If you think that the landscape of your garden lacks a spectacular and at the same time gentle accent, decorate it with a magnificent shrub - pink Lady's panicle hydrangea. Planting and caring for a plant are simple even for beginners in floriculture, while beautiful flowers will change any site beyond recognition.
This is one of the most popular varieties of panicled hydrangea, which Russian gardeners have long and successfully grown on their sites. Pink Lady's Hydrangea paniculata was bred by the famous Dutch breeder Peter Zweinenburg. Today we will introduce you to the features of this shrub, the secrets of agricultural technology. We hope that this information will be useful for beginner gardeners.
Pink hydrangea paniculata Lady pink: variety description
Specialists consider this variety to be one of the most attractive from a large family. An adult bush grows up to two meters in height. Its spreading crown is distinguished by a magnificent, expanding, fan-shaped form. The long branches of Pink Lady hydrangea cover large leaves with fine-toothed edges.
Shoots are straight, painted in brown. By fall, they acquire a reddish tint. Dense white flowers are connected, they form inflorescences of a conical elongated shape up to thirty centimeters long. Over time, white flowers acquire a pale pink hue. They emit a pleasant sweetish aroma.
The undeniable advantage of this variety is its long flowering, starting from the second half of July and continuing until the first frost.
Features of agricultural technology
Hydrangea Pink lady, whose photo you can see below, is unpretentious and even tolerates short-term stagnation of water. It easily adapts to any type of soil, but at the same time does not tolerate excessive lime content. Most suitable are acid soil types.
Give preference to a soil mixture consisting of humus, leaf soil, sand and peat in a ratio of 2: 2: 1: 1. Experienced gardeners sometimes artificially acidify the soil, bringing it to an ideal state.
The beauty of the pink lady's hydrangea bush, like most perennials, largely depends on the planting material acquired by the gardener. When buying plants, weak seedlings should alert you: subsequently, they are unlikely to be able to demonstrate the beauty of this variety.
Landing time
We have already said that this marvelous plant is unpretentious - Pink Lady Hydrangea. Landing and caring for it will require minimal effort from the owner. The best time to plant a plant is spring, although you can do this work in the fall, however, in this case, some additional measures will be required, which we will discuss below.
When planting Pink Lady hydrangea in the spring, you give the shrub an additional chance to adapt more quickly in the summer, take root in the typical climatic conditions for your region. If you decide to start planting hydrangeas in the fall, then the seedling must be covered for the winter. This is done without fail, regardless of the frost resistance of the plant.
Seat selection
For hydrangea Pink Lady, it is very important to choose the right site for planting, where the plant will feel quite comfortable and at the same time successfully fit into the landscape. For this variety of panicled hydrangea, sunny areas are most suitable, but well protected from the wind. Although hydrangea Pink lady tolerates partial shade, in this case she does not reveal all her beauty: flowers lose their exquisite pink hue. In addition, flowering activity is reduced.
The soil
This variety of hydrangea does not really like sandy soil, which must be taken into account when choosing a place for planting. For this plant, the drainage properties of the soil are important, but they should not be pronounced. This is because this variety of hydrangea is a moisture-loving plant, it will tolerate a short-term excess of moisture, but drought can destroy its root system.
Preparation for landing
So, the place has been chosen, now it is necessary to dig the landing pit correctly and prepare it accordingly for landing. Since this shrub is quite large, its proper development and abundant flowering should be taken care of while it is still small.
The pit for him is prepared quite spacious, its size should be at least 50x50 cm, but not more than 80x80 cm. It depends on the size of the seedling and its root system. The depth of the pit should be at least fifty centimeters. Do not be confused by the rather impressive dimensions of the landing pit: we should not forget that it should be filled with fertilizers.
Now pour two or three buckets of water into it overnight so that the moisture completely saturates the soil.
Outdoor landing
In the morning, fill the pit with a soil mixture and add organic and mineral fertilizers: superphosphate - 65 g, potassium sulfate - 25 g, urea - 25 g. It is advisable to add spruce or pine needles to this mixture, it will additionally acidify the soil. Try to keep lime out of the mix.
Fill the pit with the soil mixture almost to the top, and in this state it is ready for planting.
Seedling preparation
Needs pruning of roots before planting hydrangea pink lady. The description, which can be found in floriculture publications, recommends cutting off annual shoots, leaving only 3-5 buds on them.
Care
Hydrangea Pink lady needs loosening the soil, weeding, fertilizing with fertilizers and frequent, plentiful watering, without which you will not wait for active flowering. This hydrangea variety is frost-resistant, so it does not need shelter for the winter (except for planting a seedling in the fall).
However, if winter is expected in your region without snow and with very severe frosts, then you can’t do without shelter. The length of the shoots of this hydrangea is adjusted annually, and the soil is periodically mulched using needles, peat or sawdust. This will retain moisture under the bush.
Frequent watering of the soil near the bush often cause the appearance of a crust on it. In this case, it is necessary to carry out regular cultivation, cultivating the soil around the bush in a radius of about 70 cm, and at the same time remove weeds.
A feature of this hydrangea is that under a rather high ground part is hidden the root system, which grows horizontally. For this reason, the plant especially needs moisture. Loosen the soil very carefully so as not to damage the rhizomes.
Watering
The soil around the bush should always be moist. This is especially important on dry and hot days. Drying of the soil should not be allowed. Every day hydrangea is watered quite abundantly - up to thirty liters per square meter. In rainy summers, watering is reduced. Potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate) should be added to water for irrigation.
Top dressing
To achieve an active and long flowering, it is necessary to feed the plant with various fertilizers. The plant is responsive to organic fertilizers. For example, slurry works very effectively, but the main thing is to observe the measure, otherwise the inflorescences will begin to break under its own weight.
Good results are given by a complex of mineral fertilizers, if used correctly, a solution (25 granules per ten liters of water) is poured under the bush in the spring.
Rapid flowering hydrangea will respond to top dressing with the following composition: urea (25 g), superphosphate (35 g) and potassium sulfate (35 g) per ten liters of water.
Today in specialized stores you can buy special fertilizer for hydrangeas, which is balanced as much as possible. The plant should be fed four times a year: from early spring to the end of summer or the beginning of autumn.
The first top dressing is carried out during the period of sap flow in the plant. For this, organic fertilizers are used, which give a charge for the active growth of inflorescences. The second feeding should be done during the formation and growth of buds. At this time, compounds with urea, potassium and superphosphate are used. In mid-summer, a third of the fertilizer is applied, which contributes to long-term flowering. In this case, irrigation using a mineral complex is necessary. The last top dressing is carried out in preparation for the winter. It should not be used nitrogen. It is better to use ready-made fertilizer for hydrangeas during this period.
Pruning
Since inflorescences are formed only on new shoots of hydrangea, the plant needs strength for their formation. Therefore, old stems are pruned annually. Only in this case you will receive an abundantly flowering beautiful bush covered with large inflorescences.
Pruning is preferably carried out in the spring before the start of sap flow, before the start of active life.
Pink lady in landscaping
Specialists in landscape design love and actively use this variety of hydrangeas for landscaping suburban areas and gardens. This plant was praised for its abundant flowering for several months, frost resistance, unpretentiousness in care.
It should be borne in mind that this shrub grows up to two meters wide, so it is necessary to leave a border zone between plants in the neighborhood. Pink lady is suitable for any style of decoration: looks great in single-landing, no less interesting in group compositions. This beauty in the neighborhood with coniferous plants looks spectacular. Its inflorescences harmoniously combine with many evergreen trees.
The only thing that should not be forgotten during group planting: select plants that are close in their requirements to the sun, moisture and soil quality.
Hydrangea Pink Lady: gardeners reviews
Most gardeners consider it a great success to choose hydrangeas for landscaping their site. Plants do not require special efforts from the owner in the care, are not particularly picky about the composition of the soil and pleases with abundant flowering for almost the entire season. There were no serious flaws in this variety, except for the need for shelter for the winter in the northern regions.