Hydrangea pink: photo, planting and care. Cultivation of hydrangea in a tree-like pink

Distributed 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 expanses in temperate climatic zones. The hydrangea bush with large fairy-tale caps of bright inflorescences crowning the flower stems is a wonderful ornament of any garden. In culture, hydrangeas are distinguished as treelike and paniculate. These flowering shrubs differ from each other in the form of inflorescences: in the tree-like - round flat umbrella caps, the panicles also discard large, long-flowering pellets. Both these hydrangeas are pink (the photos presented in the article confirm this) are equally magnificent, but our publication is devoted to a tree-shaped hydrangea, a separate species, successfully cultivated today and very popular.

Species Features

Fantastically beautiful hydrangea rosea differs from its white-flowered relatives by the rare in the vegetable kingdom ability to change the shade of inflorescences, depending on the reaction of the soil on which it grows, and the composition of the fertilizers applied under the bush. This is due to the presence in the plant parts of specific compounds - anthocyanins, which cause the same variety in the acidic soil to bloom with blue flowers, and in slightly alkaline ones - pink ones.

This deciduous shrub, growing to a height of 1 m with straight root shoots, oval leaves with a serrate margin and a pointed tip, is compact and decorative. Hortensia is a tree-like pink with flowers joined in large, umbrella-shaped inflorescences, begins flowering from the middle of summer, which lasts until the onset of cold weather. The composition of the inflorescences is remarkable, the center of which is occupied by less large fruiting flowers, and around the circle - infertile, but larger.

In the garden and park interior, the hydrangea is equally beautiful in ensembles, groups and soloing plantations, it effectively looks like border lines or hedges. Due to the exquisite beauty of blooming hydrangeas in any park ensemble play a major role. Continuous flowering, lush greenery and compactness of the bush are important components in the overall ornamentality of the plant and its popularity.

How to grow a pink hydrangea

The prevailing opinion about the excessive capriciousness of this ornamental shrub is highly exaggerated, because, like any plant, hydrangeas need care. Adherence to certain agrotechnical rules, which are acceptable for this culture, does not present special difficulties. Only with the observance of all the recommendations and advice of experienced gardeners, hydrangea will generously give fireworks of pink and lilac colors every year. She also has preferences, which are necessary to know about, in order to create the most comfortable conditions for productive development of the bush.

Planting a tree-shaped hydrangea: choose a place

The first point in the planting process is the choice of the optimal location: hydrangea does not recognize frequent transplants, it is difficult to survive and blooms badly. Therefore, before planting, you should choose a permanent place on which the existence of the bush will be the most productive.

But the soil to such a plant as a hydrangea rosea, any, but fertile acidic clay soils are most preferable. In areas with a similar composition, the overall ornamentality of the bush is high and the flowers are brighter and larger, and in order for the seedling to become so, peat, spilled sawdust or coniferous soil is added to the neutral soils before planting.

Reacts the bush and the light. Hydrangea rosea is one of the rare plants that do not claim the most sunny places in the garden. Moist hydropower hydrangeas in such areas will suffer from a lack of water, and the bright sun will not give full expression to the enviable beauty of the bush. On the contrary, the average illumination, even the shading of a section protected from a through-wind, will be the best option for planting a plant, since these are its biological features. In hydrangeas planted in the penumbra, the duration of flowering significantly increases. An excellent alternative is planting shrubs under the canopy of fruit trees on the southern side of the trunk.

Rules of planting: preparation of soil

Experienced gardeners recommend planting hydrangeas in spring or early autumn. The planting pit is prepared in advance: dig a depression 50 * 40 * 40 cm in size, mix the excavated soil with humus, river sand and peat, add 35-40 g superphosphate and carbamide . With this mixture, fill a pit a third and let the soil "settle". The sapling is placed in a pit, the roots are carefully spread out so that they do not bend upwards and fall asleep with the remaining prepared soil. Tamp the earth around the seedling carefully, trying not to trample down, as it can damage the roots and significantly complicate the engraftment of the seedling.

Watering and loosening

Hortensia pink, planted which is completed, must be generously poured by settled soft rain or thawed water. This shrub throughout the spring-summer season needs abundant watering, preferably combined with sprinkling. The biological features of hydrangeas are such that, with a very high aboveground part, the root system grows horizontally, immediately sensing a shortage of moisture in droughty periods. Therefore, regular watering is vital for the bush. In the summer, he should receive 25-30 liters of water every 5-7 days, although correcting the moisture, focusing on the weather conditions of the region.

To the ground under the bushes do not grasp the crust, loosen, processing the area around the bush with a radius of 50-60 cm for the summer the soil is loosened several times, along the way removing the weeds. Depth of loosening - no more than 5-8 cm, as the roots of the plant are located quite close to the surface of the earth. A good alternative to loosening and weeding was mulching with humus, peat, wood chips or plant residues. This significantly saves the gardener's time, keeping the moisture under the bushes 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 are introduced that cause infections and diseases. Such an opportunity should be foreseen and excluded.

Top dressing: fertilizers and microelements

In the first year after planting, the plant is not fed, as hydrangeas have enough nutrient reserves that were introduced into the planting pit. Next year in the spring under a bush make complex mineral fertilizers in the concentration recommended by manufacturers of preparations. The best fertilizers for pink hydrangeas are organic. Until the middle of summer, you can use the infusion of fermented mullein as nitrogen fertilizing, which is prepared as follows: add 6 liters of water to 6-7 kg of manure and leave the mixture for fermentation for 3-4 days. 1 liter of infusion dissolve in a bucket of water and water hydrangeas once every 10-15 days. Responsive to the quality of organic not only tree, but also hydrangea paniculate pink, 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 suitable of which for hydrangeas are superphosphate, carbamide and potassium sulfate. In the second half of summer, the carbamide nutrition is discontinued, leaving phosphoric-potassium to strengthen the plant for wintering. The frequency of application of fertilizers is as follows: first time - in spring, second - when buds appear, third - in autumn. Rapid growth of shoots provides fertilizing the plant with a weak solution of manganese, which is carried out at the beginning of summer. Fertilizers containing lime and phosphorus will support an excellent pink shade of inflorescences.

Caring for bush in winter conditions

Pink hydrangea, care of which is not burdensome, has good frost resistance, but it should nevertheless cover it for the winter. The best material for this is the spruce lapnik, on top of which lutrasil or spunbond is laid - a non-woven polymer material that does not allow the plant to bleed. Pre-plant hills, raising an earthen cushion for 20 cm, sprinkle with peat and then cover. This is especially true for young shrubs.

Hortensia has an excellent ability to recover quickly after freezing, however, it is necessary to keep it in a difficult period, because such tests weaken the plant and affect the flowering, which becomes quite scarce.

Forming a bush and pruning

Hortensia is a tree-like pink - the plant is decorative and its appearance depends on the quality of care. The main caring activities include pruning. Like many leaf shrubs and trees, hydrangeas need molding and sanitary trim. In early spring, cut old, sick, broken in the winter or thickening bush branches. Since hydrangeas like semi-dark places, the issue of thickening is acute: lack of sufficient light and high humidity can provoke the emergence of bacterial or viral infections in a dense overgrown shrub. Therefore, the rarefaction of the crown is so important: for 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, shortening the annual shoots so that 5-6 pairs of growth buds remain on them.

The second time in the season the hydrangea is cut off in the autumn after flowering, removing the dry inflorescences, broken stems and the emerged small shoots.

Old, but productive bushes that have grown and begin to lose shape, can be rejuvenated in autumn, cutting off all the stems to a height of 20-30 cm. Fresh shoots will appear already next year.

Reproduction of hydrangeas by layers

The easiest way to get a new bush of a tree hydrangea is by dropping a layer, that is, the stem of an adult maternal plant. The procedure is 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 pins. Sprinkle the top of the springs with soil. A necessary condition for rooting is constant moistening and periodic (2-3 times a season) addition of land. The brood will give roots and grow stronger, and by the next season it is dug out, separating from the mother's bush, and planted the formed seedling to a permanent place, preparing the soil, as was indicated above. From the entrenched seedling, a young hydrangea rose soon turns out, the cultivation of which is absolutely identical to the care that an adult plant requires.

Vegetative propagation: cuttings propagation

Rose pink hydrangea and propagation propagate easily. Experienced gardeners recommend taking cuttings from cut shoots during the spring formation of a bush, or cut them in early summer from the apical parts of shoots of a not flowering (uterine) bush or stems that did not have time to open the buds. Sometimes take lignified shoots, which are sliced in the cold season, root at home and plant in the summer already strengthened shrub seedlings called hydrangea pink. 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. Cuttings cut from young shoots of the current year in early summer were found to be highly adaptable. On each cut, gently, without damaging the kidneys, cut off the lower pair of leaves, and the lower cut must be 1.5 cm from them. Prepare the cuttings for planting as follows: 10-12 hours they are kept in the solution of any rooting biostimulator, for example, "Kornevina" or "Epin", controlling the concentration, according to the annotation to the preparations. Then the cuttings are planted in seedlings filled with a neutral substrate, deepening 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 cuttings cut are covered with a film and installed in a greenhouse or a greenhouse. Once in 3-4 days cuttings are watered and aired, opening the film shelter. Cuttings take root 3-4 weeks later. They are planted on a permanent place with prepared fertilized soil and are cared for, helping to survive in the cold. First-year boats are always covered for the winter, previously bored and covered with wood chips or peat.

Division of the bush

There is another very effective method of reproduction of such a plant, as a tree-shaped hydrangea rosea. Photo acquaints the reader with the division of the overgrown bush. Do this in the spring, gently digging the bush along the circumference. With the hydrangeas extracted from the earth, gently shake the soil, rinse the root system under running water, inspect the roots and remove the damaged and rotten ones, then divide the bush into parts with a sharp clean knife, each of which should consist of above-ground stems and healthy roots with several growth buds. Slicers are treated with pharmacy zelenok or garden wax. In the planting pits prepared, as indicated above, they plant the resulting strains, spill them with water with the addition of "Heteroauxin" or "Kornevin" to minimize stress, fall asleep with soil and gently rammed.

Hydrangea pink: problems and ways to eliminate them

Usually proper care provides excellent bush decorativeness and generous flowering. It is flaws in caring activities often lead to problems, for example, beginner gardeners are wondering why the hydrangea is not flowering pink. The main reasons here may be lack of water, improper planting, too sunny area or busting with top dressing, which caused an intensive build-up of green mass to the detriment of the budding 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 take care of pink hydrangeas in the garden, the requirements of the plant and the main stages of care. Accurate adherence to recommendations and advice will avoid problems in growing shrubs and annually enjoy the beauty of its long flowering.