Planting witch hazel: Tips on location, timing & procedure

The witch hazel heralds the gardening year with strong colors. But when is the right time to plant the beautiful wood in your own garden?

the Witch hazel (Witch hazel) is a genus of the witch hazel family (Hamamelidaceae), to which only five species belong worldwide. Hybrid forms from the two Asian species that Hamamelis × intermedia, offer an incredible variety of flower colors from green, yellow, orange to red. This colorful sea of ​​flowers breaks through the dreary winter landscape of your garden from December to March. Despite its filigree flowers and brightly colored autumn leaves, the witch hazel is a plant that is very easy to care for. But the lack of care requirements are made up for with the planting, because long-term planning is required here. We will show you what needs to be considered when planting so that the noble plant feels at home in your garden.

Witch hazel: when to plant?

The best time to plant a witch hazel is in the fall, before the first frost. So in winter (as long as there is no frost) fine root hairs can form. These are important for the uptake of water and nutrients and anchor the plant in the new location. If you have purchased container goods, this can also be planted in the spring after the last frost. In the case of container plants, there is generally less to pay attention to when planting, because the plants grow much better.

Planting Witch Hazel: Choosing the Right Location

Witch hazel not only grows slowly upwards, it also takes time to develop roots. It takes two to three years until the plants are properly rooted. Only then is there the first visible growth spurt. In addition, a change of location is no longer well tolerated from this point in time. So think twice about whether your witch hazel can stay in place for the long term. Please note:

• Location: Sun to light shade, as protected as possible
• Soil: loose, deep, well-drained, fresh to slightly moist, very humus-rich
• Height: 2 - 4 meters
• Crown diameter: 4 - 5 meters
• Very weak roots

To escape the cold of winter, the flowers roll up in frost and unfold again in warmer temperatures. In this way, temperatures of down to -10 ° C can be withstood without damage. However, if the temperatures are too cold, the flowers may be delayed or even not appear. It is therefore important to place the otherwise very hardy plant particularly protected from harsh easterly winds. It is even more important to pay attention to the properties of the soil, not just because transplanting is possible should be avoided, but because the precious bush is very sensitive to drought, compaction and waterlogging reacted.

Socializing witch hazel: ideal bedding partner for the witch hazel

When choosing the green neighborhood, keep in mind that the roots of witch hazel do very poorly against stronger ones. Therefore, after planting, do not use perennials or ground cover as underplanting, because these quickly make the witch hazel contestable for water. If you want to add a few splashes of color under your witch hazel until the roots are rooted, you can use small onion flowers such as ray anemone (Anemone blanda), Grape hyacinth (Muscari botryoides) or snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) set. When a few years have passed, the roots should be so well developed that they can be socialized to a greater extent. However, even with established witch hazel, attention must be paid to the compatibility of the neighboring green. Ground cover such as the little periwinkle (Vinca minor) and the golden strawberry (Waldsteinia ternata) or early bloomers such as winterlings (Eranthis) and elven crocus (Crocus tommasinianus). Lung herbs (Pulmonaria) and scented violets (Viola odorata) are rather weak and therefore good bedding partners.

Note: In the otherwise barren environment, the flowers are the first sources of food for bees and bumblebees. Therefore, the witch hazel is an ideal plant for Bee pastures. Our top 10 bee-friendly plants You will find here.

Planting Witch Hazel Properly: The Most Important Steps

The witch hazel should feel comfortable in its location for as long as possible. There are a few things to consider when planting. A good preparation of the soil is therefore an absolute must for the otherwise undemanding crops. In this way you give the weakly competitive plants an optimal environment in which to put down roots. When planting a bare-root witch hazel, the roots must be soaked in water for about an hour immediately beforehand. Then the roots are carefully loosened and separated. These preparatory steps are not required for container plants. Here you can start planting right away.

For a sufficient supply of nutrients, you should enrich the excavated soil with which the plant will later be covered with nutrients. For example, ours is suitable for this Planura organic universal fertilizer excellent. If the soil is particularly barren at the desired location, you can also go straight to a high-quality and nutrient-rich organic soil like ours Plantura organic universal soil To fall back on.

Plant witch hazel at a glance:

• Loosen the soil well
• Planting hole: about twice as large as the root ball
• Enrich the excavated soil with compost or long-term fertilizer and loosen it well again
• Place the plant straight into the planting hole
• Only set the plant so deep that the ball of the pot can still be seen on the surface
• Fill the planting hole with prepared soil
• Cover the root area with bark mulch
• Do not work the soil after planting

The freshly planted witch hazel can be cut back a little. What is the Cutting the witch hazel to be observed, you can find out here.