The impressive velvet hydrangea with its very large, velvet-like leaves and the plate-shaped, only a narrow outer ring of sterile flowers is an attractive garden shrub that can grow up to two and a half meters high and three meters wide. The shrub, which originally comes from temperate to tropical climates, is quite sensitive to frost and needs regular care.
How do I properly care for a velvet hydrangea?
Velvet hydrangea care includes regular watering, organic fertilizer such as compost, sparing cutting in spring and frost-protected overwintering. Make sure there is enough water, a partially shaded location and nutrient-rich, slightly acidic soil to prevent diseases and pest infestation.
Do you have to water the velvet hydrangea as often as other hydrangeas?
Due to their huge leaves - which can often be around three hands wide - velvet hydrangeas consume a lot of water. To keep the soil as moist as possible, mulching the root area is recommended. Otherwise, you should water at the latest when the plant lets its leaves hang.
What is the best way to fertilize the velvet hydrangea?
Velvet hydrangeas are very grateful for organic fertilizers such as compost, cattle manure (€29.00 on Amazon) or horn shavings.
Do velvet hydrangeas have to or can they be cut?
Since velvet hydrangeas bloom on the previous year's wood like farmer's hydrangeas, they should not be cut. Only the dead inflorescences need to be removed in spring. Otherwise, a rejuvenation cut is necessary every two to three years. Velvet hydrangeas are very easy to cut.
When is the best time for a cut?
It is best to remove the spent inflorescences in spring, as they protect the new flower buds directly underneath from the winter frost. Pruning should also be done in spring, before budding.
Is velvet hydrangea susceptible to certain diseases?
If the velvet hydrangea develops brown leaves, this is usually an indication of a location that is too sunny and/or a lack of water - the sunnier the location, the more water the plant needs. Yellowing leaves usually indicate a nutrient deficiency (especiallya. iron) or a soil that is too alkaline. Otherwise, the velvet hydrangea is quite insensitive to diseases or pest infestation; only powdery mildew or gray mold often occur when the humidity is too high.
How is the velvet hydrangea overwintered?
Velvet hydrangeas, like many garden plants, become more resilient with age. That's why you protect young specimens, for example with leaves, brushwood or a fleece covering, which you can do without for older, already established velvet hydrangeas.
Tips & Tricks
Frost damage doesn't affect the velvet hydrangea, it sprouts again undaunted in spring. You only have to forgo flowering the following year if the flower buds freeze.