Planting hydrangeas

Hydrangea is a culture that blooms very brightly and beautifully. This plant belongs to the hydrangea family, a class of dicotyledonous crops. In Latin, the word "hydrangea" means "a container of water." In summer cottages, hydrangea is grown as a plant that gives the territory a decorative appearance. In its height, the plant can reach about four meters. Gardens and parks are often decorated with the help of hydrangeas. Hydrangea produces fairly large inflorescences of a variety of colors. Growing this culture is not too difficult, it is not whimsical. The plant is gaining its growth in a fairly short time. As a rule, hydrangea is first grown at home. A young plant will bear its first buds for about two years. As the plant grows older, it must be moved to a permanent place, in the open ground, a hydrangea planting is required.

Hydrangea loves open, well-lit areas. The soil, in turn, must have a sufficient amount of nutrients. The acidity level should be neutral or low.

Planting hydrangeas: how to do it right

To get planting material, you can use seeds. However, this will take a lot of time. There is an easier option - to buy a young plant in a garden store.

If you still prefer growing hydrangeas using seed, then for this you need to know some rules. Seeds are recommended to be sown in autumn. For these purposes, soil is used that is rich in nutrients.

You can prepare this kind of soil at home. For this, peat (two parts), leaf earth (four parts) and river sand (one part) are used. These components must be mixed well, and then loosened. After the seeds have been sown, cover them with soil. The layer should be thin. Then spray the surface of the ground with water. For this, it is convenient to use a spray bottle.

After the planting work has been completed, cover the container with your crops with glass or film. It is necessary to remove the shelter every day so that the soil has access to oxygen and is ventilated. To successfully grow hydrangeas at home, it is important to maintain the soil moisture level at the proper level.

Seeds germinate best at temperatures from +14 to +20 degrees. After the first shoots have appeared, the covering material must be removed completely. Dive plants in two passes. At first, young plants dive when the cotyledons appear. Then picking is done at the beginning of the spring period. The second time you dive hydrangeas, use small pots.

After the second pick, you can proceed to hardening young plants. For this purpose, in summer seedlings are taken out into the open air. It is best to give preference to places that are reliably protected from the scorching sun, rain and wind. At night, the plants must be brought back into the house.

Thus, the hydrangea is grown at home for about two years. During this time, in the summer, the plants can be kept outdoors. At the same time, for the winter, it is better to take hydrangeas to a room that is well lit and cool.

Throughout this time, it is recommended to remove all the buds that the plant forms. This is due to the fact that the process of bud formation requires a lot of effort from plants. And, thus, there is no longer any energy left for the growth of the bush itself.

Planting hydrangeas outdoors

Planting hydrangeas in open ground involves planting already mature seedlings. Biennial plants can already be transplanted into open ground conditions for a permanent habitat. It is best to transplant at the beginning of the spring. For successful cultivation, an important step is choosing the right site for growing hydrangeas.

The hydrangea will show the best results in areas with good lighting. However, it is better if the light is diffused, without direct rays of the sun. The soil must contain a sufficient amount of nutrients. The acidity should be weak or neutral. If the soil contains too much alkali, then additional acidification is necessary. For this purpose, you can use peat. The special product Acid Plus is also well suited.

Planting hydrangeas in the vicinity of crops that have a superficial root system is not recommended. Such plants will compete for food and water. Planting hydrangeas, or rather, its seedlings, should be carried out in the spring, so that the plant has time to take root before the onset of low temperatures.

Before planting plants in the ground, you need to prepare the holes for planting. In size, they should be twice as large as the size of the rhizomes of the seedlings together with a lump of earth. It is necessary to add top dressing to the pit in a complex, both based on organic matter and based on minerals. In addition, it will not be superfluous if you additionally add a mixture of soil and peat.

The seedling must be carefully removed from the container along with the earthen clod. The root system must be spread out in the planting pit. After that, the plant is covered with soil and compost.

In this case, the rhizomes should be located on a mound, above ground level.

After the soil is filled up, compact it well and pour it over with water. After that, you need to lay a mulching layer in the zone of the near-stem circle of plants. Needles work well.

Hydrangea: planting and care

In order for the hydrangea to feel good and delight you with its beautiful flowering, it is necessary to observe the correct watering regime. Almost always, the soil should be slightly damp. However, it is also not worth pouring over the plants. Plants such as crowberry and erika are good neighbors for hydrangeas. Thanks to this neighborhood, the acidity level will be at the level necessary for hydrangeas.

If the hydrangea was planted on too heavy soil, then be prepared to rip it up on a regular basis. From time to time, you need to make mineral and organic dressings. This will give your plant extra vigor for abundant flowering. In order for oxygen to flow well to the root system, you need to loosen the soil. The depth should be about five centimeters.

The outdoor hydrangea is not very dry weather resistant. If the season is dry and hot, then you need to water the plants abundantly every week. One bush should take from fifteen to twenty liters of water. At normal temperatures, one or two times a month is quite enough. Experienced growers recommend mulching the soil with chips, needles, bark. So the moisture will not evaporate too much, and the normal level of acidity in the earth will also be maintained.

Usually, this crop does not tolerate low winter temperatures very well. However, there are varieties that are capable of surviving winters well. During cold weather, it is better to cover your plantings with a covering material. So the risk that the plants freeze will be minimal.

To get the best flowering results, you need to fertilize at least twice a year. This is best done during flowering. And also after the last flowers begin to fall. At the beginning of spring, it is best to use a urea-based solution.To prepare it, you need to stir two grams of the product in one liter of water. One shrub will require about thirty liters of fertilizer.

After the flowering is over, it is necessary to apply fertilizers based on mineral elements. In summer, it is best to use organic fertilizers. Slurry works well for this.

It is very important not to overfeed your hydrangea as the buds can form too large. This will overload the shoots. This problem can be solved by tying the shoots.

It is necessary to trim the bushes for sanitary purposes when the plants are three to four years old from the moment of planting.

To prevent hydrangeas from suffering from the wounds that remain after the cuts, this procedure must be carried out before the kidneys begin to open.

It is best to prune hydrangeas when the buds are swelling. If you see that some shoots are too long, then they need to be cut to the level of three or four buds. It is also imperative to remove branches that have mechanical damage. Dried shoots should also not be on the shrub.

Hydrangea - petiole planting

After the trim has been done, you will be left with quite a few different trims. They can not be thrown away, but used as planting material by cuttings. Trims with at least a couple of knots will do.

To form a stalk, certain cutting rules must be followed. At the top of the knot, the cut should be straight. And from below it should be oblique. From the node itself, you need to retreat two or three centimeters, and only then carry out the cut.

For planting cuttings, it is necessary to use special planting containers, which are filled with soil mixture (sand + peat). A cutting is planted at about a depth of three centimeters. After that, you need to thoroughly spill the earth with water.

After the planting has been carried out, you need to cover your containers with a film. Moisten the soil from time to time. For this, it is most convenient to use a spray bottle. Once your cuttings have taken root, they are ready to be planted in an open area. This is usually done in the spring. By the onset of winter, the plants should be strong.

The future flowering of hydrangeas is directly related to the state of the plant's root system. For this reason, you need to take seriously the irrigation regime and fertilizing. If you overdo it with nutrients, the root system will take too long to form. This means that flowering will either slow down or be very modest.

What is hydrangea

Hydrangea Paniculata: Photo of the variety

At this time, there are many different varieties of hydrangea. Therefore, choosing the type of this culture that will best suit your conditions, most likely, will not be labor.

Hydrangea that grows in tree shapeusually used in gardens. The height of such a plant reaches from one to three meters. The formation of inflorescences occurs on annual shoots. The flowers usually have a light greenish tint during opening, and when the flowers open fully, they become creamy or white.

As for another popular variety of hydrangea, namely hydrangea paniculate, then the height of such plants can reach from two to five meters. If the growing conditions are good, then such a plant can safely bloom for more than forty years in the same place. Shoots lignify quickly enough. For this reason, this culture tolerates frost very well.

The formation of inflorescences occurs in the upper part of the young shoots. The inflorescences themselves are leafy. This hydrangea blooms, as a rule, from August to September. The inflorescence is pyramidal.

An interesting fact is that during flowering, the color changes.At the initial stage, a light greenish color predominates. After the buds have opened, they turn white. At the end of summer, a light pinkish tint is observed, after which a brick tone appears. At the very end of flowering, white color prevails again.

Many gardeners prefer to see hydrangeas in their gardens. large-leaved... Often for the same purpose they grow broadleaf garden hydrangea. Some varieties can be planted in containers or pots. The leaf plates have a rich deep green color. The structure of the leaf is quite dense. Shoots do not form bark well, so the plant does not tolerate low temperatures very well.

The formation of inflorescences occurs on the shoots of the last year, since the buds are laid in the fall. The color of flowers can directly depend on the acidity of the soil. If it is high, then the flowers have a bluish tinge, and at a neutral pH, the inflorescences are lilac.

Dubolistnaya hydrangea grows in the form of a shrub that grows about two meters. There are many flowers, for an inflorescence from ten to thirty centimeters. Flowering occurs from June to July. The colors are variable. Such a hydrangea does not survive frosts too well, the plants need to be carefully covered.

Hydrangea being ground cover, able to tolerate winters well. It grows in height from two to three meters. Often this variety is used to form the shapes of boles. The foliage is elongated, green in color. The upper part of the leaf blade has a smooth texture, and the lower one has pubescence. Inflorescences during the flowering period change color from white to pinkish.

Hydrangea: planting and care in the suburbs

In order for this culture to please you with its result in the middle lane, you need to know about some points of care and planting.

It is best to plant the hydrangea in a place where partial shade prevails. If the shrub is in direct sunlight, it is necessary to create shaded conditions. Otherwise, the moisture will evaporate too quickly, and this is detrimental to the normal growth and development of the hydrangea.

As for the soil, it should be moist and have a weak alkaline reaction. If clay or sand predominates in the ground, then in order to grow a hydrangea, you will have to try. Before planting plants, you need to add a complex of nutrients to the soil.

To achieve good results, you need to provide your plants with good conditions during the winter period. In order for the hydrangea root system to develop properly, it is necessary to periodically apply top dressing.

The first top dressing is good in the form of carbamide with a high nitrogen content. After fourteen days, it is necessary to add a complex based on organic matter and minerals. When buds are forming, you can also use a complex feeding.

Hydrangea is a very beautiful ornamental plant that can amaze even the most demanding flower growers with its flowering. If you follow all the basic rules for planting and grooming, you can achieve amazing results. And the plant, being in the same place, will delight you with its appearance for more than forty years.