Rules For Growing Tree Hydrangeas. Planting, Pruning And Grooming. Photo

2023 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 07:13

Treelike hydrangea is one of the most spectacular species of these favorite garden shrubs. The almost round balls of inflorescences on powerful bushes are so beautiful that you immediately forget about the purely practical advantages of the plant, as well as about its difficult nature. It is demanding on the soil, but it is better tolerant of lime hydrangea - one of the most winter-hardy and hardy. And although caring for it is not so simple, long flowering and preservation of decorativeness throughout the season favorably distinguishes the tree hydrangea against the background of the "sisters".

Tree hydrangea(Hydrangea arborescens) is a North American hydrangea species that stands out among other species for its long flowering, lasting from the first half of July to October. But in this type of hydrangea, not only flowering is remarkable. This plant looks great regardless of the season. Sprawling, hemispherical, neat, very dense, upright bushes every year become more dense and powerful. Treelike hydrangea produces numerous, flexible, lightly edged shoots, allowing it to appear more massive and dense even against the background of other hydrangeas. Despite the fact that the treelike hydrangea is most often advertised as a bush of one and a half meters in height, with age, under favorable conditions, the plant grows so wide that it seems very large. So, old bushes may well exceed three meters in girth. The lush crown and beautiful branches make the tree hydrangea look great even in winter. And large elliptical leaves with an upper green and gray underside, growing up to 20 cm in length, make the plant attractive even without inflorescences. The rich, bright green color of the leaves further emphasizes the special beauty and density of the tree hydrangea, stunningly contrasting with the light inflorescences. From afar, the inflorescences really seem to be balls, reaching 15 in diameter, and in the best varieties, 25 cm. Barren flowers are large, up to 2 cm, fertile flowers are small. The buds are green, whiten as the inflorescences bloom.make the plant attractive even without inflorescences. The rich, bright green color of the leaves further emphasizes the special beauty and density of the tree hydrangea, stunningly contrasting with the light inflorescences. From afar, the inflorescence shields really seem to be balls, reaching 15 in diameter, and in the best varieties, 25 cm. Infertile flowers are large, up to 2 cm, fertile flowers are small. The buds are green, whiten as the inflorescences bloom.make the plant attractive even without inflorescences. The rich, bright green color of the leaves further emphasizes the special beauty and density of the treelike hydrangea, stunningly contrasting with the light inflorescences. From afar, the inflorescence shields really seem to be balls, reaching 15 in diameter, and in the best varieties, 25 cm. Infertile flowers are large, up to 2 cm, fertile flowers are small. The buds are green, whiten as the inflorescences bloom.

Whatever tree hydrangea we are talking about - an unnamed variety, the old and time-tested universal favorites Annabelle with its snow-white spheres and Grandiflora with huge shields, new varieties that appear in large numbers on the markets recently - - growing rules these shrubs never change. For a tree hydrangea, you need to carefully select the conditions and prepare the soil, in the first years after planting, provide thorough care and do not forget to carry out mandatory procedures, regardless of the age of the plant. Only well-groomed hydrangeas will thank their owners with long and abundant flowering, the beauty of the crown, which will become the basis for garden design and one of the best skeletal elements in the design of decorative compositions.

Rule # 1. Careful site selection when planting tree hydrangea

Treelike hydrangeas thrive best in partial shade and lace shade. Like all hydrangeas, they are rightly ranked among shade-tolerant crops, but the framework for their ability to remain attractive in shade is clearly marked. Treelike hydrangeas grow poorly in dense shade, hardly bloom and often get sick. For these plants, they choose places in which they are protected from the midday lunch sun, are in diffused, but still not too scanty lighting. For tree hydrangeas, sunlight in the morning or in the evening is permissible. Most often, plants are planted from the northern and eastern sides, in the diffused shade of large trees.

When choosing a place for a tree hydrangea in the company of shading garden giants, you should not overdo it with proximity to them. When planted directly near trees, hydrangeas will suffer not only from a lack of light, but also from a lack of water. The bushes are placed so that the shadow of the tree falls on them, but still at a distance from the trunks - at a distance of 2 to 3 meters, in an area where the roots of the tree cannot absorb water from the soil that is so necessary for the hydrangeas themselves.

It is not necessary to follow this rule: if you are ready for intensive watering, then you can stir your beauty even in full sun, even at the very trunk of the tree.

Rule # 2. Focus on soil quality

It is no coincidence that tree hydrangeas are ranked among the shrubs that are demanding on the quality of soil. They tolerate the presence of lime in the soil better than other species, they can grow on alkaline soils, but they still prefer completely different conditions. The reaction of the soil is preferably acidic. Despite the ability to "tolerate" lime, it is better to provide the tree hydrangea with acidic or slightly acidic soil

The first parameter that you should pay attention to when preparing a site for planting a tree hydrangea is nutritional value. This type of hydrangea prefers organic-rich soils, which were also fertilized with mineral fertilizers during planting. The texture of the soil should be light, loose, and breathable. Treelike hydrangeas prefer a mixture of leafy soil with peat and sand.

Planting pits are prepared in advance, with a depth and width of 50 to 70 cm. It is advisable to lay a drainage layer at the bottom of the planting pits. When planting, the roots of the tree hydrangea are distributed evenly, leaving the root collar at soil level.

Rule # 3. Mulching and mulching again

The tree-like moisture-loving hydrangea, even with optimal watering, does not like heat too much. And if you can compensate for the lack of water in the soil in summer with careful care, then you can protect it from overheating of the roots only by mulching. Yes, and not everyone can afford the active care of a flowering shrub: using such a simple procedure, you can simplify procedures as much as possible by reducing the number of watering. The hydrangea tree mulch layer plays several other important functions:

• maintains the permeability of the soil;
• prevents its compaction and weed growth.

So for this shrub, mulching is a must.

The first mulching is carried out immediately after planting. and then the layer is regularly updated and refreshed. For hydrangea tree-like in early spring, it is better to use organic fertilizers as mulch:

• compost;
• a mixture of compost and sawdust;
• a mixture of humus with sawdust and sand.

1 bucket of mulch is enough for each bush to create a mulch layer about 5-6 cm high.

Summer mulching of a tree hydrangea can be renewed with any available materials - for example, mown grass. In the fall, plant debris is removed from under the bush and the mulch is renewed using any available materials.

Regardless of the season, before mulching, it is advisable to carefully, not loosen the soil too deeply.

Rule # 4. Watering for abundant flowering of tree hydrangea

It is advisable to water moisture-loving hydrangeas 3 to 5 times a year, using about 2 buckets of water per plant and focusing on the amount of precipitation. For tree hydrangea, water quality should be given no less attention than irrigation depth. It is better to water this shrub only with soft (or better, even rain), settled and warmed up water.

Rule # 5. Regular feeding of tree hydrangea

A fast-growing and abundantly flowering shrub will not be able to delight you with inflorescences from July to October without appropriate support. For tree hydrangea, it is important not only to improve the soil during planting and create a "basic" high nutritional value, but also to regularly feed.

The first top dressing is applied in early spring, before mulching the soil. For spring feeding, universal (full) mineral fertilizers are used in a standard dosage recommended by the manufacturer (50-60 g). Fertilizers can be applied with water for irrigation or embedded in the soil while loosening. It is better not to apply pure nitrogen fertilizers for this type of hydrangea, and it is undesirable to use them in the future: an excess of nitrogen in this hydrangea causes greening of flowers and worsens the ripening of shoots.

The second feeding is carried out during budding. Phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are used for it. In summer, tree hydrangeas are fed 1-2 times with organic or phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. Young plants respond well to more frequent organic fertilizing, which can be applied up to 2-3 times per summer. For adult plants, you can carry out an acidifying top dressing to correct the soil.

Rule # 6. Regular pruning of tree hydrangea

In order for the tree hydrangeas blooming on the shoots of the current year to please with even more large inflorescences, and the bushes look massive and thick, the plants must be cut off annually:

• remove dry or damaged shoots;
• shorten all branches by 10-20 cm, and young growth by a third of the height.

They carry out both sanitary and flowering pruning at the same time - in early spring, and in March-April, at the beginning of the swelling of growth buds. But you should not rush to pruning: the first pruning is started on hydrangeas that have reached the age of four. If there is an urgent need to prune young treelike hydrangeas, then the cleaning procedure is carried out only after the leaves have unfolded.

If you want to form a denser or spreading bush of tree hydrangeas with strict contours, pruning can also be carried out only after four years. Active sap flow when formed on young bushes leads to serious injuries and even death.

Rule # 7. Support for fragile shoots

The large caps of the inflorescences are often too heavy for the slender and flexible branches of the hydrangea tree. Lodging or breaking off branches in a rainstorm or strong wind is not so uncommon. If the hydrangea forms especially large inflorescences, then it is better to tie the bushes in time or tie the shoots to the supports - surround the bush with a "ring" of pegs (according to the same principle by which bushes of herbaceous peonies are tied up unstable to lodging).

For the same purpose, you can add a hydrangea with a solution of potassium permanganate several times in the spring. Such watering increases the strength of the shoots of the tree hydrangea. A solution of potassium permanganate can also be used to spray the crown.

Rule # 8. Wintering with minimal protection

Treelike hydrangea is considered one of the most winter-hardy hydrangea species. In the middle lane, for protection for the winter, it is enough to limit yourself to a hitch. 2-3 buckets of compost or peat are poured onto a bush of hydrangeas for reliable cover of the base. You should not rush to hilling: it is carried out at the end of autumn, after the arrival of stable night frosts. Instead of hilling, you can also use the method of covering with spruce branches.

For the winter, dense, lush bushes need to be tied: numerous thin shoots of tree hydrangea in winter only decorate the garden (especially if you leave dry inflorescences as well), but the branches can break off under the weight of snow.

Good endurance is characteristic only of old plants and varieties. New varieties, if they have not been acclimatized, can be unpleasantly surprised by the fallout in the first winter. When buying a tree hydrangea, you need to very carefully check the winter hardiness indicators, information about whether a particular cultivar is grown in your climate. Plants, the winter hardiness of which you doubt, not only spud additionally with dry leaves, but also cover them with non-woven materials or boxes, warming them on top with spruce branches.

Even if your hydrangea freezes over the winter, you should not despair: the plant quickly regains its former dimensions and grows well.