Most popular hydrangea species do not need special shelters for the cold season. But beginning gardeners are worried about another important question: is it necessary to prune hydrangea for the winter, or can I leave the bush as it is? Unfortunately, it will not be possible to avoid the process of forming this plant with scissors, but it can be simplified as much as possible.
Shelter and pruning hydrangea
Usually only large-leaved species of this beautiful plant has to be protected from winter frosts. However, the first two years of the bush’s life in a new place will have to cover the roots with a simple hilling and pouring a layer of fallen foliage. A rare species - Sargent hydrangea - requires additional wrapping of the entire trunk and branches with kraft paper. You can use cardboard boxes from home appliances if you do not want to mess with traditional packaging. How to prune hydrangea? It depends on the season and the variety of the bush growing on the site.
If the gardener is the proud owner of a paniculate or tree-like species, the removal of inflorescences forming on old shoots will be mandatory. Is it necessary to prune hydrangea for the winter in this case? Of course yes. Without removing the extra shoots, the bushes thicken very much, the flowers become small and faded, and the plant itself begins to slowly turn into ugly thickets. Spring pruning is usually designed to enhance future shoots and significantly increase summer and autumn flowering.
The main requirement for such procedures is that the plant has to recover before the buds appear or before the first frosts. In the spring, excess shoots are removed in late March or early April. But is hydrangea trimmed for the winter, if at the beginning of the year there was already one such procedure? Most gardeners believe that it is necessary.
Autumn pruning is necessary for the normal formation of the main stems of the plant, it allows you to create a unique shape of the bush and solve the problem with most molds and rot. Such ailments can occur due to stagnation of air and excessive moisture in the dense crown. Plus, due to the small amount of light, the flowers and leaves will be pale.
How to prune hydrangea for the first time in the fall
In the first year of life at the end of the season, you can not remove the extra shoots, but this only means that you have to work hard in the spring. The soil will need to be mulched with high-quality compost, and the branches should be cut to a distance of one third of their length. In autumn, you can remove the shoots located on the stiffened stalk shoot. In this way, the trunk of the future beauty is formed: every year you need to thin out such shoots, and the plant will be as similar to a tree as possible, not a bush. Autumn work is also associated with the removal of all wilted inflorescences, otherwise the forming seeds will stretch all the nutrients.
Do I need to cut hydrangea for the winter for fast flowering in the new year? Most gardeners believe that this is a myth - removing shoots at the end of the year only stimulates the growth of the root system and forms the general appearance of the bush, but does not affect the number of buds in the new year.