"Hydrangea does not forgive": 5 common mistakes in flower care that prevent it from becoming more beautiful

Looking to transform hydrangeas in your personal garden? Then a fiery salute, a keen hydrangea grower! Today on the agenda - 5 common, and at the same time insidious mistakes in caring for an ornamental plant, which has every chance of becoming the most noticeable decoration of the site.

What does "error" mean

Very often readers, seeing their actions in the list of errors, begin to be indignant: "But I do this, and I have a beautiful flower"... attaching a photo of a dry plant as evidence. And I've never denied that a plant that has flaws in the care can look pretty good to itself.

But, comrade: if these mistakes are not made, the decorative flower will become truly decorative. A collapsed bush and a few umbrellas are NOT a decorative hydrangea.

1. Incorrect cropping

Paniculate and tree hydrangeas bloom on the shoots of the current year. Prune them in the fall, leaving stumps with buds, from which a new growth will come with flowers in the spring.

Large-leaved hydrangea - a madam of a different kind. In the fall, only the caps of flowers are cut off, because the bright plant prefers to give caps of flowers on last year's shoots.

I have often come across the fact that friends do not know what kind of hydrangea they have, and even more so how they should be cut. They just bought seedlings with a beautiful picture, and of course they threw out the box. Please, comrade, find out once and for all what kind of hydrangea you have.

2. Ignoring cropping as such

The second weird approach is "Sorry to cut", especially when it comes to thinning the bush. For unexplained reasons, gardeners resist the fact that pruning excess branches that create density only increases flowering.

Density is an unhealthy competition with the suppression of weak, unfair shading of a part of the bush and lack of normal ventilation, which becomes an invitation to visit pests, fungi and bacteria.

Comrade! We must accept that a lot of branches does not equal an abundant flowering. Here, as in life, the golden mean is important. Sharpen the pruning shears, cut out excess, dry and diseased shoots.

Friendly advice: If two branches grow close to each other - feel free to leave one.

3. Insufficient watering. Hydrangea - drinking plant

The Latin name of our immodest heroine is Hydrángea. Translated from the ancient Greek language, the name can be translated as "A vessel with water". No wonder! Leaving a hydrangea without enough water is the worst thing a gardener can do.. Drought cripples the ornamental plant, diminishing its beauty exponentially.

Hydrangea loves to keep the ground a little moist at all times. There is no need to rush to extremes, generously shedding soil after a drought: the plant does not like swinging back and forth. It is better to periodically poke your nose under the bush and see if the soil is dry by 5 cm.

About:

• In the hellish heat, I water hydrangeas 2 times a week.
• Moderate weather - once a week.
• Rainy weather - precipitation may well replace watering, we skip until the soil dries up by 5 cm.

Do not feel sorry for the water. An adult bush needs an average of 2 buckets (20 liters) of water, adjusted for heat and soil composition.

4. Unsuccessful landing: "She's doing well anyway"

Comrades! I understand that I want to plant a hydrangea "Right over there!" But remember that hydrangea does not tolerate transplants well, so making mistakes with a place is an unaffordable luxury.

Think twice if the landing site exactly meets the 2 rules:

• Hydrangea loves soft light. It will be great if she is under the rays of the sun in the morning and evening hours. In an indecent shade, the bushes grow loose and hardly bloom. They are fried in the sun. Why decorativeness suffers again.
• Keep your distance from paths and walls of buildings. Hydrangea grows large and often bends under the weight of flowering caps.

I once planted a hydrangea next to the path. And every time, having drunk compote from a neighbor, I stumbled over its flowering shoots, bent over my sidewalk.

5. Neglecting the acidity of the earth

Citizens, respect the hydrangea's need for acidic soil: weak and medium acidic. For those looking for numbers, the ideal pH is 5.4. And the hydrangea will certainly thank you for the acidic care, becoming even more beautiful.

So arm yourself with litmus strips that cost a penny, are simple and reliable to use. If necessary, deacidify the soil with peat, sphagnum moss or coniferous litter. But watering with citric acid has too short an effect.

Do you like hydrangea and was this article helpful? Click, comrade, "Thumbs up"!
Sincerely yours, lover of the neighbor's compote hydrangea grower Fyodor Tyapkin-Sklyankin.