Beautiful hydrangea flowers will be an affordable decorative solution for garden plots and public recreation areas. This crop does not require specific care and will bloom beautifully if you follow simple rules. One of the most spectacular solutions for the site will be the paniculate hydrangea Magical Starlight. To make it look beautiful, it is important to take into account a number of features.
Description of the plant
Paniculata hydrangea Magical Starlight is a vigorously growing and well-branched shrub. It is characterized by reddish shoots and ovoid green leaves.This culture has beautiful cone-shaped panicles of pure white color. It can become an excellent part of a spectacular garden composition from July to September.
Hydrangea grows well in open ground and when planted in containers for decorating gazebos and patios. This variety can be shaped as a tree or shrub. Regardless of the features of pruning, the hydrangea crown takes on a rounded shape.
Unlike other varieties of hydrangeas, Magical Starlight has strong branches that do not bend to the ground under the weight of the inflorescences. Therefore, the bush always retains its decorative properties. So, the main characteristics of culture include the following:
- branched deciduous shrub that has a vertical growth point;
- flowering - 2 times a year;
- height – 1-1.5 meters;
- width – 75-100 centimeters;
- frost resistance - up to -30 degrees.
The plant has a number of pros and cons. The main advantages of this variety of hydrangea include the following:
- low maintenance requirements;
- large and neat flowers;
- good survival rate of seedlings;
- high frost resistance;
- resistance to pathologies;
- Widely used in landscape design;
- excellent prospects in terms of reproduction.
At the same time, hydrangea has an important disadvantage. They consider the need for disease prevention. Despite its strong immunity, hydrangea needs treatment for diseases. They are usually carried out in early spring.
Landing
In order for a hydrangea seedling to adapt well to new conditions, it is important to carry out planting work correctly.
Selecting a location
Hydrangea needs a well-lit or partially shaded area. It is advisable that the sun's rays hit this place in the first half of the day.After which the hydrangea needs shading from tall trees.
The composition of the soil is of no small importance. It should contain a sufficient amount of nutrients. The best option would be sandy loam mixtures. They perfectly retain nutrients, heat up quickly and allow air to pass through. An additional advantage of such soil is its slow drying.
The highest quality substrate will be black soil. However, after a while even this becomes exhausted. Therefore, the soil should be enriched by adding humus, peat, compost or other organic fertilizers. When growing hydrangea in sandy soil, it will encounter moisture deficiency. In this case, it needs to be watered more often. However, when planting, you can add a little clay to the hole. This will help slow down the rate of water loss.
Clay soil is not very suitable for the plant. It has a too dense structure and retains moisture. This increases the risk of rot. To make such a substrate more loose, you need to add sand to it.
When choosing a planting site for hydrangeas, you should also pay attention to the size of the area. For proper air exchange between the bush and other objects there must be at least 50 centimeters of free space. At the same time, hydrangeas can hardly withstand powerful gusts of wind. Therefore, the bush is planted in such a way that there is a barrier between it and the air flow. This could be a structure or strong conifers.
Landing rules
To plant a plant, a hydrangea seedling can be purchased at a nursery. Before planting, you need to remove it from the container and look at the roots, removing any damaged ones. Some gardeners advise trimming the hydrangea's root system by 2 centimeters to stimulate root growth.After which the hydrangea seedling needs to be soaked in “Kornevin” or another growth stimulant. Then it is recommended to do the following:
- Dig a hole with a diameter and depth of 50 centimeters.
- Place drainage made of crushed stone or pebbles at the bottom. Its thickness should be 20 centimeters.
- Mix the soil from the hole with compost or other organic substances - humus or peat.
- Place part of the substrate in the recess.
- Install the seedling and add soil so that the root collar is at the same level as in the container.
- Water the seedling with the soil stimulant solution in which it was soaked and add 1-2 buckets of water.
- Cover the tree trunk circle with a mulch layer 6 centimeters thick.
Aftercare
It is recommended to water the shrub systematically. In this case, each hydrangea seedling needs to add 1 bucket of water at intervals of 3 days. An adult plant is watered so that the soil is saturated to 30 centimeters.
If the tree trunk circle is not covered with mulch, it must be loosened after each watering. Without this, the root system will not receive enough oxygen.
As for fertilizers, hydrangea needs nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. For this purpose, it is permissible to use individual substances or complex preparations. Urea or ammonium nitrate can be used as sources of nitrogen, and superphosphate will help supply the plant with phosphorus. Of the complex formulations, it is permissible to use the drug “Agricola Aqua for hydrangeas”. In addition to the main components, this product includes additional chelated minerals and humates.
Preparing for cold weather
The plant does not require specific preparation for winter.Even this year's shoots can withstand temperatures down to -29 degrees without shelter. The only problem is the wintering of the roots of young crops. They are quite close to the surface of the earth.
To preserve the root system of young plants, it is recommended to hill them to a height of 50 centimeters. As an alternative, you can consider mulching the tree trunk circle. To do this, it is recommended to use sawdust or straw.
Pest Control
If the rules of agricultural technology are violated, paniculate hydrangea of this variety may suffer from various pests. The most common parasites that affect hydrangea bushes include:
- Aphids are small insects that abundantly infect the upper parts of shoots and young foliage. They feed on plant sap, and therefore damage their cells at the formation stage. As the leaves grow, they become deformed, turn yellow and fall off. In addition, aphids can spread sooty fungus.
- Black grape weevil - causes injury to the root system. As the larvae grow, they begin to eat bark and branches. To cope with pests, spray with the drug “Fufanon-Nova”. This must be done before the plant begins to flower.
- The leaf roller is a fairly active pest. Small white or brown moths lay eggs at the ends of branches, from which caterpillars emerge. They feed on the upper parts of leaves. During pupation, pests roll the leaves of the plant into a tube. To deal with parasites, their caterpillars can be collected by hand. It is also permissible to install hunting belts and traps with pheromones.
- The Japanese beetle creates serious problems for summer residents.This is a large insect that has copper-green elytra. Pests emerge from their hiding places in the early morning and consume the foliage, leaving large holes in it. To deal with parasites, you can shake them off into a bucket filled with soapy water. It is also permissible to treat plants with Metabrom-RFO.
- Spider mite - feeds on plant foliage. Maximum activity of parasites is observed in hot and dry weather. Spider mites absorb the juices of the plant, leaving many small punctures on its foliage. To treat bushes, you can use various broad-spectrum insecticides. “Aktara” and “Aktellik” are suitable for this.
- May beetle - absorbs the leaves of the crop. In this case, the pest larvae provoke damage to the root system of young plants. Organophosphorus compounds are used to kill parasites.
Reproduction
To propagate this variety of hydrangea, you can use different methods - seeds, cuttings or layering. Each method has its own pros and cons. Seed propagation is used quite rarely. It will take a very long time to get a flowering plant this way.
Reproduction by layering takes approximately 2 years. This is due to the fact that the root system of young plants is quite weak. As a result, it is not able to provide the crop with sufficient nutrients.
The most popular method is cuttings. For this, young shoots of the current season are used. It is recommended to cut them in late autumn. It is important to ensure that there are at least 6 buds on the cutting. The shoots of the plant need to be treated with a rooting agent and placed in water for several hours. After which they are planted in a loose substrate.The top of the cuttings should be covered with film.
It is important to systematically water the soil so that it does not dry out. At the same time, young hydrangea bushes need to be ventilated daily. Usually the plant takes root in 3-4 months. After this, the greenhouse can be removed and the plants can be moved to a sunny and warm place. At the end of summer next year, the hydrangea can be moved into open ground.
Application
The plant has excellent decorative characteristics, which is why it is often used in landscape design. It looks good as a single object and in group plantings. The plant can also be used as a hedge element.
Hydrangea Magical Starlight is a spectacular crop that is very popular among gardeners. To grow a plant successfully, it needs to be properly cared for.
