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When choosing flowers to decorate a garden plot or in front of the house, you should pay attention to such a plant as Royal Red hydrangea. This colorful shrub looks great both outdoors and in large pots set along paths or on an open veranda.
Description of Hydrangea Royal Red
Large-leaved hydrangea can reach a height of up to 1,5 m. Its leaves are oval in shape, jagged edges and rich green. Dense foliage and lush inflorescences give the bush the shape of a ball.
Hydrangea can winter in open ground without shelter
The diameter of the Royal Red inflorescences themselves is about 15 cm. They consist of four-petalled barren flowers of bright red color. The color of the hydrangea depends on the characteristics of the soil: on neutral soils, the color is lighter, even creamy, and on sour soils it acquires a bluish tint.
Flowering begins in late July and continues until early autumn.
Hydrangea large-leaved Royal Red in landscape design
Large-leaved hydrangea Royal Red Purple is a very popular plant for creating landscape compositions.
It can be planted alone to decorate paths or small open areas. Another option is to use to create a hedge. The bushes are tall and do not bend down to the ground.
It is very important for a plant to choose the right planting site.
It also looks great in combination with other plants. The flower beds, consisting of multi-colored hydrangeas of different varieties, look very beautiful.
In dry autumn, you need to water the plant abundantly
Successfully combines Royal Red with coniferous trees – juniper, thuja or blue spruce, or barberry bushes and perennial herbs.
Hydrangea is very important to protect from strong winds.
Such compositions are suitable for decorating areas near the fence or along the paths.
Winter hardiness of Hydrangea Royal Red
It is believed that the large-leaved hydrangea has an average frost resistance and may well survive the winter in the open field without the use of covering materials. The problem is that the flowering of the Royal Red variety occurs on last year’s shoots (flower buds are laid by autumn). Accordingly, if you do not cover the plant, then only those shoots that are covered with a layer of snow will bloom. Therefore, if gardeners want the hydrangea to please them with lush flowering, it still has to be covered from the cold.
Planting and caring for hydrangea Royal Red
As with any other garden plant, proper planting and proper care will result in a lush and beautiful hydrangea. The Royal Red variety is unpretentious in care, but it is still worth adhering to certain recommendations for growing.
Selection and preparation of the landing site
The first thing you should pay attention to is choosing the right place to land. The soil should be fertile, slightly acidic (optimum pH 5,5 to 6,0).
At the same time, it is important that water enters the soil well – its lack during the growth period can cause deformation.
Although hydrangeas love light areas, planting them in direct sunlight is not worth it – they will quickly wither. A slightly shady spot works well.
Rules of landing
Hydrangea Royal Red is planted as follows:
- A hole about 50 cm wide and up to 40 cm long is prepared in the selected area. The distance between individual bushes should be about 100 cm.
- If the soil is not too fertile, then 2 weeks before planting the shoot, a substrate is placed in the hole from fertile soil, humus and peat.
- The hydrangea shoot is placed in the center of the pit and densely sprinkled with soil, tamping it around the plant.
- After disembarkation, it is necessary to pour abundantly with water and sprinkle with peat or sawdust.
- In the first days after planting, you should additionally protect the young plant from sunlight, covering it if necessary.
Watering and top dressing
For the normal growth and development of hydrangeas, proper care and, first of all, watering and top dressing play an important role.
The Royal Red variety was bred in regions with high air humidity, therefore it is very moisture-loving and needs frequent watering. For each bush at a time, 1-2 buckets of water are required. On hot summer days, hydrangeas are irrigated once every 7 days, and during dry periods – twice a week. Water should be at room temperature. Watering is best in the morning or evening hours when there is no heat.
For top dressing, you can use both organic and mineral fertilizers. It is especially relevant during the growth period of Royal Red hydrangea. For this, store complexes containing iron and magnesium, or manure diluted in water (1 to 10), are suitable. In autumn, it will be useful to apply potash-phosphorus fertilizers.
Organic mulching should also be used, which protects the soil from overheating and weed growth. It is performed at the end of spring, filling the space around the hydrangea bush with an even layer of sawdust or peat.
Hydrangea pruning Royal Red
Due to the fact that the flowering of the Royal Red variety comes from the buds on last year’s shoots, pruning is done very carefully. In spring, dead tips are cut to the first living bud, dried inflorescences and old leaves, as well as deformed or diseased branches, are removed. In order not to remove live buds, it is better to wait until the beginning of May, when they are clearly visible.
In May-June, you can cut the dry branches of the plant
A more complete pruning is carried out after the hydrangea reaches the age of three. In early spring, the shoots are cut to ¾, while leaving at least 2 pairs of buds. Damaged branches are also removed and a bush of the desired shape is formed.
Preparation for winter
Hydrangea Royal Red, although it endures winter in the open field, needs protection during frosts, otherwise uncovered shoots next summer are unlikely to please with blossoming inflorescences.
It is enough to sprinkle young bushes with foliage, needles or sawdust. Older specimens must be bent to the ground and covered with roofing felt or special material, securing the edges with stones or bricks.
The quantity and quality of inflorescences depends not only on proper care, but also on the variety of hydrangea
In the spring, do not rush to open hydrangeas. It is better to wait until the end of the night frosts and only then gradually remove the protective equipment. Young Royal Red plants can be freed from leaves and sawdust closer to May, and if frosts return, sprinkle again.
Reproduction
If you need to propagate a growing Royal Red hydrangea, the separation method with grassy cuttings is often used.
Start the procedure in the second half of summer. To do this, select cuttings 10-15 cm long with several pairs of leaves. It is important that the shoots do not dry out, so it is best to prune in the early morning when the plant is saturated with moisture. The shoots are placed in water and the lower pair of leaves is removed, and the upper pair is shortened. After that, they are placed for a couple of hours in a solution with a growth stimulator (Kornevin, zircon, etc.).
Hydrangea is well propagated by cuttings.
Then the cuttings are transplanted into a mixture of peat and sand (2 to 1). With a successful transplant, after a month, the cuttings should take root and give new leaves. To do this, you need to constantly ensure that the soil is well moistened.
For autumn and winter, hydrangea seedlings are sprinkled with fallen leaves, a small frame is placed above them and additionally protected with covering material.
In the spring, when the processes are rooted and strong enough, they are transplanted into open ground.
Another way is to propagate the Royal Red hydrangea with layering. It starts in early spring. To do this, the ground around the plant is carefully loosened and furrows diverging from it with a depth of about 2 cm are dug. Shoots from the bottom of the flower are laid there, fixed, sprinkled with soil and watered. By the end of summer, they should take root.
When the shoots reach a height of 15 cm, they are spudded, repeating every week until the embankment reaches a height of 25 cm. Then the Royal Red hydrangea seedlings are separated and added dropwise, and planted in the spring in the garden. The plant can be transplanted to a permanent place in a year.
In early spring, you can divide the bush. To do this, it is dug up, the roots are cleaned and divided into several parts. Then they are immediately planted in the ground, slightly cutting the roots and shoots of hydrangeas.
Diseases and pests
In general, the Royal Red variety is very resistant to various diseases and pest invasions. But still, in the absence of proper care, the risk of infection remains.
Hydrangea can be affected by the following diseases:
- White rot – the fungus infects the roots, as a result of which the hydrangea begins to wither and quickly dies. You can notice it by darkening, and then whitening of the shoots. Fungicides – “Fitosporin”, “Fundanazol”, etc. will help to cope with the infection.
- Gray mold – manifested by softening of the shoots and the appearance of a gray fluff on the surface. First of all, it is necessary to remove the damaged parts of the bush, and then treat it with “Pure Flower” or “Fundazol”.
- septoriosis – identified by the appearance of dark spots on the leaves. Gradually they die off and Royal Red hydrangea dies. To save her, you need to remove the affected shoots and treat with copper sulfate.
- Powdery mildew – pale yellow spots appear on the leaves, and on the reverse side – a gray coating. For treatment use “Fitosporin”, “Chistotsvet” or “Topaz”.
- Rust – accompanied by a red bloom on the leaves and inflorescences of hydrangeas. The reason may be planting plants too close or an excess of nitrogen in the soil. For treatment, copper preparations or fungicides are used (Topaz, Falcon, etc.).
- ring spot – a virus that causes the appearance of ring-shaped spots up to 2 cm in diameter, followed by the death of the plant. The disease is practically not treatable, so you need to carefully approach the choice of planting material.
In addition to various diseases, some pests also pose a danger to Royal Red hydrangea:
- leaf aphid – feeds on cell sap and multiplies very quickly, creating numerous colonies. The development of the flower slows down, and then the gradual death begins. With a small amount of aphids, you can wash it off with water, but if there is a lot of it, insecticides should be used.
- Gall nematode – Appears at high soil moisture. It can be detected by the appearance of galls on the stem. Hydrangea can be treated with a solution of Karbofos. If the drug does not help, it remains only to pull out and burn the flower.
- spider mite – the pest lives on the back of Royal Red leaves. It can be seen by small yellow spots, which are becoming more and more. At the initial stage, treatment with an ordinary soapy solution can help. In a more difficult situation, you will have to resort to special preparations (Lightning, Tiophos, etc.).
- Slug – appears in places with close landing. It feeds on hydrangea leaves. You can get rid of it with the help of Molluscocide granules, which are laid out on the surface of the soil.
Conclusion
Hydrangea Royal Red is a colorful lush flower that will decorate any site. It goes well with other plants and looks great both next to paths and fences, and in flower beds. It does not require special care and is resistant to various diseases and pests.
