Witch hazel shrub zone 4 free.Witch Hazel | Home & Garden Information Center
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Witch hazel shrub zone 4 freeWitch hazel shrub zone 4 free
These cultivars are often grafted onto the rootstock of native H. This may well be the first flowering plant of spring, sometimes blooming while snow still blankets the ground. This cultivar has a low branching, vase-shaped growth habit, and 6-inch-long oval-shaped leaves with toothed edges. The foliage turns an attractive yellow-to-orange color in the fall. These shrubs have an average growth rate, requiring several years to reach 15 feet in height.
They are best planted in fall, though they will do fine with a spring or summer planting, provided that you water frequently and deeply. The most challenging maintenance task is to simply remove any suckering shoots that appear below the graft point, in order to preserve the integrity of the shape.
This variety requires little in the way of feeding or pruning, and it doesn't even require much watering once the shrub is fully established. The occasional problems that do occur are largely cosmetic and may include caterpillars and Japanese beetles chewing on the leaves, and powdery mildew and occasional leaf spots. European settlers in the New World used the branches of witch hazel trees as divining rods for dowsing.
The "witch" name derives from the Anglo-Saxon wych , meaning "bend"—which is what a divining rod is supposed to do when it detects water. Plant 'Arnold Promise' where it will receive at least 4 hours of sun daily; flowering will be better in a full-sun location that receives at least 6 hours of sun each day.
Shadier conditions may lead to a somewhat spindly plant. This shrub, like all witch hazels, prefers an organically rich, moist soil with good drainage. It will tolerate clay soil provided it is well-drained. Witch hazels prefer acidic soil but normally will tolerate neutral to mildly alkaline soil.
Witch hazels should be watered frequently for the first two or three years until they become established. After this, they require watering only during dry spells.
The hybrid witch hazels are hardy from USDA zone 5 and southward, and will survive temperatures down to minus degrees Fahrenheit. These are not good plants for regions warmer than zone 8, though the 'Diane' cultivar grows well into zone 9. These plants require a period where temperatures fall below 45 degrees in order to bloom and aren't a good choice in regions where temperatures don't reach this level. Within the hardiness range, these shrubs will tolerate both dry and humid conditions, provided the soil is kept moist.
Mature shrubs generally don't require any feeding at all. Young plants may respond well to being top-dressed with a granular balanced fertilizer in late winter or early spring. Soil that is too alkaline may benefit from applying an acidifying fertilizer. To maintain the attractive vase shape, the suckers appearing at the base of the plant should be pruned away as they appear below the graft point. These suckers are usually shoots from the rootstock, and they will not have the same attractive flowers as the grafted upper portion of the shrub.
Pruning the upper branches for shape should be done immediately after flowering is complete in the spring. As with all shrubs, though, any time is a good time to prune out dead or diseased branches or branches that rubs against one another. A number of other Hamamelis x intermedia cultivars are also very popular, offering different colors:.
In addition to these hybrid forms of x intermedia , there are two native North American witch hazel shrubs that are sometimes grown in cultivation, including:. Mix witch hazel shrubs into a bed of other deciduous bushes, situated within sight of a window so you can enjoy an unimpeded view of these beauties in late winter to early spring. You will see an eruption of yellow in the midst of the bare branches of surrounding plants.
Witch hazel plants are showy enough when in bloom to serve as minor specimen plants. After blooming is finished during spring and summer, the bushes are rather ordinary-looking, although the vase-shaped form may be valued in winter by those who appreciate subtlety. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests.
You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. By David Beaulieu. David Beaulieu. David Beaulieu is a landscaping expert and plant photographer, with 20 years of experience. He was in the nursery business for over a decade, working with a large variety of plants. David has been interviewed by numerous newspapers and national U. Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process. In This Article Expand.
How to Grow. Temperature and Humidity. Other H. Intermedia Cultivars. Native Witch Hazels. Landscape Uses.
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