Hydrangea is often called the queen among shrub flowering crops. The abundance of species, forms and varieties allows you to admire different colors throughout the season. This article gives a description of hydrangea pilchatolistnaya or serratus and describes the intricacies of its cultivation.

Description

Hydratia serrata (adapted Latin name) is a compact bush 1-1.5 m high. The central trunk is usually thick, branched. Strong shoots grow at a slight angle up, forming a dense rounded crown. The bark is gray-brown, greenish in young branches.

Did you know? During archaeological excavations in Alaska, North America, fossilized hydrangea particles were found. After analysis, scientists came to the conclusion that the plant grew here more than a dozen millennia ago.

Hydrangea is serrate, or, more true, serratinate - a densely leafy plant. Leaves of medium and large sizes 7–11 cm in length, depending on the variety. Oval plates with a pointed end and a wide base, mottled with wrinkles. The edge of the leaf is bordered by well-defined notches. Color from light to dark green.

Flowering period - June - September. Inflorescences are spherical or in the form of scutes. Wavy petals on the edge. Color from pink and blue to purple. Flowers cover the bush so densely that often foliage is not visible under them.

Popular varieties

Most garden forms of serratus species were bred in Japan. Varieties are mostly winter-hardy, immune to diseases, rarely attacked by insects. Serrated hydrangea can be grown in open ground in the middle lane, in the Moscow region, the Urals and Siberia. In cold regions, it is advisable for crops to provide shelter.

Bluebird

The height of the bush is not more than 1.2 m, the crown can grow up to 1.5 m. The finely sawn leaves are oval. The color of the plates is bright green. Inflorescences are collected in scutes 10 cm in diameter. In the center, the flowers are small, along the edge are larger baskets. The time for buds to bloom is July. Bright blue or purple hats stay on the bush until September. Bluebird calmly survives the winter with a drop in temperature to -20 ° C.

Oamaha

A compact shrub grows to 1.5 m, while the crown reaches no more than 60 cm in diameter. Oamaha is a large-leaved variety, the leaf length can be equal to the size of inflorescences - 9-12 cm. Green leaves are oval in shape with an elongated sharp end.

Inflorescences are umbrella, the color depends on the type of flower:

• sterile - blue or pink;
• fertile - blue or white.

The flowering period is from June to September.

Important! The acidity of the soil can change the color of the petals: acidic soil - blue, neutral - a pale blue hue, alkaline earth - a purple tone.

Koreana

Large flower baskets can be pink, blue and blue, and on the same bush at the same time. Umbrella inflorescences, densely sprinkle with shrubs in early July and decorate it until September. Plant height - 1.5 m, crown width - 1.2 m. Foliage with a wide plate of medium size 7–9 cm in length.

Preciosa

Variety in height not more than a meter. Crohn is round, dense. Preziosa at the beginning of flowering throws buds of a yellow-green hue. As they bloom, the petals turn pink. And then violet or purple. Flowering time begins in the second half of July, lasts until September inclusive. The variety has high winter hardiness, can be grown in cold regions.

Virl

Giant among other varieties: reaches 2 m in height. Virl has low growth power. The adult specimen grows a crown 1.5 m wide. It blooms all summer. Picked flowers are collected in rounded inflorescences. Petals with a pink or blue tint.

Landing

Seedlings of culture are recommended to be purchased in nurseries. When buying, you need to inspect the bush. A good planting material has developed shoots with buds, a flexible and moist root system. An unpleasant odor should not come from a soil coma in a sapling with closed roots. To make sure of this, the bush is carefully dumped from the container.

Site selection and soil preparation

For serrated view, you need to choose a flat place, without slopes and pits. The root system of hydrangea is located not deep from the surface, only 40–55 cm, therefore, on a hilly area, the bush may not be able to stay, especially if it is covered with heavy inflorescences.

In the lowlands, moisture, rain and melt water accumulate. The plant loves moisture in moderate amounts, but not in excess. Lighting is recommended diffused: the shadow will make the inflorescences loose, and too bright and aggressive sunlight will burn delicate petals and foliage.

The site is dug up and brought into the ground mineral complex:

• urea - 20 g;
• potassium salt - 20 g;
• superphosphate - 25 g.

During digging, remove all plant debris from last year.

Landing time

Planting dates depend on the region of cultivation. In the southern regions, planting is possible in the fall, after the recession of heat and 1.5–2 months before frosts. In the central and northern regions, planting is carried out in the spring. It can be April or May. The main condition is that the earth must be warmed up to at least + 8 ° C.

Step-by-step instruction

When planting groups of plants between them leave a gap of up to one and a half meters. The size of the pit is 50 × 50 × 60 cm.

Landing pattern:

1. The soil extracted from the hole is mixed with peat and sand in a ratio of 2: 1: 1.
2. Part fall asleep on a pre-made drainage of crushed stone or gravel with a layer of 15 cm.
3. A seedling is placed on top and the roots are straightened.
4. When a plant is covered with soil, the position of the growth point is monitored - 3-5 cm above the soil level.
5. After watering, spending a bucket of water.

The trunk circle is covered with a layer of mulch of 6-8 cm. Material - peat, sawdust, wood bark.

Care

Hydrangea is generally not a whimsical plant. But you need to monitor the soil moisture to prevent drying out of the roots. Also, the plant needs nutrients, shelter from overheating. Equally important is timely trimming, especially sanitary and shaping.

Fertilizer

The plant responds well to root and foliar top dressing. Do not overdo it with nitrogen, so that the growth of deciduous mass is not at the expense of flowering.

Important! Before applying dry preparations, you need to moisten the earth, otherwise you can burn the roots.

For a bush, a few top dressings per season are enough:

1. In early spring, they stimulate foliage growth by introducing bird droppings. The product is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:20.
2. When bud formation begins, potassium and phosphorus are needed. To prepare the root dressing, potassium salt and superphosphate of 30 g / 10 l of water are needed.
3. During flowering, the previous option is repeated, adding 2 g of boric acid to the product.
4. The last fertilizer is applied at the end of August. Close up to 50 g of superphosphate and potassium salt in the soil of the trunk circle.

Watering

In the description of the species it is said about the plant's love of moisture. Short-term drought will not lead to death, but worsen the quality of flowering. For irrigation use settled water, chlorine has a bad effect on plants. An adult bush will need 2-3 buckets of water. A young copy is enough 10 liters of fluid. With frequent rainfall, the frequency of soil irrigation should be reduced: due to excess moisture, the roots will begin to rot.

Trimming and Shaping

In the spring, examining the bush, you should remove weak and broken shoots. Some can be damaged by wind, snowy infusion, they are also cut off. To form a beautiful crown, leave the strongest and most even branches. Thus, they create the backbone. Next, shoots growing inside, unpromising, are removed to the ring.

Every year the form is maintained by cutting branches that are knocked out of the general outline of the crown. A rejuvenating haircut for varieties with fast growth is carried out once every 2-3 years, for slow-growing - once every 5-7 years. Shoots are simply removed on a stump.

Winter hardiness and shelter for the winter

Serrated hydrangea is resistant to low temperatures, many varieties withstand -25 ... -30 ° C.

Young bushes in cold regions need careful preparation for winter:

1. Mulch from sawdust or wood bark with a layer of 25 cm.
2. Installation of a circular support on which the agromaterial is pulled.
3. Lapnik and snow crust when snow falls.

Adult bushes are enough to mulch. If the culture grows in an open area, it is advisable to tie the branches with towline so that they are not broken by the wind and the weight of the snow that fell.

Diseases and Pests

Proper and attentive care will protect the culture from diseases and pest attacks.

And yet, you should familiarize yourself with the methods of dealing with possible misfortunes:

1. With fungal diseases such as powdery mildew, Septoria, the biological fungicide "Gamair" perfectly copes. A solution for spraying the bush is prepared in a ratio of 2 tablets / 10 l of water.
2. WITH root rot and tracheomycosis You can fight using another biological agent - Alirin-B. A working infusion for watering the trunk circle and foliage is made of 2 tablets and 10 liters of water, stirring thoroughly.
3. Against leaf-sucking and leaf-eating insects (aphid, thrips, mite) effective "Akarin". The bush must be sprayed with a solution in a proportion of 2-6 ml / 1 liter of water.
4. Soil pests (weevil, slugs) are vulnerable to the active ingredient of the Apache insecticide. To water the bush, you need to dissolve 1 g of the product in a liter of water.

So that harmful insects do not annoy the site, gardeners plant repellents next to decorative crops. These plants scare away almost all garden pests with a pungent odor.

Breeding options

The flowers of the serratus species consist of sterile and prolific flowers, therefore, they can propagate by seed. Seeds are best bought from trusted sellers. Before planting, they should be dried. In addition, the method of cuttings and layering is very successful and simple.

Seeds

Sowing is carried out in February. A few days before this, the seeds are placed in moist cotton so that they swell. Sow the material in wet sand, covering the container or pot with glass. For several weeks, every 2-3 days, the seedlings are sprayed, condensate is removed from the glass. When the shoots appear, the shelter is removed. With the advent of the first pair of strong leaves, seedlings dive into separate containers.

The substrate is taken as for a seedling. Until the plant grows up and forms a strong root system, it is kept in a house on a lighted window sill. Leaving consists in watering and top dressing. Fertika fertilizer is applied to the soil twice a month 5 g per pot. In the fall, top dressing is stopped until spring. A 2-3-year-old bush is transplanted into open ground.

Cuttings

Cuttings are cut in early summer from the shoots of the current season. Need a branch of 6-8 cm long with 2 internodes and a pair of leaves. Rooted in wet sand, placed in a substrate at an angle. Escape is covered with a cropped plastic bottle. Regularly every 2–3 days aerate, spray the soil. The following spring, a grown, rooted bush is transplanted to a permanent place.

Layering

Layers can be propagated at any time of the year, except for late autumn and winter. You need to choose the longest branch in an adult plant. Under it, a narrow groove is dug with a depth of not more than 15 cm. A part of the shoot, stripped from the foliage, is laid in it.

Did you know? Buddhists have a tradition: on Buddha’s birthday in the temple on the head of the statue of the deity pour tea from hydrangea leaves, called "amacha".

The layer is sprinkled with soil, and its upper part is left on the surface. When caring for the mother bush, they pay attention to the seedling. Next spring, layers with roots are carefully separated from the donor and planted in a permanent place in the garden.

Hydrangea with serrate leaves will adequately decorate any corner of the site. Properly selected varieties and types of culture will turn the garden into a continuously flowering paradise.