Widespread in the wild nature of North America, the European south and the Asian continent, hydrangeas - elegant and majestic shrubs that amaze with regal beauty, are increasingly found on Russian open spaces in temperate climatic zones.
A hydrangea bush with large fairy-tale hats of bright inflorescences crowning flower-bearing stems is a wonderful decoration of any garden. In a culture, hydrangeas are tree-like and panicled. These
flowering shrubs are distinguished from each other by the shape of inflorescences: in a tree-shaped one - rounded flat caps-umbrellas, panicled ones throw out large, long-flowering panicles. Both pink hydrangeas (photos presented in the article confirm this) are equally magnificent, but our publication is devoted to hydrangea trees, a separate species that has been successfully cultivated today and is in great demand.
Species features
The fantastically beautiful pink hydrangea differs from its white-blooming relatives by a rare ability in the plant kingdom to change the shade of inflorescences, depending on the reaction of the soil on which it grows and the composition of fertilizers applied under the bush. This happens due to the presence in the parts of the plant of specific compounds - anthocyanins, which make the same variety bloom in blue acidic soil and pink in slightly alkaline soil.
This deciduous shrub, growing up to 1 m in height with straight basal shoots, oval leaves with a serrated edge and a pointed tip, is compact and decorative. Pink hydrangea with flowers connected in large, umbrella-shaped inflorescences, begins flowering from mid-summer, which continues until the onset of cold weather. The composition of inflorescences is remarkable, the center of which is occupied by smaller large fruit-bearing flowers, and around the circumference are barren, but larger.
In a garden and park interior, hydrangea is equally beautiful in ensembles, groups and solo plantings; it looks spectacularly as delineating paths of borders or hedges. Thanks to the exquisite beauty, flowering hydrangeas in any park ensemble play a major role. Long flowering, succulent greens and compactness of the bush are important components in the overall decorativeness of the plant and its popularity.
How to grow pink hydrangea
The prevailing opinion of the excessive moodiness of this ornamental shrub is very exaggerated, because, like any plant, hydrangeas require care. Following certain agrotechnical rules acceptable for this particular crop does not present any particular difficulties. Only if all the recommendations and advice of experienced gardeners are followed, will hydrangea generously give a firework of pink and purple colors every year. She also has preferences, which need to be known in order to create the most comfortable conditions for the productive development of the bush.
Planting a hydrangea tree: choose a place
The first point in the planting process is the choice of the optimal place: hydrangea does not recognize frequent transplants, it is difficult to survive and blooms poorly. Therefore, before planting, you should choose a permanent place on which the existence of the bush will be most productive.
But the soil of such a plant as pink hydrangea is suitable for anyone, but fertile acidic clay soils are most preferred. In areas with a similar composition, the overall decorativeness of the bush is high and the flowers are brighter and larger, and in order for the seedling to become such, peat, rotted sawdust or coniferous soil are added to neutral soils before planting.
The bush reacts to light. Pink hydrangea is one of the rare plants that do not claim to be the sunniest places in the garden. The love of hydrangea in such areas will suffer from a lack of water, and the bright sun will not allow the enviable beauty of the bush to fully manifest itself. On the contrary, the average illumination, even the shade of the area protected from through wind, will be the best option for planting a plant, as such are its biological characteristics. In hydrangeas planted in partial shade, the duration of flowering increases significantly. An excellent alternative is to plant a shrub under the canopy of fruit trees on the south side of the trunk.
Landing rules: soil preparation
Experienced gardeners recommend planting hydrangea in spring or early fall. A shrub is planted, maintaining an interval between plants of 1-1.5 m. A planting hole is prepared in advance: dig a hole with a size of 50 * 40 * 40 cm, mix the excavated soil with humus, river sand and peat, add 35-40 g of superphosphate and urea .
With this mixture, a third of the hole is filled and the soil is "settled". The seedling is placed in a pit, the roots are carefully spread so that they do not bend up and fall asleep with the remaining prepared soil. Tamp the ground around the seedling carefully, trying not to trample it underfoot, since it is possible to damage the roots and significantly complicate the engraftment of the seedling.
Watering and loosening
Pink hydrangea, the planting of which is completed, must be generously watered with settled soft rain or melt water. This shrub throughout the spring-summer season needs abundant watering, preferably combined with sprinkling. The biological features of hydrangea are such that, with a very high aerial part, its root system grows horizontally, immediately experiencing a lack of moisture in dry periods. Therefore, regular watering is vital for the bush. In summer, he should receive 25-30 liters of water every 5-7 days, although they adjust moisture, focusing on the weather conditions of the region.
So that the ground under the bushes does not catch on with the crust, they cultivate them, cultivating the area around the bush with a radius of 50-60 cm. During the summer, the soil is loosened several times, simultaneously removing weeds. The depth of cultivation is no more than 5-8 cm, since the roots of the plant are located quite close to the surface of the earth. A good alternative to loosening and weeding is mulching with humus, peat, wood chips or plant debris. This significantly saves the gardener time by retaining moisture under the shrubbery and preventing the weeds from breaking through, but you should be sure of the quality of the mulch. Often along with it pests or bacteria that provoke infections and diseases are introduced. Such an opportunity should be foreseen and eliminated.
Top dressing: fertilizers and microelements
In the first year after planting, the plant is not fed, as hydrangeas have enough stock of nutrients that have been introduced into the planting pit. The following year, in spring, complex mineral fertilizers are applied under the shrub at the concentration recommended by the drug manufacturers. The best fertilizers for pink hydrangea are organic. Until mid-summer, you can use infusion of fermented mullein as nitrogen fertilizing, which is prepared as follows: add 3 liters of water to 6-7 kg of manure and leave the mixture for fermentation for 3-4 days. 1 liter of infusion is dissolved in a bucket of water and watered hydrangea once every 10-15 days. Responsive to high-quality organics, not only tree-like, but panicle pink hydrangea , which is quite reasonable, since the plants belong to the same family.
In the absence of organic fertilizing, mineral fertilizers are quite suitable, the most acceptable of which for hydrangea are superphosphate, urea and potassium sulfate. In the second half of summer, carbamide nutrition is stopped, leaving phosphorus-potassium to strengthen the plant for wintering. The frequency of fertilizer application is as follows: the first time - in the spring, the second - when buds appear, the third - in the fall. Rapid growth of the shoots is provided by feeding the plant with a weak solution of manganese, which is carried out in early summer. Fertilizers containing lime and phosphorus will support an excellent pink shade of inflorescences.
Winter shrub care
Pink hydrangea, the care of which is not burdensome, has good frost resistance, but it should still be covered for the winter. The best material for this is recognized as spruce lapnik, on top of which lutrasil or spanbond is laid - a non-woven polymer material that does not allow the plant to melt. Pre-plant spud, raising the earthen roller 20 cm, sprinkled with peat and then cover. This is especially true for young bushes.
Hydrangea has an excellent ability to recover quickly after freezing, however, it is necessary to preserve it in a difficult period, since such tests weaken the plant and affect the flowering, which becomes quite scarce.
Bush shaping and pruning
Pink hydrangea is a decorative plant and its appearance directly depends on quality care. The main grooming measures include trimming. Like many leafy shrubs and trees, hydrangeas need formative and sanitary pruning. In early spring, old, sick, broken in the winter or bush thickening branches are cut. Since hydrangea loves semi-shaded places, the question of thickening is acute: the lack of sufficient light and high humidity can provoke the emergence of bacterial or viral infections in a dense overgrown shrub. Therefore, the dilution of the crown is so important: for a productive development, each branch should receive enough sunlight. This is the role of sanitary spring pruning. At the same time, the crown of the bush is formed by shortening the annual shoots so that 5-6 pairs of growth buds remain on them.
For the second time in a season, hydrangea is pruned in the fall after flowering, removing dry inflorescences, broken stems and emerging small shoots.
Old but productive shrubs that have grown and begin to lose their shape can be rejuvenated in autumn by cutting all the stems to a height of 20-30 cm. Fresh shoots will appear next year.
Hydrangea propagation by layering
The easiest way to get a new bush of hydrangea tree is by instillation of a layering, i.e. the stem of an adult mother plant. The procedure is carried out as follows: in the spring, the shoot is bent to the ground, laid in a pre-prepared groove with humus, and fixed with metal or wooden studs. Sprinkle soil on top of the layers. A necessary condition for rooting is constant moisture and periodic (2-3 times a season) addition of land. The lay will give roots and get stronger, and by the next season they dig it out, separating from the mother bush, and the formed seedling is planted in a permanent place, preparing the soil, as described above.
From the rooted seedling, a young pink hydrangea is soon obtained, the cultivation of which is absolutely identical to the cares that an adult plant requires.
Vegetative propagation: cuttings
Pink hydrangea and cuttings are easy to propagate. Experienced gardeners recommend taking cuttings from cut shoots during the spring formation of the bush or cut them in early summer from the apical parts of the shoots of a non-blooming (uterine) bush or stems that have not had time to open the buds. Sometimes lignified shoots are taken, which are cut in the cold season, rooted at home and planted in the summer already grown seedlings of a shrub called pink hydrangea. Planting and care, carried out subsequently, are the same as for adult bushes.
The length of the cuttings should not be less than 15-20 cm. Greater survival was found in cuttings cut from young shoots of the current year in early summer. On each handle, gently, without damaging the kidneys, cut off the bottom pair of leaves, and the bottom cut should be 1.5 cm from them. Prepare for planting cuttings as follows: 10-12 hours they are kept in a solution of any root stimulation biostimulator, for example, “Kornevina” or “Epina”, controlling the concentration, according to the annotation to the preparations. Then the cuttings are planted in seedlings filled with a neutral substrate, deepened by 3-4 cm. The lower buds of the cuttings from the cut leaves should be in the soil, since they will give the first shoots of substitution.
Boxes with planted cuttings are covered with a film and installed in a greenhouse or greenhouse. Once every 3-4 days, the cuttings are watered and aired, opening the film shelter. Cuttings take root after 3-4 weeks. They are planted in a permanent place with prepared fertilized soil and taken care of, helping to survive in the cold. First-year-olds must be covered for the winter, after they have been spudded and covered with wood chips or peat.
Bush division
There is another very effective method of propagation of a plant such as pink hydrangea. The photo introduces the reader to the division of the overgrown bush. Do this in the spring, carefully digging the bush around the circumference. With the hydrangeas extracted from the ground, gently shake the soil, rinse the root system under running water, inspect the roots and remove damaged and decayed, then with a sharp clean knife, divide the bush into parts, each of which should consist of aboveground stems and healthy roots with several growth buds. Slices are treated with pharmaceutical greens or garden var.
In the landing pits prepared, as mentioned above, the obtained delenia are planted, spilled with water with the addition of “Heteroauxin” or “Kornevin” to minimize stress, they are covered with soil and carefully packed.
Hydrangea pink: problems and solutions
Usually, proper care provides excellent bush decorativeness and generous flowering. It is the flaws in the caring events that often lead to problems, for example, novice gardeners ask themselves why pink hydrangea does not bloom . The main reasons here may be a lack of water, improper planting, too sunny a plot or overfeeding, which caused an intensive build-up of green mass to the detriment of the buds. A detailed analysis of the operations performed will help to understand the cause and eliminate it.
We tried to tell in detail about how to care for pink hydrangea in the garden, the requirements of the plant and the main stages of care. Exactly following the recommendations and tips will help to avoid problems in growing the bush and annually enjoy the beauty of its long flowering.