Deutzia, a nice flower shrub

Deutzia is a fantastic spring-flowering shrub.

Key Deutzia facts

Name – Deutzia
Family – Hydrangeaceae
Type – shrub

Height – 3 to 10 feet (1 to 3 m)
Exposure – full sun
Soil – ordinary

Foliage – deciduous
Flowering – May to August

Proper planting and care enhance growth and blooming of your deutzia.

Planting Deutzia

For your deutzia, it is best to plant it in fall to favor root development before winter and renewed growth in spring.

You can also plant deutzia in pots outside of this period as long as you avoid both below-freezing temperatures and hot weather.

• Deutzia prefers locations with high exposure to sunlight.
• It likes rich and well drained soil, that is where it flowers best.
• Adding soil conditioner when planting enhances settling in and root development.
• Water well during the first 2 years after planting.

Propagating and preparing deutzia cuttings

Deutzia cuttings

Deutzia is quite easily multiplied by preparing cuttings from its semi-hardened sprigs, it is the simplest propagation method.

Prepare deutzia cuttings at the end of summer, on soft-wood growth, that is, wood that is not hard yet, nor has grown brown bark, but is in the process of hardening.

• Collect deutzia stems that are about 6-inches (15 cm) long.
• Remove the lower leaves so that only the topmost one or two pairs of leaves are left.
• Plant the cuttings in special cutting soil mix or a blend of peat and river sand.
• Keep the substrate a little moist.

Protect your cuttings before winter

• Protect your cuttings with a tunnel greenhouse, a greenhouse or any other solution that is able to keep them at a temperature of 40°F (5°C).

Transplant in spring

• When the last frosts are past, towards mid-May, transplant in nursery pots one size larger.
• Planting of your deutzia cuttings in the ground will take place in the following fall.

• Read also: understanding the technique for cuttings

Pruning and caring for deutzia

Once settled in, deutzia is a plant that needs little care. It does, however, require some attention both for pruning and for watering, if you want to enhance its blooming and growth.

Pruning deutzia

• Prune the sprigs of the year by more or less half, when the flowers have died off.
• To reshape or reduce the size of your deutzia, annual pruning in summer, after the blooming, is called for.
• Sometimes, if pruned too severely, a deutzia might need a whole year to recover and bloom again, but still, it might be necessary to pull through.

Watering deutzia and adding fertilizer

Regular watering during the year of planting is recommended to speed root development up.

• In summer, in case of heat wave or dry spell, you can water in the morning or in the evening.
• For potted deutzia, watering is called for as soon as the soil turns dry, because needs are higher than in full earth.
• In spring, adding flower shrub fertilizer will significantly increase the blooming.
• In time, needs will increase as the plant develops, so you’ll have to renew this amendment 2 to 3 times during the year.

Learn more about deutzia

Deutzia offers us beautiful flowers in spring that will last for a large part of summer.

This shrub is very ornamental and just as hardy, which makes it a very manageable shrub that is within reach of any gardener.

Its resistance to the cold and to freezing is high, since it can survive when the temperature drops to about -4°F (-20° C).

The Deutzia genus includes about sixty species. Its blooming goes from white to purple-pink depending on the variety.

• You can set it up either as a hedge, a standalone or in shrub beds.

Read also:

• Other flowering shrubs for brightly colored hedges
• Hedges, perfect barriers against diseases