Hydrangeas are particularly popular among gardeners. They enchant with beautiful flowers and are also very robust garden plants. The snowball hydrangea, also called ball hydrangea for short, is particularly blooming and therefore proves to be very preferable if you want to create beautiful eye-catchers in your own garden. That’s why we’re telling you today how to take care of the beautiful garden flower and in particular how to cut the snowball hydrangea.
Cutting snowball hydrangea – what do you have to consider?
The snowball hydrangea at a glance
The wild snowball hydrangea is not suitable for the garden, but only selected garden varieties. The ball hydrangea is a relatively new variety of hydrangea. The forest hydrangea “Annabelle” is the most famous among the snowball hydrangeas and convinces with particularly large, white flower umbels.
Botanically called the ball hydrangea Hydrangea arborescents. It also bears the name shrub hydrangea or forest hydrangea.
The beautiful shrub grows upright and can reach a height of 2 meters. The snowball hydrangea spreads underground. It has short spurs. Therefore, keep in mind that the shrub will take up a large area over the years.
The light green leaves of the plant are pointed at the end and have a matte finish. The snowball hydrangea is a deciduous plant. But what makes the shrub hydrangea really worth seeing are its unusual flowers. The ball hydrangea flowers from June to September. Its panicles consist of individual flowers that are greenish-white at first and later become creamy-white. Even when they fade, they are always a beautiful decoration for the garden. It is the spherical umbels of the plant that gave it its name.
The large-flowered plant makes a beautiful picture in the garden
Care tips for the shrub hydrangea
The robust plant can also be planted in autumn. However, the following must be observed when it comes to maintenance:
location and soil
A place protected from wind and rain is very important for the forest hydrangea. This needs to be sunny to shady, which is why you could plant the plant under a large tree. A humus-rich, loose and lime-poor soil is ideal for the snowball hydrangea.
Pour
The flowering shrub needs water regularly. The reason: Hydrangeas are thirsty garden plants. In addition, the rainwater must be. If you water these mornings and evenings in the summer, you won’t go wrong. In winter, on the other hand, you can water twice a week.
The snowball hydrangea can have flowers up to 25 cm in size
Cutting snowball hydrangea – how and when does that have to be done?
When it comes to pruning, not all types of hydrangeas are treated equally. We will explain to you in a moment how and when to cut the ball hydrangea correctly.
What is the difference between a maintenance and radical pruning?
You can remove individual shoots at any time if necessary. If some parts of the plant are broken, dried up, withered or diseased, you have to get rid of them. This is called a maintenance cut. If you want to remove diseased shoots, then cut directly into the healthy wood. Plant parts infested with parasites are also cut back.
However, the annual radical pruning is much more important for the development of the plant and one of the most important measures in the care of snowball hydrangea.
At the end of February, before the first sprouting, you must cut back the snowball hydrangea to just above the ground. If you cut them later, the ball hydrangeas will also bloom later in the summer. The radical pruning encourages the plant to branch more densely. This also stimulates lush growth and magnificent flowering. As a rule, about 15 cm must remain. This is a big difference to the farmer’s hydrangea. But if the ball hydrangea is in a windy place, you only need to cut it back slightly to keep it stable.
In regions where the winter is very warm, you could also make the radical cut in January.
Check the plants weekly for pests
Important to know:
- You must undertake radical pruning when the weather is dry and frost-free. An overcast day is ideal so that the cut surfaces do not burn from the sun.
- You can make the cut with hedge trimmers or rose shears, or with strong pruning shears. It is also advisable to disinfect the tool so that germs or pests are not transmitted.
- It is very important that you leave at least one pair of eyes on each shoot so that the plant later has densely branched growth. The pairs of eyes are actually a kind of buds.
We hope our tips will help you care for your snowball hydrangea in the best possible way.
Cut snowball hydrangea – A distinction is made between maintenance and radical cuts
Ball hydrangeas are best cut back in late winter
The shrub hydrangea becomes denser with every cut
Use a perennial support for the large-flowered hydrangea
And did you know that hydrangeas contain toxic ingredients?
Sources:
my beautiful garden
OBI Magazine
Hausgarten.net
Plantopedia
