How to plant hydrangea outdoors in spring and autumn

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Hydrangea is a beautiful perennial shrub that will be a wonderful decoration for any garden. And in order for the plant to delight with its lush flowering, you need to know how to plant a hydrangea in open ground.

Landing dates

Many novice gardeners are interested in the main question, when to plant a hydrangea - in spring or autumn. Much depends on the climatic conditions of the region.

The peculiarity is that the plant takes root in a new place for a very long time, and many plant it in the spring, or rather, in mid-May. The roots and shoots of hydrangea begin to grow actively during this period, so the chances of adapting to a new place are much greater.

In spring it is warm, but there is no scorching sun, the humidity level is average. Such weather conditions are favorable not only for hydrangeas, but also for other plants. The plus is that the root system of the shrub planted in spring develops better, so the plant will painlessly endure the coming cold in autumn and winter.

When planting a plant, there is one more point to consider. If it is already with leaves, then pay attention to other plants in the garden. If there are no buds on them, that is, they are still sleeping, then it is too early to plant seedlings with leaves. As soon as the buds appear, then it is time to plant the hydrangea too.

Before the purchase, the seedlings grew in greenhouse conditions and if they are planted in an unheated ground, the plant will die. And if you plant it in the summer, then the strong sun and dehydration will be a real test.

In southern regions with a warm climate, autumn planting, which occurs in September, is also permissible.

Selection of seedlings

Experienced growers get seedlings by cuttings. For those who first decided to plant this plant, it is better to buy seedlings in already proven nurseries. After all, there is a high probability of buying a sick or damaged seedling that will not take root in a new place.

Typically, seedlings are sold with closed and open root systems. Determining which type is better is quite difficult. Indeed, in the first case, it is difficult to assess the root system from an earthen coma. With an open system, there is a risk of planting a diseased plant that will infect other plantings in the garden.

And here it is still recommended to choose a seedling with a closed root system - it has more chances to settle down in a new place. But before buying, you should carefully examine the earthen lump. If there are shoots of other plants or weeds in the ground, it means that the seedling has been in this container for a long time and may even have undergone wintering. Such signs indicate that the hydrangea already has its own strong root system.

A few more points to help you choose a good planting material:

1. If the seedlings are with open roots, then they need to be carefully examined for mold, rot or dry roots. You can even smell it, because sellers remove some plaque, but it is impossible to get rid of the smell of mold and rot, so it is felt immediately.
2. The presence of broken shoots, roots, cracks indicates that the seedlings were treated carelessly. They should look safe and healthy.
3. You should not buy seedlings with dry roots, they should be slightly damp.
4. The root system must be healthy, large and spreading. If it is a closed type, then we simply lift the seedling by the root collar and look - the roots should be visible from the earthen coma.

Before planting in open ground, the seedling should be stored in a cool dark room and watered once every 10 days.

Landing place

For the lush flowering of hydrangeas, it is important to choose a suitable place. If the seller says that this plant loves the sun, then this is not true. The more sun, the fewer inflorescences. The hydrangea will have to be constantly watered, otherwise the flowering cycle will end very quickly. She does not like the shadow either. The shrub will begin to ache, the inflorescences become smaller, and as a result, the plant may simply die.

The best option is partial shade, when the sun will illuminate the plant for 4-5 hours a day. But the choice of location also depends on the variety and region. So, it is better to plant panicle and tree hydrangea in the southern regions in the shade between shrubs and trees. In the northern regions, this rule can be neglected, since there is little sun in these areas. Also, in partial shade, it is worth planting large-leaved varieties, but oakleaf and serrate varieties are better in the shade.

When choosing a location, you should pay attention to the presence of wind and drafts. Hydrangea is a very delicate plant, and it can get sick from the slightest draft. Therefore, it is better to plant it near a fence, at home or next to other shrubs, the main thing is that they do not completely cover from the sun.

Do not plant hydrangea in lowlands - it also does not tolerate the close location of groundwater. It is better to plant a hydrangea in a flower bed 50 cm high.

Before planting a hydrangea in open ground, it is worth considering one more important point: its proximity to other plants. So, the shrub should not be planted next to black currants. Essential oils are present in the tissues of this culture, which negatively affect the hydrangea.

White acacia is not the best neighbor for this plant, its roots emit toxic substances. You should not set up a flower bed next to herbs and garlic, as well as shrubs and trees with a developed root system, as they will take all the nutrients from the hydrangea.

The best neighbors are irises, peonies, roses, hosts, astilba. Vegetables - zucchini and cucumbers.

The soil

Before planting hydrangeas outdoors in spring, you should also take into account that the soil plays an important role in its growth and development. The culture loves loose, fertile soil that allows moisture and air to pass through well, as well as with a neutral or weak acidity indicator. If the soil is clayey, and even acidic, then when planting, you need to add dolomite flour to it.

You can prepare the soil in the fall or spring 3 weeks before planting the hydrangea outdoors. In this case, the site must be dug up, clearing it of weeds, roots and other debris.

How to plant hydrangea

Before planting hydrangeas in the open ground with seedlings in the spring, you need to prepare the planting holes. And regardless of whether it is paniculate or any other variety, the holes are prepared in the same way. At the same time, the seedlings themselves must be held in a growth stimulator before planting, but only if they have an open root system.

We start by digging a hole with dimensions of 30x30 cm, the depth is the bayonet of a shovel, then we proceed according to the instructions:

1. If the soil is heavy, we fill in the drainage in the form of broken brick or expanded clay into the hole. But if the soil is sandy, then we take out all the earth from the hole, fill in nutritious soil and some earth from the site.
2. We fill the wells with a nutrient composition. These are 3 large handfuls of leaf or coniferous litter and peat, as well as 2 handfuls of superphosphate, 2 tablespoons of potassium and 1.5 tablespoons of urea, droppings or rotted manure. Add some soil, mix the contents of the hole.
3. We take the seedling out of the pot, straighten the roots so that they hang down, remove the rotten ones.
4. We put the seedling in the planting hole, add a layer of soil, then a layer of peat, water it.
5. As soon as the moisture is absorbed, put a layer of soil and peat again. So we fill up the entire hole, while making sure that the root collar is not underground, but at the surface level.
6. We tamp the soil, water the seedling and, stepping back from the trunk 3-4 cm, mulch it with peat, humus or coniferous litter. The layer of mulch should not be less than 6 cm, it is this thickness that will not allow weeds to germinate and will not allow rapid evaporation of moisture.

Care

Hydrangea is an unpretentious but delicate plant, so it is important to know not only how to plant it in autumn or spring, but also how to properly care for it outdoors.

Watering

For active growth and flowering, any plant needs water, so you should not allow the soil to dry out. But high humidity is also not suitable for the shrub, so watering should be moderate.

So, for the first two weeks after planting, you need to water the plant every day with warm water, but provided that the weather is sunny and dry, and the air temperature does not drop below +16 degrees. If it's a little colder outside, then the plant seems to freeze in anticipation of warm weather, so watering can be reduced to 3 times a week.

After two weeks, hydrangea can be watered 2 times a week, and then 1 time a week, but if the season is dry, then we increase the amount of watering. After irrigation, each time the soil around the shrubbery must be cleared of weeds and loosened.

Pruning

Hydrangea is a shrub that needs pruning, and it is carried out three times: in spring, summer and autumn. The most intense is in autumn, when all the buds are dry. Cut off about half of the growth of the entire plant, while removing branches with weak or underdeveloped buds.

In the spring, before active growth and the beginning of sap flow, the frozen branches are cut, and in the summer - the inflorescences that have already faded. But pruning depends a lot on the type of hydrangea:

• for tree-like ones, a thorough one is carried out - 20 cm is left from the ground to the tops;
• in large-leaved ones, only the inflorescences are removed, which have dried up and have lost their color, but they do not touch the branches and shoots, new ones will appear from them in the spring;
• in a panicle young hydrangea, all dry and weak branches are cut off, and healthy ones - by 2-3 buds.

An adult shrub needs rejuvenation, so only 10 healthy branches are left, the rest are cut off.

Top dressing

Hydrangea is very fond of fertilizers, so after planting every two weeks it can be fed with a mixture of ammonium, potassium sulfate and superphosphate. During the flowering period, it is better to give preference to fertilizing with potassium and phosphorus.

Hydrangea negatively perceives fresh organic fertilizers; only rotted or granular fertilizers can be used.

Wintering

Hydrangea belongs to frost-resistant plants, so it will calmly endure even the most severe frosts. But if the plant is young, then you may need shelter so that the still immature twigs do not break from the wind and do not freeze.

Before planting hydrangea in spring in open ground, you need to know one nuance: when planting, you can influence the color of flowers. If you want to give them a blue tint, add a weak citric acid solution, if pink is crushed chalk, and if there are two shades at the same time, add the indicated ingredients from different sides of the bush.

Outcomes

1. You can plant hydrangeas in spring or autumn, but it is better in spring - there are more chances to take root in a new place.
2. It is better to plant shrub seedlings in partial shade, the more sun there is, the fewer inflorescences.
3. Before planting, it is important to properly prepare the planting holes so that the plant receives everything it needs for growth, development and flowering.
4. Shrub care - watering, feeding and pruning.