age of 3 - 4 years. This should be done in early spring - before the sap flow and bud break. If the procedure is performed too early, the trimmed cuttings will be unsuitable for further rooting, and if it is too late, the plant may die. That is why it is important to do pruning, when the kidneys only begin to swell.
When pruning in adult plants should be cut with shears 3/4 of the height of each shoot. At the same time they should remain on 2 - 3 pairs of kidneys. Old bushes can be updated at the root. Everything will depend on the condition of the bush or tree. You need to cut off and old or frozen shoots. During pruning you can form a beautiful small tree with a certain shape. In the first year of growth of hydrangea, its flowers should be removed, because This will contribute to more abundant flowering next year.
Preparing hydrangeas for winter
Hortensia belongs to heat-loving plants, so it should be protected in the winter season. Young shoots and insufficiently winter-hardy varieties need special protection. If the bush is quite young, you can simply fill it with earth on top, with fallen leaves or sawdust. Older plants should be bent to the ground and covered with roofing felt or lutrasil. In order for the wind not to blow it away, you need to press the covering material with bricks.
Adult bushes require more careful shelter. We must try not to break them. The bush should be tied up and then covered with a spanbond or lutrasil, after which a frame made of metal mesh or other available materials can be built around it. It should be at a distance of about 20-25 cm from the bush. Free space must be filled with dry leaves. Such a warmed frame well protect the hydrangea, even with strong frosts. You can remove it in the spring, when there will be a steady positive temperature.
Reproduction of hydrangea
Hortensia is propagated in several ways:
Cuttings. Reproduction in this way is best done in the middle of spring or early summer. As blanks it is necessary to use one-year side shoots. They should be about 10-12 cm long. Cuttings should be cut at a right angle. Bottom they need to remove the leaves.
For rooting cuttings need to prepare the ground. To do this, use a light substrate consisting of fertile land, peat and sand.
It is necessary to plant the cuttings, placing them at an angle. Each individual plant should be located at a distance of 5 cm from each other. To root shoots will take about a month.
The division of the bush. You can multiply both in spring and autumn. To do this, the plant must be dug out and divided into several parts so that each individual bush has a renewal bud. After that, the plant just landed in the prepared places.
Layering. For reproduction of hydrangea by layering, you need to select young shoots that will not be more than a year. They should be bent to the ground and prikopat so that a small top of 20 cm is left on top. Next year the escape will take root and it can be separated from the main bush and planted in another place.
Seeds. This is a rather troublesome process, so this method of reproduction is rarely used. Seeds need to be grown at home. To do this, they are put in pots and only lightly sprinkled with sand. They need to be watered and fertilized often as they grow.
Popular types of hydrangea
Before planting hydrangea, you need to decide on the choice of the appropriate type. Each of them has its own peculiarities of cultivation, which must be taken into account during planting and care. Most popular with gardeners: Hydrangea macrophylis, Hydrangea paniculata, Hydrangea petiolate, Hydrangea arborescent.
Hydrangea macrophylla (Hydrangea macrophylla)
Will delight flowering in July and August. Such hydrangea has a bright dense foliage. The shoots of the current year look grassy, which is why the plant has low cold resistance. Flowers have an umbrella shape. They can have different colors depending on the variety, the intensity of which depends on the acidity of the soil. Than it is sour, the brighter will be the hydrangea. The height of the bush reaches up to 2 m.
Hydrangea paniculata (Hydrangea paniculata)
It blooms from mid-summer until the onset of cold weather. Inflorescences of this type have a pyramidal shape. They can be as long as 30 cm. Paniculate hydrangea grows in the form of a shrub that can reach a height of 5 m or in the form of a small tree up to 10 m. This species is considered to be more frost-resistant and unpretentious.
Hydrangea pedicle (Hydrangea petiolaris)
It is a shrub vine. It will require additional support, to which it will be attached with air suction cups. In length, it grows up to 25 m. It is a suitable type for planting near arches and arbors. Inflorescences have corymbiform shape in size up to 25 cm.
Hydrangea tree (Hydrangea arborescens)
It grows up to 3 meters in height. Flowers are predominantly white or cream color. There are several varieties of this species, differing in different colors. In winter, the plant can freeze, so it must be carefully wrapped. In April, the bushes need to be cut strongly. Flowers grow in the form of large fluffy inflorescences.
Hydrangea groundcover (Hydrangea heteromalla)
It is also called the hydrangea of Bretschneider. This species is considered to be frost-resistant and unpretentious. The bush reaches 2 - 3 m in height. The inflorescences are corymbose. At first they are white, and at the end of flowering they become pink. Such hydrangea blooms in the middle of summer.
Recommendations for planting and caring for hydrangea in the garden - video
