Hydrangea leaf planting and outdoor care in the Urals

Hydrangea flowers create the effect of airiness and lightness. The culture has more than 35 different species, including shrubs, small trees, and even lianas. Garden hydrangea, planting and caring for which requires certain climatic conditions, can also develop in the Urals, if we take into account all the subtleties of the process and create the necessary atmosphere for effective growth.

Variety selection

Since in the territory of the Ural Territory the temperature is often kept in the range of 35-40 degrees of frost, the most adapted types of hydrangea will be: paniculate and tree-like. They are considered the most unpretentious and winter-hardy options, so the likelihood that they will take root is much higher.

Hydrangea flowers create the effect of airiness and lightness.

Growing a crop in such conditions requires special skills in caring for the plant. The growing process begins with a careful selection of seedlings. You should not buy flower sprouts with a dry clod of earth. It is highly likely that they will not take root, as they are very sensitive to the lack of moisture in the soil.

The necessary conditions

For planting flowering shrubs, it is better to choose an area that is in partial shade and protected from the winds. Various buildings on the site or a reliable fence can act as protection. Also, the plant does not tolerate exposure to direct sunlight - this can damage not only the leaves, but also cause the bush to wilt. At the same time, the paniculate type of flower needs shade more than the tree-like one.

The soil

It is desirable that the soil be rich in peat. In order to prevent weathering and freezing of the base of the culture trunk, you can cover the ground around the flower with geotextiles, or cover it with bark of coniferous trees. If the land is too depleted, you need to take care of adding fertile black soil, which is added to the bottom of the planting holes.

It is desirable that the soil be rich in peat.

It is important to regularly loosen the soil near the roots to ensure an adequate supply of oxygen. If there is no time for regular maintenance, you can add a layer of mulch to the soil at the first planting.

Watering

Garden hydrangea needs moisture. Insufficient watering during the hot months can cause the plant to freeze out in winter, especially fragile seedlings.

If watering from a watering can is not possible, you can install an automatic irrigation or drip irrigation system.

Insufficient watering during the hot months can cause the plant to freeze out in winter, especially fragile seedlings.

Immediately after planting, you need to water the flower plant daily, and after the time has elapsed, reduce watering to the required volume to prevent the trunk from drying out.

Features of planting garden hydrangea

Planting culture is carried out in spring or autumn. In very cold climates, it is best to plant cuttings in the spring so that they can get used to the cold. There are several basic rules for planting a plant:

1. After fertilizing the substrate, a layer of peat is poured into the planting hole, and the roots of the seedlings are slightly shortened.
2. The planting hole should be 30 cm in diameter, and the distance between the seedlings should be at least one meter.
3. The plant is placed in single bushes or groups of seedlings on the lawn.
4. After fertilizing the soil, peat is poured into the hole, and the roots of the seedlings are shortened. When placing the cuttings in the pit, do not deepen the root collar.
5. If the planting is carried out in the spring, then it is better to shorten the one-year-old shoots by 3 buds.
6. After planting, the bush must be thoroughly watered and covered with a layer of peat or humus to keep the base of the stem warm.

For hydrangea, garden planting in the open field in autumn is considered not the best option, since young seedlings do not have time to get used to the climate, but immediately fall into severe frosts.

Top dressing

Before planting cuttings, the soil must be enriched with mineral and organic fertilizers. At the initial stage of growth, plants are fertilized with minerals and humus. Over time, you can add nitrogen fertilizers or use ready-made mixtures offered in stores.

In order for a hydrangea, planting and caring for which is associated with the flow of nutrients into the stems, to bloom often and abundantly, it is necessary to carry out two dressings per month.

In order for a hydrangea, planting and caring for which is associated with the flow of nutrients into the stems, to bloom often and abundantly, it is necessary to carry out two dressings per month.

In order for the shrub to bloom luxuriantly and for a long time, you need to carry out regular feeding.

At the beginning of the growth of the seedling, you need to make a mixture of the following fertilizers:

• urea;
• superphosphate;
• sulfuric potassium.

During the budding period:

• superphosphate;
• potassium sulfate.

At the end of the summer months, it is better to choose fertilization with compost or rotted manure. Under each bush, you need to apply about 15 kg of fertilizer.

Reproduction of garden hydrangea

If a garden hydrangea appears on the site, planting and care in the open field, reproduction and pruning should be carried out in ways that best suit the climate.

The best ways to propagate hydrangeas are considered to be propagation by cuttings and layering.

If a garden hydrangea appears on the site, planting and care in the open field, reproduction and pruning should be carried out in ways that best suit the climate.

In such cases, flowering of new plants can be expected in about 4-5 years.

Propagation by cuttings

For this method, at the end of June, you need to process the cuttings, previously split off from the plant, and plant them in the shade in separate beds or in special pots. In winter, they need to be brought into the basement, and planted only after a year. For this method, at the end of June, you need to process the cuttings, previously split off from the plant, and plant them in the shade in separate beds or in special pots.

With the arrival of summer, the plant is taken out into the air, green branches are cut off from it, and the trunk of the bush itself is buried at an angle into the ground, while the branches must be fanned out. Before winter, the bush is mulched, and in spring each bud gives a new flower.

Reproduction by layering

First, you need to dig up the bush in early spring. Then make radial paths up to 2 cm deep, in which to lay one shoot from the bottom of the shrub. With the help of special slingshots, they must be pinned and lightly sprinkled with earth. By the end of August, young roots should appear on the layers.

Preparing for winter

Garden care in the open field in the fall is especially important for any variety of hydrangea. It is necessary to mulch the bush with earth mixed with compost or humus. In the year when the bush was just planted, the plant needs not only reliable shelter, but also bending the branches to the ground before winter, as well as pinning young branches.

Garden care in the open field in the fall is especially important for any variety of hydrangea. It is necessary to mulch the bush with earth mixed with compost or humus.

Recently, completely new varieties have appeared in stores that can bloom on shoots even in the first year, but little is known about their frost resistance.

Shelter

In winter, the shrub needs shelter, as the buds can freeze out. There are two main ways to hide a flower for the winter:

1. Standard way

For this, you can use agrofibre or a wooden box. The branches of the bush are bent down. A cloth of agrofibre is laid on top of it and covered with a layer of spruce branches. Part of the stem at the very root is covered with dry leaves. To keep the plant in harsh cold weather, the plant must be covered with coniferous or leaf litter with a layer of about 15 cm.

Hydrangea shelter

2. Shelter by spunbond

This method requires preparation. At a distance of about 20-25 cm from the plant, a wire frame is installed. Its height should be 15 cm higher than the plant itself. The flower shrub is covered with fallen leaves. Under such insulation, hydrangea will be able to winter even in a harsh climate.

Shrub pruning

Plant pruning can be done for aesthetic beauty and to improve plant health and flowering.

Bush formation

When growing a panicle garden hydrangea, planting and care in the open field should also include the formation of bushes. For this, the shrub is periodically pruned. Without pruning, the flower tree may at first thicken strongly and take on a neglected look. As a result, they may bloom worse, the inflorescences can be greatly crushed. But if you carry out pruning, you can not only keep the original shape, but also improve the condition of the plant. Usually 6-10 strong shoots are left, which are shortened by several buds. If you leave only two buds at the bottom of the tree, the flowers will be more rare, but larger. It is important to remove dry inflorescences.

When growing a panicle garden hydrangea, planting and care in the open field should also include the formation of bushes.

When profuse flowering begins, the branches may not be able to cope with the weight of the inflorescences. To avoid breaking the branches, the plant must be tied to a nearby wooden or metal stand.

Sanitary pruning of bushes

Pruning a plant before winter is an important event for a garden hydrangea, if planting and care in the open field in the Urals is carried out competently. The branches of the paniculate and tree-like hydrangea are shortened by half or by a third.

You can cut the bushes in early spring. Many gardeners are convinced that it is better to prune these varieties in the spring before the first blossoming bud. After wintering, you need to thin out the adult plant, removing all weak branches, as well as those growing inside the bush, creating extra shadow and thickening. Frozen stems are best cut to the start of healthy wood.

Pruning a plant before winter is an important event for a garden hydrangea

There are times when even rooted cuttings begin to bloom. To prevent this from happening. All this beauty must be removed in order to fill young shoots with strength and power.

Diseases and pests

Chlorosis of the bush can become one of the plant diseases. It is caused by a lack of iron.

Chlorosis damages crops not only with an excess of lime, but also when watering with hard water. A sign of the disease can be: yellowing, lightening of leaves, general oppression of the plant.To cure young branches and improve the condition of the foliage, you need to bring the acidity of the soil back to normal. To do this, you need to add substances to the soil that neutralize the alkali.

To acidify alkaline soil, you can use from recipes:

1. You can use citric acid. The concentration of the product is taken at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 15 liters. This method is recommended once a month.
2. You can dilute a Citramon tablet in 5 liters of water. It is watered once a month.
3. Malic acid (acetic acid can be used) dissolves at the rate of 100 grams per 10 liters of water.
4. Dissolve one and a half tablespoons of oxalic acid in 10 liters of water.

The main pest of the plant is considered to be a spider mite, which affects even flowers such as violets. It harms not only the leaves, but also the crop stem. To fight it, you need to use special preparations that will quickly and effectively get rid of adversity and return flowering.

To make young seedlings more durable, they can be watered with a weak solution of manganese so that the culture is resistant to pests and diseases.

The main problems and failures when growing bushes

The cultivation of garden hydrangea, planting and care in the open field in the north-west of the country is always associated with a lot of problems, since it is influenced by a lot of factors.

The main reason for failed cultivation can be an adverse reaction of the soil. If the land on the site does not have the required acidity, it can be acidified. For this, sour peat, litter of needles or tree bark are used. You can also pick up ready-made fertilizers for acidifying the soil, which are selected in a specialized store for each type of unusual flower.

If there is a lot of lime in the soil, the flower suffers from a lack of iron, which is necessary for normal life. In this case, you need to shed the soil with a solution of ferrous sulfate. The main thing is, after any application with a solution and dressing, to monitor the condition of the leaves and the trunk itself, since the reason for the wilting of the shrub may be incorrectly identified. If the condition has not improved, it is necessary to look for another reason for the worsening of the condition of the bush. This may be a lack of moisture or a pest, the appearance of which cannot always be immediately noticed.

Having dealt with the intricacies of growing a "capricious" flower in the harsh climate conditions of the Ural Territory, you can create a lush garden in which a luxurious plant will solo. The shrub has high aesthetic characteristics, therefore, it is often used as a decorative element when creating landscape design on a personal plot.

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Garden hydrangea is a very decorative and unpretentious flowering shrub. Despite the fact that this plant is quite thermophilic, it can be grown in different climatic zones.

So, in the conditions of the mountainous Urals, it feels great and blooms profusely. With a properly chosen landing site and proper care, hydrangea perfectly tolerates the harsh Ural climate.

In the article, you will learn in detail about the cultivation of hydrangeas in the Urals.

Features of the climatic conditions of the Urals

The climatic conditions of the Urals are different for all of its regions. So, in the north - in the circumpolar and northern Urals - summer lasts no more than 1 month, and the average July temperature does not exceed 6 ° C. But in the middle and southern Urals, the climate is much milder. Here in summer the temperature rises up to 20 and even up to 28 ° C. The average winter temperature is -20 ... -22 ° C, although it can drop down to -35 ° C. In these regions, it is possible to grow frost-resistant varieties of hydrangea.

The climate of the Urals is characterized by an uneven distribution of precipitation. The ridge traps large air masses. For this reason, in the Cis-Urals, the average annual rainfall is much higher than in the Trans-Urals. The air humidity in these areas also differs.

In the western part of the Urals, the climate is temperate continental, while the eastern part is characterized by continental climatic conditions. The difference between summer and winter temperatures in the Cis-Urals is 38-42 ° C, and beyond the Ural ridge this figure is much higher. Here in winter, frosts are kept down to -45 ° C. Therefore, even when growing the most frost-resistant varieties of hydrangea, the bushes must be carefully covered for the winter. Without shelter in these harsh conditions, the plant does not survive.

Choosing a place for planting hydrangeas

When choosing a place for planting hydrangeas, it is necessary to take into account its illumination, protection from the wind and soil moisture. It is also important to know the composition of the soil at the planting site, so that, if necessary, fill the planting hole with the soil mixture that is optimal for the plant.

In some areas of the Urals, summer is quite hot and sunny... When planting hydrangeas, you need to choose a place with diffused lighting. The sun's rays should not hit the leaves of the plant in the afternoon. Only in the morning hours is it possible to illuminate with direct sunlight. Therefore, it is better to plant a hydrangea under the crowns of trees.

Place the hydrangea in a quiet location. She does not like the wind, grows poorly and blooms in open spaces. It is better to plant a bush near a solid fence or wall of a house so that it is reliably protected from gusts of wind.

A moisture-loving hydrangea should not be planted in an arid place. It is desirable that the soil is well moistened and does not dry out. Otherwise, this plant will need to be watered frequently for good flowering.

But stagnation of water in the soil is just as harmful for him as drying out. Hydrangea should not be planted in swampy places. From excess moisture, root decay begins, the bush quickly dies.

A slightly acidic soil is necessary for the correct development of hydrangeas.... In the Urals, such soils are practically not found. Podzolized and leached chernozems, sod-podzolic and gray forest soils prevail here.

They have a neutral or alkaline reaction, so it is impossible to grow hydrangea on natural soil in many places. When planting a plant, peat is added to the planting hole to acidify the soil.

Suitable varieties of hydrangea for the Urals

Hydrangea is grown by many gardeners in the Urals. But not all plant species are suitable for a given region. Many varieties of hydrangea cannot survive harsh winters even with careful hiding. Only paniculata and tree hydrangea are grown here. It is recommended to choose the most winter-hardy varieties of these species.

In the Ural region, the following varieties of panicle hydrangea are popular:

• Dart's Little-Dot;
• "Limelight 'Pieter Zwijnenburg";
• "Kyushu";
• Vanille Fraise;
• "Unique".

«Dart's Little-Dot"- a low-growing compact variety, not exceeding 80 cm in height. Flowers - milky white, collected in large inflorescences.

Over time, they change color to pink. Blooms from mid-July to late August. Withstands frosts down to -29 ° C without shelter. In the photo on the left.

«Limelight 'Pieter Zwijnenburg"- a large plant, reaching a height of 2.5 m. It has creamy white inflorescences with a slight green tint. Blooms from mid-summer to late September. Winter hardiness of this variety is high.

«Kyushu"- another variety of panicle hydrangea with high winter hardiness. The plant forms very large bushes, the height and diameter of which reaches 3 m. White fragrant flowers are collected in long inflorescences. Flowering is very long, ends in mid-October.

«Vanille fraise"- a small flowering plant, the height of which is rarely more than 1.5 m. Forms large inflorescences of creamy white flowers. By the end of flowering, the inflorescences turn dark red. Blooms until mid-September. Withstands temperatures down to -29 ° C without shelter.

«Unique"Is a fairly large plant, the height of which often reaches 2.5 m. It blooms with white inflorescences, which eventually acquire a pinkish tint.Withstands winter frosts down to -34 ° C without shelter.

Also on the territory of the Urals, many varieties of tree hydrangea are successfully grown. The following varieties are especially popular:

• Annabelle;
• Sterilis;
• Hayes Starburst.

«Annabelle"- a frost-resistant variety that blooms until mid-September. Its height does not exceed 1 m. It blooms profusely with white flowers, collected in large round inflorescences. In the photo on the right.

«Sterilis"- long-flowering variety. It usually blooms from mid-summer to late October. Young inflorescences have a light greenish tint, over time the flowers become pure white. Blooms profusely. A frost-resistant enough variety for growing in the harsh conditions of the Urals.

«Hayes starburst"- a frost-resistant variety that can withstand temperatures of -34 ° C without shelter. This is a compact plant, not exceeding 1.5 m in size. It has snow-white double flowers, collected in large inflorescences.

Hydrangea care basics in the Urals

The frequency of watering hydrangeas depends on the weather conditions in the region. If it rains regularly and the ground is constantly wet, there is no need to water the bushes. But very often, especially in the Trans-Urals, summer is quite hot and dry. At this time, the hydrangea must be watered as the soil dries out, but not to allow it to dry out completely.

In order for the bush to develop better and bloom annually, it is recommended to acidify the soil on which it grows... This is done twice a season. The hydrangea bush is watered with an acidic solution. You can use whey. Good results are obtained by the juice of 1 lemon, diluted in 5 liters of water.

For abundant flowering of hydrangeas, regular feeding is necessary. This procedure is carried out twice a month from May to August.

In late spring and early summer, the plant is fed with complex fertilizers with a large amount of nitrogen-containing substances. This will allow you to quickly build up leaf mass and prepare for flowering.

In the middle and at the end of summer, hydrangeas are fed with complex fertilizers for flowering plants with a predominance of phosphorus and potassium. This will support flowering and slow down the development of new shoots, which will not have time to mature before the onset of cold weather.

Hydrangea wintering

Each frost-resistant hydrangea variety has its own temperature range at which it can winter without shelter. But usually in winter in the Urals, the temperature drops much lower and the shoots of the plant freeze out. Therefore, even the most frost-resistant varieties of hydrangeas when grown in the Urals must be carefully covered.

Before the first autumn frosts, the bush begins to prepare for wintering. Leaves, except for the topmost ones, are removed on all shoots. The bush is pulled together with a rope and wrapped with a covering material.

Then it is carefully bent to the ground and fixed with bricks or stones. From above, the plant is covered with sawdust and covered with spruce branches, and to protect it from moisture, it is covered on top with a film or roofing material.

You can also use the frame method of shelter.... In this case, the plant is not bent to the ground. A metal mesh frame is erected around it, which is filled with dry leaves and sawdust. From above, the entire structure is covered with a film or roofing material.

With the onset of spring warming, the hydrangea is carefully and gradually freed from the shelter. But the bush is completely opened only after the end of the spring frost.

Plant pruning

In the first 3-4 years of life, the hydrangea is not pruned. Then they carry out the annual spring forming and autumn sanitary pruning of the plant. Sanitary pruning is done to remove excess and dry parts of the plant that interfere with its growth and are a medium for the development of infection. Formative pruning is necessary to give the plant a decorative effect and to ensure annual flowering.

In the fall, dry inflorescences are cut from the bush... Remove all leaves except the youngest at the tops of the shoots. Dry branches are also cut to prevent them from becoming a source of infection during the winter. After that, the bush can be covered for the winter.

Formative pruning is carried out in the spring. Remove broken, frozen, weak and thin branches, as well as shoots growing inside the bush. Very dense and overgrown bushes must be thinned out by cutting out a few of the oldest branches.

Hydrangea species popular in the Urals form inflorescences on the shoots of the current year. Therefore, to form a beautiful crown, all long branches are cut by 1/3, which stimulates branching. The pruning procedure is carried out with a sharp garden pruner.

Terms and rules for landing in open ground

In the Urals, the planting of hydrangeas in the ground is carried out at the end of spring, when the earth is already well warmed up. It is impossible to plant bushes in the fall in this region. They, as a rule, do not have time to take root well and die from hypothermia, even with careful shelter.

Before disembarking, it is necessary to prepare a landing pit. Its dimensions should be at least 50x50x50 cm, even if the seedling is small. It is necessary to provide the required amount of soil in advance for the development of the root system of the bush. At least 3 buckets of water are poured into the finished pit to moisten the surrounding soil well. A day later, they begin to disembark.

Natural soils of the Urals have a neutral or alkaline reaction, which is unacceptable for the development of hydrangea. Therefore, for planting, you need to prepare an optimal earthen mixture. It should include: humus, leaf and coniferous soil, peat, sand. All components are taken in equal parts. A layer of sand or crushed stone is laid at the bottom of the pit, and on top it is filled with a prepared soil mixture.

Now you can plant a hydrangea bush. It should not be deeply buried so that the root collar remains at the soil level. After planting, the soil is crushed, and the plant is well watered. The soil surface is mulched to retain moisture. It is useful to use peat as mulch. Sawdust from fruit trees is also suitable.

The main mistakes of cultivation and their solution

Often inexperienced gardeners plant hydrangeas without taking into account the acidity of the soil. This is unacceptable for the Urals, since most of the natural soils of this region are unsuitable for growing hydrangeas.

To grow a healthy and regularly flowering shrub, the soil for planting must have an acidity of 5.0-5.5... If the soil is neutral and this indicator is in the range of 6.0-7.0, the soil should be slightly acidified. On soils with an alkaline reaction (acidity in the range of 8.0-9.0), hydrangea quickly dies.

Determining the acidity of the soil is the main task of the gardener who wants to decorate his garden with blooming hydrangea. With a neutral soil reaction, it can be used for planting, but to fill the planting pit, this soil must be mixed with peat or coniferous soil. Alkaline soil is not used for planting hydrangeas. The planting hole is filled with soil mixture for hydrangeas, and the plant is fed monthly with iron sulfate (5 g per bucket of water).

Wrong landing site is another common mistake when growing hydrangeas. It should not be planted in places that are too dry. Often, even intensive watering does not help.

Also, you should not place bushes in lowlands where water stagnates. If it is not possible to choose another place, you need to prepare a deep planting hole, and lay a thick layer of crushed stone drainage on its bottom.

Often in the summer months, hydrangea bushes infest pests, which leads to the fall of flowers and the drying of young shoots. Most of all, the plant suffers from aphids, which can multiply on its shoots in huge numbers. Also, a red spider mite may appear on the bushes. There are also other garden pests.

You should not fight harmful insects using folk methods. They allow only partially to destroy them, but the pests will soon multiply again. It is necessary to use only purchased pesticides, with the help of which you can completely destroy pests and save the plant.

Propagation of hydrangea

There are 5 ways to breed hydrangeas:

• Sowing seeds;
• Reinking;
• Reproduction by layering;
• Reproduction by offspring;
• Division of the bush.

Hydrangea seeds are rarely propagated. This is a very time consuming and laborious method. Usually, vegetative propagation methods are used.

Cutting is the most productive method for producing young hydrangeas... Cuttings are cut in mid-July. They are rooted in pots in a mixture of peat and sand under a film. For quick rooting, they are treated with a root growth stimulator. Rooted cuttings are grown as potted plants for at least 2 years and only then are planted in open ground.

To obtain a layering, cut the bark on the lower branch of the bush and drop it in the place of the cut. This is done in late spring. Usually, by the fall, the cuttings are already taking root. But they separate it and transplant it to a new place only the next year. The offspring are also transplanted - the lower rooted shoots of the bush.

Hydrangea bushes are divided only during transplantation, therefore, it is rarely possible to get a new copy in this way. However, cuttings are fully formed plants that can bloom as early as next year. Divide the hydrangea bushes in the spring.

Many gardeners are interested in growing hydrangeas in the Urals. Colds of -40⁰ and below are not uncommon there, even cold-resistant crops sometimes freeze out. Breeders are trying to make the life of northerners more beautiful and comfortable; pears, plums and even grapes ripen in Siberian and Ural gardens. You can decorate the site with lush hydrangea bushes, just do not take the first variety you like, pay attention to the zoned varieties. It is not easy for a southern plant to live in a northern climate, provide it with proper care, and your summer cottage will be buried in flowers.

Choosing a variety for cold terrain

Not every type of hydrangea can be grown outdoors in frosty winters. If you want to breed petiolate, large-flowered, or oak-leaved varieties, take care of a reliable shelter, severe cold can destroy the bushes. It is better for a novice florist to opt for a paniculate or tree-like variety. It is advisable to purchase planting material in nurseries of your region or take shoots in your area, and not bring from other areas.

If dwarf varieties are planted on the site, they can be completely covered with snow, in such a "fur coat" the flower will become 10 degrees warmer than in the open air. When the hydrangea is not higher than a meter, its branches can be bent to the ground, and the Ural weather itself will wrap the ground in high snowdrifts. It will be more difficult to insulate a three-meter bush, it remains to hope that the upper branches will withstand severe frost.

Do not be surprised if friends give you a branch from their bush, and the inflorescences turn out to be of a different shade. You have a hydrangea of ​​exactly the same variety, it is just that this plant can change colors. It all depends on the acidity of the soil. At the dacha, where the main plant lived, the soil is sour and the inflorescences are bluish. You planted shoots in the ground with an alkaline reaction - expect that in the summer it will be covered with pink tassels.

Where to find planting material

The best option for obtaining planting material is to purchase seedlings of zoned varieties in the nursery. Conscientious sellers will never offer you a bush with bare roots. Hydrangea does not tolerate even short-term overdrying of the underground part; buy plants only in containers filled with soil. Remove the bush from the container, inspect the soil and root system. If you notice mold or rotten growths, skip the purchase.

The seedling must be healthy without damage. When purchasing a flower with already open leaves, check that they are fresh, bright green. If the foliage has lost its elasticity or acquired a brownish tint, it is highly likely that the hydrangea is infected with some kind of infectious disease.You can purchase a plant in the summer, when the inflorescences have already blossomed, in this method there are both pros and cons. You can choose a bush with the most beautiful inflorescences, but hydrangeas will have less time for rooting and gaining strength before a difficult winter in the Urals.

You can detach part of the bush or take a stalk from neighbors in the country. In the spring, several shoots with part of the root system are separated from the overgrown flower with a shovel and planted in a new place. When propagating by cuttings, it is advisable to treat the cut with special stimulants and stick it into the ground. In less than a month, the hydrangea will take root and start developing in a new location.

Planting hydrangeas

In warm regions, hydrangeas are planted in spring, summer and autumn. In the harsh Ural climate, it is necessary for the plant to take root well and get stronger by winter. If you plant the bushes as soon as the spring frosts end, they will take root well during the warm season and will be ready for the cold.

The site must be well lit and protected from strong winds. Determine from which side the site is blown by the most intense air currents, plant a flower so that buildings, fences and dense bushes protect it. Hydrangea loves fertile soils with a high content of black soil or peat. If the soil is clay, you can fertilize it with humus or compost. Add coarse sand for looseness and drainage. The pH should be between 5-6 units. If it is too low, add peat or needles, and if it is too low, add lime.

Dig holes with a depth and diameter of 0.5 m at a distance of one and a half meters from each other. Place gravel on the bottom for drainage and 2-3 shovels of humus or peat. The roots of the hydrangea branch strongly, gently spread all the processes, place them in the hole so that the root collar is at ground level. Bury the holes with fertile soil, water well and mulch with peat or pine needles, the layer thickness should be at least 6 cm.

Advice

When planting a hydrangea, set it so that the root collar rises a few centimeters above the ground. When you add a layer of mulch, it will be in the right place, so you don't have to shovel the peat off the stems.

Care

In the warm season, growing and caring for hydrangea consists of the same operations that are used for growing other flowering shrubs.

• Watering as the soil dries, 1-2 buckets per bush. Over the summer, water the bush with an acidic solution 2 times: add juice from one lemon to 5 liters of water.
• Top dressing with complex fertilizers in spring, early summer and during the formation of inflorescences.
• Weeding and loosening the soil. With good mulching, the need for these procedures disappears.
• Pruning. In the spring, remove all damaged, frozen, diseased and weak shoots, as well as branches growing inside the bush. In the fall, remove dried flowers and shoots that have not had time to woody. To rejuvenate aged plants, you need to leave 5 strong and healthy trunks, and cut the rest.

Advice

Hydrangea cannot tolerate excess calcium. When feeding, avoid preparations with a high content of this component and do not use ash and lime.

In summer cottages, it is common to grow hydrangeas in the form of a bush. If you plant plants a short distance from each other, you can make green screens, divide the area into several zones with hedges, or create a labyrinth. Small trees near the house or in a flower garden look original. To give the hydrangea a standard shape, you need to carry out formative pruning on one trunk for several seasons, and remove the remaining shoots.

If the bushes are tall, the tops of paniculate and tree-like varieties can be left uncovered for the winter or wrapped in non-woven fabric. All other species in the Urals must be completely insulated or grown in large tubs and transferred to a greenhouse or winter garden for the cold season. Bend low shoots to the ground, secure and cover with spruce branches or other insulating material.Pour a layer of mulch no thinner than 10 cm on the ground. After snowfalls, throw a large snowdrift over the bushes so that it protects the shoots from frost.

Diseases and pests

Even in unfamiliar climates, hydrangea rarely gets sick. To prevent such a nuisance from happening to your flower, purchase planting material only in reliable nurseries. When you dig up shoots or take cuttings from neighbors, carefully examine their bush. If you saw that he looks depressed, the leaves dry or change color - do not take it, why would you carry the infection to your site. Much also depends on you. Plant the plants at a sufficient distance from each other, do not allow the crown to become too dense. With good living conditions and proper care, the plant will be strong and able to resist infections and pests.

Most often, the bush is affected by chlorosis. It arises from a lack of iron or an excess of lime in the soil. If you notice that the leaves become lighter and acquire a yellow tint, first of all, pay attention to the water for irrigation, it should be soft, preferably rainwater. Water diseased plants with water with the addition of potassium nitrate or iron sulfate at a concentration of 40 g per bucket.

Hydrangea can become infected with fungal infections.

• White rot. The leaves darken, rot, a white bloom appears on them.
• Gray rot. Watery spots appear on the leaves, which are then covered with a gray bloom, similar to cotton wool.
• Downy mildew. Oily spots appear on the aerial parts, which gradually darken.
• Powdery mildew. Yellowish, gradually turning brown spots are formed on the leaves. On the inside, a gray or purple bloom appears.

If the bush is damaged, treat it with copper oxychloride or other fungicides.

With high humidity or too dense planting, snails can attack the bushes. They eat young shoots and buds. If the pests are not destroyed, they will overwinter underground in the roots, and in the spring they will gnaw the emerging buds and young leaves. The main methods of control are manual collection of shellfish and poisoned baits. The bushes are also affected by spider mites and aphids. If you spot insects, treat the plants with an appropriate insecticide.

Conclusion

The magnificent hydrangea can be admired not only by residents of the southern regions, thanks to the selection work, this flower grows in Siberia and the Urals. When buying seedlings, keep in mind that not every species can withstand severe frosts. Buy varieties of local breeding, and when buying, check if cultivation in the open field is permissible, or this variety can only be bred as a houseplant.

The zoned varieties can withstand severe frosts, but it is better to help the plant survive the cold winter. Shoots that did not have time to woody will surely freeze, it is better to remove them in the fall. To prevent the bush from releasing new branches by the fall, do not feed it with nitrogen fertilizers from the second half of summer. Cover the ground around the trunks with a thick layer of mulch, and insulate the above-ground part if possible. Hortense does not ask for much attention from you, and she will surely repay for her care with beautiful lush bunches of flowers.

Hydrangea - ornamental shrub with large, stunning beauty, inflorescences. However, for all its splendor, this plant is rarely found in Russian gardens, especially in regions with cold winters. This is due to the reputation of a heat-loving sissy, which is entrenched in the bush. Let's try to figure it out is hydrangea really only adapted to southern climates, or domestic gardeners ignore it in vain. And also consider the features of planting and caring for garden hydrangea in the open field.

All about garden panicle hydrangea (pink, blue, white): types, subtleties of care

Garden hydrangea, it is large-leaved, differs from other varieties in short stature, and at the same time simply in huge lush inflorescences.

Flowers of pink and blue shades delight the eye from July to October. This makes the plant a desirable tool for gardening.

The only drawback of the large-leaved panicle hydrangea is its low resistance to cold. The maximum allowable temperature drop for a plant is –18 degrees.

The correct planting time will help to keep the plant in the harsh winter conditions.

The native land of the shrub is the tropical island of Mauritius. There, as well as in other areas with a warm climate, the plant it is customary to plant in autumn... In our country, this is possible only in the gardens on the Black Sea coast.

And for the Ural region with its harsh winters, it is suitable only spring planting... The hydrangea planted in autumn will not have time to get stronger before the onset of cold weather and will freeze out.

And even if it leaves in spring, it is no longer worth waiting for flowering from such a plant.

In the southern regions, hydrangea is planted in the fall, in the northern regions - in the spring.

When to plant in open ground in the Urals: in autumn or spring?

You can start landing, when the snow has already melted, and a stable temperature of +10 .. + 12 degrees was established, but the buds on the trees have not yet blossomed.

The only option in which the time for planting hydrangeas in open ground shifts closer to summer is to purchase a seedling in a pot with a closed root system in the nursery.

Large-leaved hydrangea - care, shelter for the winter:

Secrets of growing and choosing a place for planting a flower

Half of the success comes from choosing the right landing site. The appearance of the future plant depends on it.

In a sunny area, the hydrangea will bloom earlier, and her inflorescences will be larger than when grown in the shade.

But extreme heat also negatively affects the plant, so it is worth choosing a place where the sun shines brightly before lunch, and from the second half of the day there is partial shade.

Low-lying areas will not work either., or with a close location of groundwater. The shrub is hygrophilous, but due to excessive moisture in the autumn, it becomes even less adapted to winter.

For the same reason, it is recommended to create shelters for it from precipitation in the fall.

There are no special requirements for the soil... It can even be podzolic or sandy. But the plant develops best on loamy soils with neutral or slightly high acidity.

If your soil does not meet the required pH level, you can acidify it with peat or pine needles... Or purchase a ready-made soil mixture, the same ones are suitable for hydrangeas as for azaleas or rhododendrons.

The planting site should be sunny, with acidic soil.

The direct planting process includes the following stages:

1. Dig a hole... For a five-year-old seedling, its size is about 60 cm wide and 40 cm deep. Usually, planting material is used of exactly this age in order to obtain a decorative effect immediately after planting.
2. Make drainage in the fossa from coarse sand and add fertile soil, peat and compost there.
3. Place the seedling in the hole so that the root collar deepens by 2-3 cm, then sprinkle it with earth and tamp it.
4. Water abundantly.
5. Mulch the root zone... To do this, use needles, straw, fallen leaves or expanded clay.

When a hedge is formed from hydrangea bushes, a ditch is dug, and seedlings are planted in it with a distance of 1.5 m between them.

How to care

Caring for an adult plant includes the following steps:

• watering;
• fertilization;
• garter;
• pruning.

Hydrangea loves moisture, therefore she needs regular watering... It is necessary to ensure that the soil underneath does not dry out. In this case, only warm and settled water is used.

With the onset of spring, the shrub needs feeding.... Urea is used first.A solution is prepared from it in a ratio of 20 g per 1 bucket. An adult plant needs 3 buckets of solution.

At the beginning of summer, organic matter should be decomposed under the bush - manure, humus or compost. The last feeding is carried out in the fall, at which time complex mineral fertilizers are recommended.

Fertilization promotes the active growth of the plant, which forms larger leaves and inflorescences.

This, in turn, requires the implementation of the next event - a garter. Tying large branches will keep them from breaking off..

Caring for an adult plant includes watering, pruning, tying and feeding

Pruning

Another important action in the care of hydrangea is pruning. Without pruning the branches, you will not have a beautiful ornamental shrub.

Pruning is in autumn and spring:

1. Autumn assumes pruning of shoots and inflorescences at the end of October. Only a few buds should remain on the bush.
2. In the spring, the bush is thinned out... It is necessary to complete this procedure before the kidneys swell. Annual shoots are shortened to 5 buds, which is optimal for increasing the splendor of the bush. If after winter there are frozen shoots left, they can be safely cut to live wood. In the same year, new inflorescences are formed on them.

Given the plant's inability to tolerate cold, the main event for caring for him is preparing for winter... This is especially true for the northern regions.

Garden hydrangeas - the difference between species and pruning methods:

Preparing for winter

Garden hydrangea won't survive winter without shelter... Moreover, it should be under it long enough until the risk of spring frosts passes.

A plant opened too early may freeze flower buds, and then flowering this year will not take place.

The time to set up the shelter will be late October - early November. But you need to look at the weather, the main thing is to have time to do it before the first serious frost.

A pyramid is being built over the bush any covering material is placed from small boards and on top of the structure - lutrasil, agrotex or some other. For additional insulation, you can also put spruce branches on it.

The root zone is covered with peat, sawdust or dry leaves. And the final stage is carried out with the onset of winter, covering the shelter with snow.

It is necessary to disassemble the shelter gradually, starting in early spring. The last layer of insulation is removed only when a stable positive temperature is established.

A pyramid of small boards is built over the bush and any covering material is placed on top of the structure

Protection against diseases and pests

Garden hydrangea practically not susceptible to any diseases, but this does not mean that she does not need to be looked after. Problems can arise only through the fault of the gardener himself.

Most diseases are spread through seedlings. Therefore, purchase seedlings only in safe places - large nurseries. If you propagate the plant by cuttings, make sure that the parent plant is healthy.

Also, illnesses can be caused by improper care:

1. Lack of feeding... For example, due to a lack of iron, chlorosis develops. It manifests itself in the form of yellow foliage. Preventive measures will be to enrich the soil with iron-containing preparations and water it only with soft rainwater, and not from the tap. To restore an already diseased plant, the drugs Agricol, Ferovit and Brexil are used.
2. Waterlogging, as a result of which fungal diseases are actively spreading. These include white and gray rot, powdery mildew. Preventive spraying of the shrub with fungicides will help not to face this problem. The drug "Fitosporin" has proven itself well in relation to hydrangea, but you can use any other fungicide according to the instructions.

Of the pests on garden hydrangeas, you can find:

1. Snails... The plant is saved from them by mechanical collection, as well as by the preparation "Thunderstorm", which is laid out in a low dish under a bush.
2. Spider mite... A sign of its presence is small yellow specks on the leaves. If the lesion is weak, you can get by by spraying with soapy water (150 g of soap per 1 bucket of water). With a large number of pests, the chemicals "Lightning" and "Vermitic" will help.
3. Aphid... They also fight with it with the help of a soap solution, and in case of severe damage with the preparations "Iskra", "Zubr" or "Commander".

Diseases and pests of hydrangea: chlorosis, white and gray rot, powdery mildew, aphids, spider mites, snails

Growing a garden hydrangea requires some effort.... This is especially true for the northern regions. But the beauty and duration of flowering of this luxurious plant more than pays for all the time and labor costs.

You should not be afraid of his thermophilicity either, with proper care, this southern shrub will feel great in the middle lane, in the Urals and even in Siberia.