Hortensia adorns the plots of many, pleases the eye and allows you to create amazing compositions with it. The most troublesome point in caring for a plant is preparation for colds. Most often it is necessary to work on the question of how to properly cover a hydrangea large leaf for the winter, since it is the one that is least resistant to cold.
How to keep hydrangea large-leaved winter?
If you live in a warm region, you might not need a shelter in the classic sense of the word. Some winter-hardy varieties and in the middle band are able to survive. But the problem lies in the fact that the plant will blossom on the shoots that grew last year, so it should be prepared carefully, so as not to lose the flowers.
The first thing in the question of how to keep the hydrangea large-leaved winter, we will prepare it competently for the cold. For successful wintering, you should conduct the following activities:
- approximately from the second half of June we refuse nitrogen supplements, replacing them with phosphorus and potassium;
- with the beginning of the autumn we gradually stop watering the bushes, we pass along the lower shoots and cut off the leaves - this will help lignification;
- the upper foliage can not be cut off, as it will become a protection for the kidneys and will not allow them to freeze;
- before warming the hydrangea large-leaved for the winter, even before the start of the main frosts, it is necessary to trim the discolored inflorescences, but watch carefully so as not to cut off and shoots with the kidneys inadvertently.
How to properly cover the hydrangea large-leaved for the winter?
We will completely cover the bushes. For these purposes, you can use one of these methods:
- Protection of the lower kidneys along with the root system is carried out by hilling with dry soil. When you see that almost all the soil around the plant is damp, it should also be covered up, so that the humidity under the shelter is not so high. This must be done, regardless of the chosen method of shelter. In the first version of the shelter of hydrangea large-leaved for the winter is carried out with the help of boards. We lay these boards around the bush, then we bend the branches and tie them to the boards. This is done with a rope, squeezing between the boards or pressing the stones. Then we cover the bush with leaves and cover with special covering material .
- Instead of boards for sheltering for the winter, large-leaved hydrangeas are also used by lapnik. To him bend shoots of a bush, then fix with wooden staples or iron rods. Top layer of peat is poured out, you can use sawdust. Cover with the same industrial fiber.
- For extra care for the winter after the hydrangea buds large leaves take bags with dry leaves and lay them around the bush, put under shoots that can not be bent. All this structure from above is covered with a roofing paper and a film. As the number of frosts increases in the regions, the number of such layers of shelter increases.
- And finally, the so-called air method. We do not bend the branches,
but rather connect them in a bundle. This bundle is wrapped with covering material. Around our bush we construct a framework of metal mesh, it must necessarily be above the bush by about 10 cm. Further into this structure we pour out the dry leaves and wrap the ruberoid. It is used more often for a paniculate species, but also suitable for large leaf.
All these methods are suitable in the event that you want to get bloom early in June, and therefore, on the shoots of last year. Flowering on the shoots of the current year begins around August. If you are satisfied with this state of affairs, the shelter is simplified. As soon as the night frost begins, the bushes are cut off and no more than five kidneys are left, and all this is covered with needles or leaves.