Hydrangeas are an excellent decoration of any flowerbed or rockery due to its external airiness and lightness. Many plant whole rows of these flowers. This article will indicate the main features of planting and care for White Lady hydrangea, compliance with which will help to avoid disease and wilting of plants.

Description of White Lady hydrangea cultivar

At the end of the twentieth century, a new variety of hydrangea called White Lady was bred in Holland. The breeder P. Zweinenburg was awarded an award from the British Royal Society for this work. Today, the variety is considered one of the most popular in the world.

The Gortenziev family is a separate group of deciduous perennial flowers. In height, the adult plant of the White Lady reaches 3 m and belongs to the deciduous category. Hydrangea blooms from May to early autumn. Leaves of panicled hydrangea have irregularities at the edges and are quite large in size.

The branch of the bush is completely covered with greenery, and at its end there are lush inflorescences. Flowers of this variety have a spherical shape and fit snugly against each other, which makes the plant look very magnificent. Each inflorescence in diameter reaches 20 cm.

The inflorescences of the bush have a paniculate shape, and also differ in a variety of colors: it can vary from white to slightly pinkish. With appropriate care, hydrangea will bloom right up to the first frost, which determines the high popularity of shrubs among gardeners.

Use in landscape design

Panicled hydrangea is very fond of designers and gardeners, because with the help of this plant you can easily transform any site or rockery. The shrub is very resistant to cold weather and climate change, and also does not require too complicated care.

It is worth considering the fact that adult bush reaches 2-3 m in height, which determines the need to maintain proper neighborhood with other plants. When modeling a site, it is extremely important to consider the distance between flowers and trees (at least 2.5 m).

One of the advantages of the shrub is that it is suitable for both group and single compositions. It is best to combine the plant with conifers, such as pine, dwarf spruce or cypress. Very well hydrangea harmonizes with roses. Regardless of the selected neighborhood and planting space, the variety will always stand out with its bright and long flowering.

Landing

When planting hydrangeas, it is difficult to identify any special requirements for this variety, since the plant is not capricious to changes in climatic conditions. For the Hydrangea paniculata shrub, prolonged drought or stagnation of water in the underground system is not terrible. It also grows easily on soils with a high pH or excessive lime content. It is best to give preference to acidic loamy soil type.

Did you know? Quite often, the French epithet is added to the name hydrangea. This is due to the fact that the world learned about the bush during the first round-the-world trip carried out by the inhabitants of this country.

Site selection and soil preparation

When preparing the soil for hydrangea transplantation, it is best to choose a mixture of peat, leaf soil and humus, after which this mixture must be further artificially acidified to a pH of 4.5. This can be done using a solution of citric acid (1.5 tbsp. L. Funds in 10 l of water).

In addition, when buying seedlings, you need to pay attention to their condition: they must be sufficiently developed, not have damage to the cortex, putrefactive spots, overly branched root system. Best of all, when the plant is sold in a container with a sufficiently voluminous earthen lump.

When choosing a landing time, it is best to stay in the spring season. At this time, the plant will take root as quickly as possible, because it will have a whole summer to get used to the new soil and climate conditions. If the seedling is planted in the autumn, it will have to be additionally covered with agrofibre to protect it from severe frosts.

The southern part of the garden is the best place for planting shrubs to protect it from sudden gusts of wind. In addition, if the climate is quite hot and arid, then the bush is placed in partial shade, because with constant exposure to the plant in direct sunlight, it loses the splendor of flowering and gradually fades. Quite often, gardeners come out of this situation, planting hydrangea near small fences or walls of houses, which create the necessary partial shade and also become protection from the wind.

It is extremely undesirable to plant a flower next to garden trees, because they will take away all the juices and nutrients from the soil from it. If the soil is sufficiently overloaded, it must be additionally fertilized with compost or humus. It is not recommended to use chalk, lime or ash as a fertilizer.

Landing process

Plant transplantation should be carried out in April, before the start of sap flow, or in October.

The procedure itself consists of the following steps:

1. At a place prepared in advance for planting, dig a hole measuring 30 × 30 cm. Its depth should be 45-50 cm.
2. Prepare a substrate from a mixture of fertile land, humus and peat in a ratio of 2: 1: 1.
3. Acidify the soil with a solution of citric acid.
4. Fill the hole with the finished mixture and leave it in this condition for 14 days. When the land is seated a little, you can prepare shrubs for planting.
5. Trim the roots of the seedlings by 10 cm and lower them into a solution of the growth stimulator Megafol or Kornevin (according to the instructions) for 2 hours.
6. After that, hydrangea is planted in a planting hole, the roots are carefully straightened and covered with earth, leaving the root neck 2 cm above the soil surface.
7. Under the bush, an average of 12 liters of water is poured, wait until it is absorbed, and cover the root zone with a layer of mulch, for example, from needles.
8. If the planting was carried out in the spring, the plant is covered for the first six months from the excessively scorching sun (metal plastic can be used).

Care

So that the White Lady variety does not fade, and also has lush flowering, it is necessary to provide it with regular and plentiful watering. In addition, timely hydration and sanitary pruning of branches are extremely important for hydrangea. These procedures will help protect the shrub from various diseases and pests. Do not forget that in regions with a harsh climate, hydrangeas need to provide a comfortable shelter for the winter.

Watering

Hydrangea White Lady loves moisture, so it needs to be watered 5 times a month throughout the flowering period (up to the onset of cold weather). To form a lush inflorescence, it is required to pour from 10 to 15 liters of water under one bush. In dry weather (especially in late June - early July) it is necessary to increase watering up to 3 times a week.

Special attention should be paid to the water used to moisten the bush. It should be slightly warm and settled for 2-3 days. It is very important to prevent drying out and cracking of the bore zone. It is for this purpose that a layer of mulch is used.

Did you know? The scientific Latin name for the bush comes from the two words hydor and aggeionwhich translate as liquid and vase. This suggests that hydrangea is a fairly hygrophilous plant.

Fertilizing and fertilizers

It is important to regularly use various mineral fertilizers to enrich the soil with organic beneficial substances.

There are certain rules for fertilizing the soil:

• in the spring, before the start of the sap flow period, it is necessary to use organic matter;
• in summer, the best option would be mineral complexes, for example, nitrate;
• in the autumn of hydrangea, a fertilizer in the form of a manure solution in the ratio of 2:30 is suitable (watering is carried out exclusively under the root).

A good fertilizer is a solution of ammonium nitrate (30 g), superphosphate (15 g) and 10 l of water. It is better to use it in the summer to enhance the flowering of the bush.

Loosening and weeding

If a layer of mulch is present around the hydrangea shrub, then this inhibits the growth of weeds and prevents the quick drying of the soil. In this case, soil weeding is optional: it is enough to regularly update the mulching layer, for example, from needles and water the hydrangea as the soil dries.

If such measures have not been taken, then loosening the soil should be carried out 3–6 times per season. In this case, weeding should be carried out to a depth of 10 cm, which allows saturating the root system with oxygen.

Pruning

To prevent inflorescences from being heard and constantly being large and lush, it is necessary to regularly carry out sanitary pruning of the plant. To do this, in the spring (best in April), shorten the shoots, leaving only 7 buds at the base of the plant.

Important! If the cuttings bloom throughout the first year, all inflorescences must be removed. This will help the tree gain strength and bloom even stronger next year.

It is advisable to have time to do this before the process of sap flow begins. In any case, it is necessary to remove all weak and diseased shoots, as well as damaged branches. In the summer, pruning is highly discouraged: only dry inflorescences can be removed at this time.

If the bush is old, and it needs to be updated so that it begins to develop with renewed vigor, pruning is done under the root. At the same time, only 12 cm of escape are left above the ground. After 2–4 years a small shrub appears on this place.

Winter hardiness of the variety and whether it is necessary to shelter for the winter

It is necessary to take care of hydrangea warming for the winter before the first frosts. Although this variety is characterized by increased frost resistance, in regions with a continental and temperate continental climate, additional insulation of the bush is necessary. Adult plant tolerates frosts up to –25 ° С, that is why in the southern and southwestern regions of Russia it can winter without warming

Young gardeners should remember that seedlings that are less than 2 years old must be sheltered in any climatic conditions in Russia. To do this, use a layer of mulch from straw or pine needles. The thickness of this ball should reach 18 cm. From above, young seedlings are covered with burlap.

Breeding

Most often, hydrangea is propagated by cuttings or by dividing the bush. In the first case, it is necessary to prepare planting material in April or early May. To do this, choose the strongest shoots that have a length of up to 10 cm. You need to cut them at an angle of 90 ° so that the plant is minimally injured. The lower part of the process should be carefully cleaned from leaves and shoots.

Important! The least fruitful and successful is the propagation of hydrangea seeds: a large percentage of plants planted in this way dies in the first year of development.

After this, the stem is treated with special preparations that stimulate the intensive growth of the root system, and planted in a fertile mixture of soil, sand and peat. It is best to use a greenhouse for this. A year after planting, it can be moved to the open ground. During the first wintering, hydrangea will need to be insulated, and flowers - pruned.

Sometimes they also use the bush dividing method. For this, the bush is dug up and divided into several parts. Then the plant is planted in open soil in previously prepared places.

Less commonly used is the method of dividing layering. To do this, the shoots are bent to the ground (this must be shoots no older than 1 year old), after which they are dug up, leaving a small apex up to 20 cm above the surface of the soil. Six months later, in spring or autumn (depending on when it was dug up shoot), the rooted layering is separated from the main bush and transplanted to a new place.

Diseases and Pests

This variety of hydrangeas is sick rarely. The main problems can be caused by improper care: lack of watering, inappropriate place for planting, or even the purchase of low-quality seedlings.

The most common White Lady hydrangea diseases are as follows:

1. Chlorosis - this disease affects the bush in case of too large a percentage of lime in the soil. The second reason may be a lack of iron. At the same time, a large number of large brown spots appear on the sheet. To get rid of this problem, it is necessary to use a solution of copper sulfate (4 g per 2 liters of water).
2. Sunburn - in a hot summer, hydrangea often begins to fade, and dry black spots appear on its leaves. Affected areas become thinner and completely dry out over time. You can prevent further development of the burn by shading the plant using improvised means, for example, slate sheets or metal plastic.
3. White rot - hydrangea roots are primarily affected, since the fungus absorbs all the nutrients that the bush absorbs through the root processes. Most often, the disease develops in greenhouses and greenhouses in conditions of high humidity and a warm microclimate. White rot can be recognized by the blackened shoots of a flower, as well as the presence of a white coating on the leaves of the plant, which is somewhat reminiscent of cotton wool. All affected areas must be cut off, and the bush itself treated with a solution of 2 hours vitriol, 6 l of serum and 6 l of water. To maximize the spread of the solution on the surface of the plant, it is better to use a sprayer.

Speaking of the main pests that affect hydrangea, the following insects can be distinguished:

1. Leaf aphid - a parasite that eats juice and soft parts of the plant (leaves and stems). Appearing in large quantities, can lead to complete destruction of the plant. If the aphid colony is not very significant, you can wash the shrub with a solution of soapy water. If hydrangea is completely infected, such insecticides as Iskra, Akarina or Zubr are suitable. Due to the high level of toxicity, they can be used purely according to the instructions.
2. Garden slug - appears on young seedlings and eats leaves, as well as plant shoots. This can lead to the death of hydrangea. Especially often it appears if the plant is in the shade, in dense thickets. You can find the pest in the axils of the leaves and under the stones. To get rid of the parasite, it is necessary to sprinkle 10 g of the granules of the Molluscocide preparation under each infected bush, and collect adult slugs manually.

Observing the simple rules for the care of White Lady hydrangea, you can create incredible compositions on your own site. The main rules include regular watering, the application of organic and mineral fertilizers, as well as the timely fight against pests and diseases.