The main questions that arise when growing hydrangeas.

Hortense is stunningly beautiful and it is not difficult to care for it, contrary to popular opinion. You just need to know what exactly the plant needs, make a little effort to provide the hydrangea with comfort, and you can admire its beautiful flowers for several months. If your hydrangea does not bloom, then a mistake was made at some stage of care, you need to find and fix it. When and how to plant a hydrangea, how often to water and how to fertilize? These and some other questions arise for novice gardeners who are just planning to plant hydrangeas on their site. In this article, we will try to answer the basic questions about caring for this shrub.

Choosing a place and planting a hydrangea.

It is very important for any plant to choose the right place and time of planting, hydrangea is no exception.
Most varieties are planted in the spring when the ground is warm enough. But some varieties can be planted in early autumn, for example, treelike and panicle hydrangea, which have a well-developed root system.

An ideal place for hydrangeas will be a place where there is enough sunlight in the morning, and at lunchtime the plants will be in partial shade. In addition, you will need protection from the wind and the absence of other larger shrubs nearby that will oppress the hydrangea.

If you plan to plant several plants along the garden path, then remember that during the rain, the inflorescences become heavy and tend to the ground, so they can lie down on the path. To prevent this from happening, plant bushes at some distance from the aisle.

Hydrangea loves water very much, it must be watered abundantly, so the soil must be loose enough so that moisture does not stagnate. It is best to lay an additional drainage layer on the bottom of the planting pit during planting.

It is one of the few plants that readily grows and bears fruit in acidic soils. Hydrangea does not like lime, preferring soil with low to medium acidity. If the soil in your area is alkaline, you can add peat, coniferous sawdust to the planting pit, or acidify the soil with a solution of apple cider vinegar or citric acid.

When planting, make sure that the root collar of the hydrangea is at ground level and not buried, then tamp the soil and water the plant well. The trunk circle can be mulched with peat, sawdust, coniferous litter or spruce branches. The thickness of the mulch layer should be about 6-8 cm.

Watering mode.

As we mentioned above, hydrangea is very fond of water. Translated from Latin, its name means "vessel with moisture". The soil of the trunk circle should not dry out, while the plant also does not tolerate stagnant moisture, so you will have to find a balance. It is necessary to water the hydrangea regularly and abundantly; in the middle lane, watering is carried out weekly, pouring 2-2.5 buckets under each bush. The soil should get wet enough deeply, the water should be poured not in one fell swoop, but gradually, so as not to wash out the roots.

But any irrigation schedule must be adjusted depending on the amount of precipitation in a given period. That is, in a dry summer, you will need to water the plant more often than once a week. But in very rainy weather, it will be necessary not only to abandon watering, but also to install a temporary canopy over the bushes in order to avoid waterlogging of the soil.

Fertilizers for hydrangeas.

Like any other plant, hydrangeas need additional nutrition.

In the spring, when the plant wakes up and prepares to grow greens, it especially needs nitrogen, so focus on nitrogen fertilization. You can use complex preparations such as Flower Paradise, Agricola Aqua, Bona Forte or Pokon.

In addition, in the spring, hydrangeas will benefit from spraying with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, which will strengthen the structure of the branches and have a disinfecting effect. "Epin" and "Zircon" work as growth stimulators and increase the plant's resistance to adverse weather conditions.

At the moment when the buds begin to form, the plant most of all needs potassium and phosphorus fertilizers, therefore, superphosphate and potassium sulfate (70 and 40 grams, respectively) can be used for feeding. Nitrogen fertilizing is no longer carried out starting from the middle of summer, as this can have an adverse effect: nitrogen stimulates the growth of shoots, they will not have time to get stronger before the onset of the first frost, and your hydrangea may freeze.

In September, they make the last top dressing, using again potassium and phosphorus. Fertilizers are embedded in the ground, and then the soil of the trunk circle is mulched with compost and dry fallen leaves - decomposing, they will also feed the hydrangea.

Hydrangea chameleon. How to influence the shade of inflorescences.

In this case, we are talking about a large-leaved hydrangea that can change color depending on the composition of the soil. That is, using certain additives when watering a hydrangea, you can change the color of its inflorescences from blue to pink or from pink to blue. And here's the secret.

If the bud in which the hydrangea grows has a high level of acidity, then the flowers will be blue, this is facilitated by aluminum, the salts of which are found in large quantities in acidic soil. And phosphorus in such soil, on the contrary, is small and it is not able to bind aluminum. When the acidity level of the soil begins to change, the inflorescences also change color, becoming at first lilac, and in a neutral environment - pink.

In order for your hydrangea flowers to take on a pink hue, you need to maintain a pH level of 6-6.2. If the soil is more acidic, then you can add dolomite, chalk or lime to it. Use fertilizers that have a much higher phosphorus content than potassium. In addition, you can water hydrangeas with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Well, if there is no way to change the composition of the soil on the site, then you can try to grow hydrangea in a container - this way it will be much easier to choose the soil of the desired composition.

If you prefer blue hydrangeas, keep the pH at 5-5.5. You can add peat, sawdust or coniferous bark, aluminum sulfate to the soil, and also pour it with a solution of apple cider vinegar. Avoid planting hydrangeas near concrete structures and paths - they make the soil more alkaline. Potassium should prevail in the composition of complex fertilizers, but the phosphorus content should be reduced. In the process of irrigation, a solution of ferrous sulfate can be added to the water.

If you get down to business seriously, you can even get different flowers on one bush, feeding it from different sides with different additives. But it is very important not to overdo it by changing the pH level, because if it rises above 6.5, then the result can be hydrangea chlorosis, which occurs due to the lack of iron.

Well, it should be noted that if a white large-leaved hydrangea grows on your site, then no matter what you water it, it will not change its color. Only colored inflorescences can be "repainted".

Cut off the hydrangea.

On this issue, the opinions of gardeners differ. Different types of hydrangeas form inflorescences on young branches or on shoots of the past year. In the first case, it is possible and even necessary to cut the hydrangea so that the bush is not too thick and the flowering is not shallow. In the second case, untimely pruning will deprive you of the opportunity to enjoy flowering.

In any case, before reaching the age of three, it is not necessary to cut the hydrangea (unless we are talking about mechanical damage that requires sanitary pruning), and then it will be necessary to form a bush annually.

In the spring, before the sap flow begins, it is necessary to cut off the broken and frostbitten branches.
If you have a tree hydrangea growing, then you should cut off branches that are more than three years old, the shoots of the current year should be shortened, since the main flowering occurs on the shoots of the second year.

In the autumn, sanitary or cosmetic pruning is again carried out, removing dried flowers, excess growth and damaged branches. For the winter, it is recommended to wrap the hydrangea either by bending the branches to the ground, or by fixing them in a bunch and arranging a vertical shelter.

Indoor hydrangea.

Hydrangeas grow well not only in the open field, but also in containers as a houseplant, so if you don't have a summer cottage yet, you can easily grow a hydrangea on a windowsill. Caring for a room hydrangea is not much different from caring for a large bush, so you shouldn't have any difficulties.

For indoor cultivation, flower growers often prefer large-leaved hydrangea. Surprisingly, when grown in a container, its inflorescences are usually much brighter than when grown outdoors: instead of pink, they can be burgundy, instead of blue, bright blue.

The plant will need a large container, its volume should be at least 10 liters. If you take good care of a hydrangea, then it can grow up to a meter in height, but still this happens rarely, and in a room it is probably not very necessary.

Agricultural stores sell special soil for hydrangeas, already enriched with all the necessary nutrients, which will be enough for the plant for a while. And in the future, you will need to regularly fertilize (again, the best option would be to buy ready-made fertilizers for hydrangeas).

The place in the apartment for the flower should be chosen light, but so that the hydrangea does not have direct contact with the sun's rays. It is recommended to defend water for irrigation, to prevent the earthen coma from drying out and water stagnation. And of course, it is necessary to protect the hydrangea from drafts and temperature extremes.

With the onset of cold weather, hydrangea can shed foliage. Don't let this scare you, the plant goes into a dormant period. Place the hydrangea container in a dark and cool place, but be sure to water it sparingly. In early spring, a new growing cycle begins, so move the hydrangea into the light, increase watering, apply the necessary fertilizer and wait for flowering. Hydrangea is not capricious and always responds well to care.