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White hydrangea is the most popular shrub from the family of the same name in garden plots. To decorate your front garden with beautiful flowers, you need to know how to plant and grow it correctly.
Description of white hydrangea
In the garden, white hydrangea is usually represented by tree-like or paniculate varieties. In both cases, the plant rises on average 2-2.5 m above the ground, has numerous thin shoots and heart-shaped green leaves. The leaves of the plant are usually large, up to 15-20 cm in length.
White hydrangea blooms from early summer until autumn with large inflorescences - spherical or paniculate, depending on the variety. The inflorescences consist of small white flowers, tied on young annual shoots.
A peculiarity of the garden plant is that the shade of flowering directly depends on the acidity of the soil.Produces snow-white buds on neutral soil.
The shrub blooms with huge spherical inflorescences
The plant is quite unpretentious; it can bloom in the same place in the garden for about 10 years in a row, and sometimes more.
White hydrangea varieties
There are dozens of varieties of garden white hydrangea. However, several of them are most popular among summer residents.
Annabelle
Annabelle, or smooth hydrangea, is a plant up to 1.5 m in height and up to 3 m in bush diameter. The variety is characterized by large oval leaves with uneven edges, dark green foliage and very beautiful snow-white flowers. Annabelle's white flowers form into large spherical inflorescences up to 25 cm wide.
Annabelle is the most popular variety among gardeners
Annabelle is an unpretentious variety that does well in any soil. The main requirements are regular watering and no direct sunlight.
Sterilis
White bush hydrangea Sterilis is also an erect shrub up to 1.5 m in height. The leaves of the plant are oval and slightly elongated, bright green with a bluish tint on the underside. The flowers of this variety are light green at the very beginning of flowering, and then become snow-white and remain that way until the end of the season.
The Sterilis variety is distinguished by especially abundant flowering at the end of summer
White hydrangea Sterilis blooms especially luxuriantly in August. The shrub is undemanding to soil, but requires a lot of moisture.
Grandiflora
The tree-like white hydrangea of this variety reaches 2 m in height and has green oval leaves up to 10 cm each. It blooms from July to September, the buds are light green and then white, collected in large corymbose inflorescences. At the very end of flowering, Grandiflora may acquire a light creamy tint.
Tree-like Grandiflora - large variety up to 2 m tall
Does well in moist soils and likes well-lit areas with light shade. Grandiflora grows quickly - the annual growth increase can be up to 30 cm.
Kyushu
Paniculata white hydrangea grows up to 2.5 m and spreads its crown 3 m in diameter. The stems of the shrub are reddish-brown, the ovoid leaves are rich green and slightly pubescent. The plant bears small white flowers, 2-3 cm each, forming large paniculate inflorescences up to 25 cm in length. By the end of flowering, the white panicles of Kyushu may acquire a slight pinkish tint.
Kyushu - a beautiful and hardy paniculate variety
Gardeners love the Kyushu variety not only for its decorative properties. The shrub grows quickly and also has good frost resistance.
White Ball
The tree-like variety White Ball can grow up to 80 cm in height and bears large spherical inflorescences up to 30 cm in diameter, which explains the name white hydrangea. Flowering begins in July and ends in September; snow-white inflorescences look impressive in garden design. Quite compact bushes are often used as hedges, since White Ball feels good in illuminated areas of the garden.
White Ball is a compact variety with large spherical inflorescences
White hydrangea in landscape design
White hydrangea is used very often to decorate the garden; it looks extremely impressive against the backdrop of summer greenery. The shrub is used for:
- creating hedges and dividing the garden into separate zones;
- formation of group and single decorative compositions;
- decorating empty areas of the garden, for example, the space near the wall of the house;
- artistic design of fences and hedges.
White hydrangea goes well with tall trees, other shrubs and perennials. The bush can act as the basis of the composition when creating mixborders.
A flowering hedge looks especially impressive
White hydrangea is especially valued for the fact that it retains its decorative effect, including in early autumn. Most shrubs and perennials have already finished flowering by this time, but hydrangea still pleases the eye with its snow-white inflorescences.
Winter hardiness of white hydrangea
Different varieties have different resistance to cold. In general, white hydrangea easily tolerates temperatures down to -25°C; some varieties can withstand temperatures down to -30°C. But in winter, it is recommended to carefully cover the bush to protect it from freezing.
Planting and caring for white hydrangea
It is not difficult to grow a lush shrub in your garden; caring for it comes down to a few simple procedures. The plant does not make high demands on the gardener and only needs basic care.
Selection and preparation of a landing site
White hydrangea prefers well-lit places with light afternoon shade and protection from strong winds. The optimal place for planting shrubs is an area next to a building or tall trees.
The best soil for common white hydrangea is neutral or slightly acidic, fertile and loosened. Shrubs should not be planted on highly acidic or calcareous soils; in both cases, the crop will develop worse and may also change the color of the flowers.
Shortly before planting the shrub, the soil in the selected area needs to be dug up and humus, peat and sand added to it. If the soil is very acidic, you can add a little dolomite flour to bring the pH closer to neutrality, but you must be careful.
It is recommended to plant shrubs on neutral soil
How to plant white hydrangea
It is recommended to plant shrubs in the ground in May, after the return frosts have passed and the soil has warmed up. Over the summer, white hydrangea will have time to take root well and will calmly endure the winter. In autumn, the plant is planted only in the southern regions, where winter temperatures remain quite warm.
Algorithm:
- The planting hole for white hydrangea is dug in advance, about a month before planting. The width and depth of the hole should be about 50 cm.
- The hole is filled halfway with specially prepared soil, usually coniferous soil is mixed with humus and peat and a little sand is added for greater looseness.
- Complex fertilizers are added to the hole - nitrogen, potassium and superphosphate, which will help the white hydrangea to take root faster.
- Immediately before planting, the seedling is soaked in water for a couple of hours and its annual shoots are shortened by several buds.
After this, the seedling is placed in the center of the dug hole, the roots are straightened inside it and sprinkled with the remains of the soil mixture, leaving the root collar above the ground.The soil is lightly compacted, then watered generously with 2 buckets of water and the tree trunk circle is mulched with tree bark or sawdust.
The plant loves nutritious soil with the addition of humus and peat.
Watering and fertilizing
White hydrangea loves moisture, so it needs additional watering. In dry weather, it is necessary to pour 20 liters of water under the bush weekly, and the moisture should be clean and slightly warm; the plant does not like cold water. If the summer turns out to be rainy, then moisten the bush 1-2 times a month, but at the same time make sure that the soil at the roots does not dry out.
It is recommended to feed the bush three times a year:
- in early spring - nitrogenous fertilizers and organic matter;
- before flowering - superphosphate;
- at the end of summer - potassium sulfate or chicken droppings.
It is recommended to fertilize from the age of 3 years, since at first the white hydrangea has enough fertilizers applied during planting.
It is not recommended to fertilize white hydrangea in the garden with wood ash. But you can add a little potassium permanganate to the water; such a solution will protect the crop from fungal diseases and increase the frost resistance of the shrub.
You need to water the bush often - every week.
Trimming
Because white hydrangea grows quickly, it needs to be pruned every spring. The procedure is carried out in early spring, before the beginning of the growing season - diseased and old shoots are removed, and young branches are shortened by 5 buds.
In the first 2 years in the spring, it is recommended to remove small buds from the bush when pruning. This will allow the plant to direct all its resources to growing roots and green mass, so it will subsequently be able to bloom more profusely.
How to prepare white hydrangea for winter
Winter hardiness of white hydrangea is average, although some varieties successfully tolerate extreme cold and can grow even in Siberia. But in any case, it is customary to cover the plant for the winter, and they do it as follows:
- with the onset of autumn, faded inflorescences are removed, and the branches of the bush are bent to the ground and tied;
- the bush is covered with agricultural material, burlap or spruce branches;
- The tree trunk circle is mulched with peat or compost.
Before winter, remove wilted inflorescences from the plant
Small bushes can be surrounded with a special frame of the same height as the plant itself, and completely covered with fallen leaves inside it. The procedure is especially recommended for young bushes that are vulnerable to winter frosts.
It is not recommended to cover hydrangea bushes with film - moisture accumulates under it, which leads to the development of fungal diseases. Remove the winter shelter from the white hydrangea in March or April, after the warm weather has finally settled.
How to propagate white hydrangea
You can propagate hydrangea on your site in several ways:
- By layering. This method is very simple - just bend a strong lower shoot to the ground and fix it in the soil at the beginning of summer so that by autumn it is well rooted. Next season, the cuttings can be transplanted to a separate place.
- Dividing the bush. The method is suitable for adult plants with a developed root system; in the spring, white hydrangea is dug up and divided into 2-3 parts, and then planted according to the standard algorithm in different areas.
- Cuttings. In early spring, you need to cut several young shoots from a hydrangea bush, soak them in water for 2 days, and then root them in a sand-peat mixture at home. The seedlings are transplanted into the ground in the second year, when they are a little stronger.
The easiest way to propagate a plant is by layering and dividing the bush.
If you wish, you can propagate white hydrangea using seeds purchased in the store. Planting material is embedded in nutritious soil in pots at the end of winter and the seedlings are grown at home until the beginning of summer, and then planted outside. But seed propagation is used infrequently, it takes a lot of time, and may not be successful.
Diseases and pests
The immunity of white hydrangea is average, but if not properly cared for, the plant can suffer from fungal diseases and garden pests. Most often, shrubs are affected by:
- chlorosis, the disease develops on calcareous soils and with a lack of iron in the soil, hydrangea leaves begin to turn yellow and fall off prematurely;
With chlorosis, the leaves become spotted and begin to rapidly turn yellow.
- powdery mildew - with excess humidity, the plant may suffer from a fungus, in which the leaves become covered with a whitish coating and begin to wither;
Powdery mildew is characterized by a whitish fluffy coating
- gray rot - under waterlogged conditions, the leaves become covered with a gray coating and then dry out.
Gray rot leaves a light coating on the leaves, similar to mold
To combat fungi, you must first remove all affected areas of the bush, and then treat the plant with copper sulfate or chemicals, for example, Fundazol.
The main pests that pose a threat to the plant are:
- green aphid, small pests can greatly eat up an ornamental bush;
The aphids blend in with the green foliage of the white hydrangea, but upon closer inspection they are not difficult to spot.
- nematodes - worms infect all parts of the hydrangea and prevent it from developing;
It is very difficult to fight nematodes; usually a diseased hydrangea is simply destroyed
- spider mite - the insect feeds on the leaves and juices of the stem, which is why the plant begins to wither;
Spider mites interfere with the development of the bush and feed on the green mass of the plant
- slugs - garden pests eat leaves and can cause serious damage to ornamental shrubs.
You need to fight slugs so as not to lose the entire hydrangea bush
If during the next inspection it is possible to detect pests or their larvae on the leaves, the bush is treated with a soap solution, garlic infusion or insecticidal preparations.
Conclusion
White hydrangea is a very beautiful shrub that is popular with gardeners. On fertile soil and good moisture, hydrangea develops quickly and delights the eye with snow-white blooms until the beginning of autumn.
