Garden hydrangea: propagation by cuttings, layering and seeds

Many summer residents are interested in how to propagate garden hydrangea, because its bush, charming with its beauty, is able to decorate any garden plot with itself. No wonder he enjoys such love among gardeners. In addition to beauty, it is winter hardy and, with proper care, can delight with its flowering for more than one year. Luckily, hydrangeas are easy to propagate.

All methods for propagating garden hydrangea

Hydrangea propagates, as a rule, in several ways - by seeds, dividing bushes, layering, offspring and cuttings.

1 Seeds

Reproduction by seeds is a rather long and painstaking process. At the same time, this bush will be able to indulge in flowering only after 3 years. This method is most often used by breeders to develop new varieties.

2 layering

Reproduction by layering should be done only in early spring, before the buds open. To do this, it is necessary to make grooves and lay the lower shoots in them to a depth of 2 cm. Then sprinkle the layers with earth. At the end of August, young shoots should form from these layers. Until October, they must be spudded once a week, and then dug, divided and buried until spring. In the spring, they can already be planted in a permanent place and wait for flowering in a year.

3 Scions

As for the separation by offspring, in addition to being a rather delicate work, it is also a little dangerous for the shrub itself. Since cleaning the top layer of the earth, you can easily damage the roots. But in the spring, the bushes recover quite easily after such an execution. Coppice shoots need to be separated and planted in the garden. How much it will grow and how long it will bloom depends only on the condition of the seedling.

4 Division of the bush

By dividing the bush is propagated mainly during transplantation. It is best to do this procedure in the spring. The bush needs to be generously watered, dug up, divided into parts and planted in a permanent place.

5 Cuttings

The easiest and most effective hydrangea propagation procedure is cuttings. For this procedure, it is best to choose small annual shoots that do not break when bent. There are plenty of such shoots on any bush. This method is called “green hydrangea cuttings”. But in principle, lignified shoots can also be used for cuttings, but they will take longer to take root.

The most favorable period for hydrangea cuttings is mid-summer. Shoots cut before flowering may contain part of last year's cuttings, they also give good rooting results.

5.1 Rooting cuttings in the ground

You can make the most suitable soil composition for rooting shoots yourself: mix one part of coarse sand and two parts of peat. The content of peat in the substrate favors the active growth of the roots. From above, the substrate must be crushed with a layer of sand of 2 cm. The soil for good rooting must be kept constantly moist.

If the upper part of the shoot is taken for rooting, then the lower leaves are cut off completely, and the upper ones are cut off by 2/3 as in the photo:

If the middle part of the shoot is taken for rooting, all the leaves are cut off from it and planted in the prepared soil mixture to a depth of 2 cm. The gap between the cuttings should be about 6 cm.

After planting, make a greenhouse / greenhouse for hydrangea shoots from a plastic bag or a plastic bottle.

Subsequent care consists in regular and abundant watering once every one and a half weeks. The cuttings must be protected from sunlight, so it is better to choose a shaded place for them. It will be possible to remove the greenhouse presumably in three weeks. After this time, subject to all conditions, the cuttings should already be rooted. For the winter, rooted shoots must be dug in the garden along with the container and must be covered (you can use newspapers and polyethylene, you can use non-woven material). It will be safe to plant them in the garden without shelter in the spring.

5.2 Sprouting cuttings in water

Quite quickly, the tops of the shoots give roots in the water. So you can first put the prepared green cuttings in the water and plant them in the ground a month later:

For 30 years of growing these beauties, we have distributed a lot of planting material to friends and neighbors - we cut cuttings, dug layering, divided bushes. Rarely, when the hydrangea was capricious. So feel free to take up its replication, because now you know how to propagate garden hydrangea, and you yourself can choose the most suitable option for breeding this ornamental shrub.