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Soil for hydrangea: what kind of soil does hydrangea like
An important criterion for the full development of a plant is the quality of the soil. The soil for hydrangea should have a number of properties – a certain acidity, moisture, looseness. If you know the rules for its preparation, you can easily create suitable conditions on your site.
Hydrangea: what kind of soil does she like
On soil that is not suitable in quality and composition, hydrangea will grow, but it will not be possible to obtain the proper beauty of flowers. They will be small, unsaturated, and the plant itself can get sick.
The soil for hydrangea affects the quality of its flowering.
Therefore, before planting this shrub in your garden, you should take care of the soil first. The main requirements for it are as follows:
- Acidity. Hydrangea loves acidic soil, and the higher its level, the richer and brighter the color of the petals will be. Some varieties themselves signal a low acidity level. For example, varieties with blue flowers on alkaline soil will turn pink.
- Air permeability. When preparing for planting, the soil should be dug up – the plant loves loose soil. When caring for adult plants, do not forget to loosen it as needed.
- Soil moisture. It should not dry out, so regular watering is required. To retain moisture, the soil around the bush must be mulched.
Another important condition is fertility. The plant loves nutritious soil and responds well to organic and mineral fertilizers.
Before planting a shrub, as well as during further care, you need to know and follow these recommendations:
- We prepare the soil for planting seedlings – we dig it up, apply fertilizers. Superphosphate, humus, and peat are best.
- We dig out the planting holes, equip the bottom with a layer of drainage. The freed land must also be prepared. The best substrate for hydrangeas is a mixture of sod land, black soil, river sand, peat and humus.
- We fill the seedlings with this mixture, then we apply fertilizers to increase acidity, for example, ammonium sulfate or special preparations for acidification.
- To retain moisture, we mulch the area around the bush with peat or compost.
- It is necessary to constantly maintain the nutritional properties of the soil. Therefore, we periodically apply fertilizers. The first feeding occurs in early spring, before the formation of the buds. The next one is when buds appear. All summer we fertilize the bush at intervals of 2 weeks. The last application of the season is in the fall after the end of flowering.
For feeding, you can use complex preparations with minerals. When preparing for winter, it is useful to water the plant with a urea solution – 20 grams per bucket of water. Before the cold weather, the soil is mulched with peat, needles, humus, dry leaves.