Hortensia is one of the most common garden bushes in the world, which attracts owners of summer cottages with their abundant flowering and unpretentiousness in their care. The most widespread are "Tree-like", "Large-leafed" and "Snowstorm" subspecies, which in different ways tolerate frosts, and therefore require different wintering conditions. How to cover a hydrangea for the winter - in this article.
Why hide this flowering shrub?
It must be said that the "Tree-like" and "Windblown" hydrangeas are able to tolerate frosts well, especially the last grade, because its home is Sakhalin , where frosts down to -35 ᵒС and below are the norm. This kind of shelter does not require, but the root system needs to be protected. Its peculiarity is the formation of flower buds on shoots that grow in the current year. Similarly, flower buds are formed in the "Tree-like" hydrangea and even if it is not harbored, with the advent of heat frozen shoots are quickly restored, and at the right time, gardeners are pleased with abundant flowering.
Particularly thermophilic is the "large leaf" hydrangea, and it needs to be sheltered for the simple reason that its inflorescence is formed from the buds of shoots that grew up last year. Therefore, without cover, the shrub will freeze and will not bloom the next year. A young plant, irrespective of the species, is sheltered without fail, but the climate in this region must be taken into account.
How to hide a garden hydrangea for the winter?
Cooking shrubs for wintering should already in the second half of July, abandoning nitrogen fertilizers and switching to phosphate-potassium. In the beginning of autumn, watering is stopped, and the lower parts are freed from the leaves. Those who are interested in how to cover the hydrangea bush for the winter, it is worth recommending on the eve of the first colds to remove all the faded inflorescences. Those who ask, at what temperature to cover the hydrangea for the winter, it is worth responding that this must be done before the onset of frost, as gentle shoots will not bear the drops to -5 ° C. Now it is clear when to cover the hydrangea for the winter - this must be done at the end of October in the southern regions, and in the moderate ones even earlier.
Ways of shelter:
- Fill the soil around the trunk with dry soil to protect the lower kidneys and root system. Then around the bush should be laid half-meter boards with hammered nails, which will be used to fix the bent shoots. You can simply pinch them between the boards, and both in a bundle-tied form, and a fan or sun around the circumference. Clamp stones, bricks or other suitable objects, fill with dry but not fruit leaves, and cover with loutrasil or spunbond of grade 30. This method is recommended for those who want to know how to cover a young hydrangea for the winter.
- To warm the soil around the trunk with spruce lapnik, and on it lay shoots - bound or loose. To fix with suitable objects or staples, from above to cover with lapnikom, and after lutrasilom. The next layer consists of peat or sawdust, which is also covered with lapnik. For additional protection of flower buds on the periphery of the plant, polyethylene bags with dry leaves should be disintegrated. The same packages should be placed under the base of badly bending branches. From above all this construction should be covered with a film or roofing material. The more severe the winter in this region, the more insulation layers should be made.
Plants in containers and tubs are taken to the veranda, and there is still an air-dry method suitable for sheltering the year-old "Snowstorm" and "Tree-like" hydrangeas. The bush should first be tied up, wrapped around with heat-insulating material, then the wire mesh is protected from the metal mesh and the space inside is filled with dry leaves. The top is covered with a roofing paper or a film.