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Hydrangea: care for the plant in winter. Video
Hydrangea is one of the most beautiful garden flowers. Some gardeners believe that in aesthetic terms, this plant is second only to the queen of flowers – the rose. Most hydrangea varieties do not have good frost resistance. Therefore, you should properly care for the plant in the winter season.
Hydrangea care: preparing for winter
Hydrangea is unpretentious in care, blooms from July to November. Her huge multi-colored caps of inflorescences will decorate any garden. Therefore, in central Russia (not to mention regions with a more severe climate), this plant must be helped to survive the winter.
Preparing hydrangeas for winter
You will need: – wooden knots; – branches; – straw; – spruce or pine spruce branches; – synthetic covering material; – wooden crates with cracks; – lutrasil; – thick plastic film; – stones or bricks.
In October, it is necessary to carry out a rejuvenating hydrangea pruning. All old and diseased shoots are removed. Some gardeners prefer not to cut such branches completely, but leave two pairs of buds. The remaining branches are bent to the ground, secured by pinning with wooden knots or other material, and covered. Branches, straw, spruce or pine spruce branches, synthetic covering material (for example, lutrasil) can serve as a shelter.
The main task is to protect the upper buds of last year’s shoots from freezing, which will bloom
You can cover the hydrangea for the winter in a more reliable way that protects the plant well even from severe frosts. In the fall, several buckets of fertile soil should be poured into the base of the bushes and spud. Then install low wooden boxes with pre-made gaps in the bottoms next to each hydrangea bush, put shoots on them and pin them to the ground (through these gaps). Cover each box with several layers of lutrasil, then with a thick plastic wrap, secure it with heavy objects (stones, bricks). An air gap from below and a reliable shelter from above and from the sides will well protect the plant even from very low temperatures.
In the spring, after removing the covering material, the plants must be inspected, the branches affected by frost must be cut out, and the youngest shoots must be shortened. These measures stimulate profuse flowering.
Are there frost-resistant varieties of garden hydrangea?
As a result of an accidental mutation provoked by a very cold winter in the United States, a hydrangea variety has emerged that is characterized by increased frost resistance. It was named Endless Summer. On its basis, foreign breeders have bred many other winter-hardy varieties. Moreover, many of them, in addition to good winter hardiness, have a valuable feature: flowers can appear not only on last year’s shoots, but also on the shoots of the current year. Russian gardeners can now also purchase such varieties of hydrangeas and grow them on their plots.