The lush caps of panicle dolly hydrangea look wonderful in the greenery of a garden or conifer. The picturesque bush of hydrangea Dolly for many years will be an adornment of any corner of the yard or garden. Growing shrubs does not require much effort. About the features of planting, care, reproduction and periods of growth of hydrangea Dolly in the article below.
Description of hydrangea dolly
Many gardeners among shrubs prefer to plant panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea Paniculata), which is compact and luxuriant, with a delicate aroma blooms from the second half of summer to frost.
Panicle hydrangea dolly
Hydrangea was brought in 1820 from Japan. In southeast Asia, it grows with a tree up to 10 m high. Its selection is ongoing, there are more than a hundred varieties. One of the recent results of the work of breeders is panicle hydrangea Dolly, surprising in its beauty and unpretentiousness.
It blooms compactly and luxuriantly
How hydrangea dolly blooms
Panicles are wide in a pyramidal shape with a pointed apex 15-25 cm long. The inflorescences bloom white on the top of the sun, greenish with oblong sepals, then turn into light pink, and by September at the edges in dark pink.
At the beginning of flowering, the bush looks like openwork, as if strewn with beads. In inflorescences there are many small unblown buds the size of a small pea.
Inflorescence
Most often, the multi-stemmed sprawling bush of Dolly grows no more than 1.6 m.
Hydrangea Dolly transplant after purchase in the open ground
In spring and autumn, hydrangeas are transplanted into the open ground, and closer to the north only in the spring.
What you need for landing:
- determine the time of landing;
- choose a place for a seedling with appropriate soil;
- prepare the soil in the selected place on the site (dig, select weeds, fertilize, add peat crumbs);
- Process the purchased Dolly seedling, create conditions for its preservation until planting in the ground;
- prepare tools, fertilizers, compost, peat, sand, water for irrigation.
Choosing the best place
Before planting hydrangea Dolly in the ground, you need to remember about its Far Eastern origin and provide a shaded part protected from the wind. In the scorching sun, the leaves will be lighter, and the inflorescences are slightly smaller.
The soil is needed moist, fertile, loamy, loose (pH 5.5-6.5). She will not like the sandy soil, as it is too alkaline and dry.
Note! Hydrangea Dolly does not tolerate drought, will not bloom where there is lime in the soil.
Step-by-step landing process
Several buckets of water are poured into a wide hole (70 cm) up to 35-50 cm deep under a Dolly hydrangea a day before planting to soak the earth with moisture.
During planting, fertile soil, peat, compost and some sand are brought into the prepared hole during planting. Organic and mineral fertilizers are added (potassium sulfate, superphosphate, urea).
A tubercle is formed in the hole from fertile soil, moisturized. The roots of a seedling are cut a little and up to five pairs of buds are left on young shoots. On the knoll evenly distribute the roots of the seedling and sprinkle with a soil mixture. The root neck should not be deepened, it is necessary that it remains flush with the ground.
When planting, the soil is compacted under hydrangea, compacted and poured abundantly.
For your information! Mulching with a layer of pine bark, peat or pine needles will keep the earth moist for a long time.
Mulch bush
The distance between tall seedlings should be 150 cm. The root system of the plant is widespread in the upper layer and even outside the crown. Flowering of a grateful plant is possible in the first year, but for hydrangea it is better to remove the first peduncles to strengthen and develop all systems of the shrub. In the early years, young plants develop slowly, they are protected and covered.
Breeding
Perennial ornamental shrub Hydrangea Dolly propagates vegetatively, while retaining the characteristics inherent in the mother plant. There are several such methods: propagation by cuttings, growing from layering, dividing the bush.
Propagation by cuttings
The amount of Dolly hydrangea is increased by cuttings. For propagation, shoots (10 cm) are used for trimming shrubs in early spring with four or more buds. The shoots withstand 2 days in a solution of root concentration of low concentration and placed in fertile soil with compost, sprinkled with sand. 2-3 cm deepen the cuttings in a light, moisture-intensive soil with peat, leaving a distance of 3-5 cm between them.
They are covered from the sun with non-woven material and watered. Peat promotes root growth, so after 3-4 weeks hydrangea cuttings take root, the coating is removed after the heat has subsided. With quality care, the proportion of rooted cuttings reaches 100%.
Note! Cuttings are possible both before flowering (in June) and during flowering (mid-July) from medium-sized side shoots. For winter, young shoots are covered with spruce branches.
Growing from layering
You can propagate the plant and layering. Escape from an adult bush is slightly incised in the place of future roots. Then they bend to the groove in the ground (20 cm deep), fix the layers with a hairpin and sprinkle with soil. Falling asleep groove, leave part of the layering not sprinkled. Near the groove, the crown can be tied to a peg for its verticality. It is necessary to moisten these layers, and the young growth to separate later.
Bush division
Hydrangea Dolly can be bred when dividing the bush. In the spring (before the shoots regrowth) or in the fall (long before the soil freezes), the bush is dug up. It is divided into several parts so that 2-3 kidneys and 5-6 root offspring are left on each. Craftsmen-gardeners separate part of the bush for breeding, without even digging the main bush, which will continue to grow.
Care
Panicled hydrangea Dolly grows well and blooms with sufficient moisture, sunlight, top dressing, and she just needs pruning.
Blooming Hydrangea Dolly
Watering mode
Watering Dolly abundantly is required 2 times a month, and in hot weather 2 times a week. Required per 1 m² of soil up to 30 liters of water around the bush, you can add potassium permanganate or nettle infusion.
A dry state around the bush should be avoided, after moistening, loosen the top layer and remove weeds.
Top dressing
For good growth and flowering of Dolly hydrangea, it is necessary to nourish it, especially during the growing season. If there is not enough feeding, then little inflorescences are formed.
It is advisable to alternate the types of fertilizer complexes when feeding once in 10 days. The manure and mineral complex of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus will be beneficial for Dolly hydrangea.
In the first days of summer, carry out the first application, and perform the second dressing after 2 weeks. This top dressing is enough before the cold snap. If the bush is young, then fertilizers continue to be applied, but without the inclusion of nitrogen.
Once every 2 weeks when watering, an infusion of mullein is useful (1 liter of infusion is diluted in 10 liters of water). It is prepared in advance (a bucket of manure is poured into 3 liters of water and insisted for three days).
Important! At the end of summer, feeding is stopped.
Features of care during the flowering period
Pruning hydrangea dolly bushes before flowering will have a beneficial effect on its splendor and duration. Weak shoots cut off completely.
During the formation of inflorescences, fertilizer is applied 2 times with a break of 14-15 days. During the flowering period, it is necessary to regularly water the bush.
For your information! The best time for the successful rooting of cuttings of Dolly hydrangea is the flowering period.
Blooming Hydrangea Dolly
Features of care at rest
Early in spring, they cleanse the Dolly hydrangea bush from old and frozen shoots. Cut the bush before the sap flow. If you are late, then pruning is carried out during the period of leaflet blooming.
For your information! To form the desired shape of the bush in annual strong shoots, the top is cut off to 3-5 pairs of buds. In late autumn, they also cut bushes.
Winter preparations
Before winter, they cut off all panicles and extra shoots, leaving the strongest branches on the bush. Before the onset of cold weather, abundant watering is carried out to protect the root system from freezing. After this, the plant is spud.
Young plants Dolly must make shelter from the cold. The roots, the most important and vulnerable part of the plant, are carefully covered with a thick layer of insulation from peat, rotted manure or dry leaves. The frost resistance of the variety is high (up to −29 ° C), but it is in adult bushes, it is better to prepare young ones for winter, covering from all sides so that frost does not harm Dolly's hydrangeas.
Whether or not to plant this variety on its plot, each grower decides for himself. But, if you bribed beautiful flowering, bush height and easy propagation methods, then why not try ?! In addition, caring for this variety is not so complicated as described above.
