Deutzia Can Be Grown To Fill Beds, Create Borders Or Plant On Slopes – Here’s How

SHRUBS > DEUTZIA

For an undemanding and no-fuss shrub, Deutzia is a gardener’s jackpot.

It produces glorious arrays of charming star-like blooms in white and pinks, often fragrant or double form, over a backdrop of brilliant green picture book leaves.

If you’re in the market for a low-slung, ornamental hedge, perhaps a bushy, mounding shrub will fit the bill.

Deutzia is made to order for a hedge of the type described above as much as it is to fill beds, make borders, plant on slopes and verges and choose as a companion plant.

Overview

Botanical Name	Deutzia
Plant Type	Perennial shrub
Native Area	China
Hardiness Rating	H5
Foliage	Deciduous
Flowers	Small, five-petalled, star-like, bell-shaped, cup-shaped or salver-shaped, pendent or erect flowers borne in clusters
When To Plant	June or September

These exceptionally pest-free and disease-resistant shrubs are very hardy at H5, have no positional requirements whatsoever and can make do in even a shady spot with poor-draining soil.

But unlike many other no-fuss plants, this one bears flowers like there’s no tomorrow, racking up huge bloom counts across May and June.

How To Grow Deutzia

Planting

Deutzias may be planted anytime from summer to mid-autumn, especially if you live in colder regions of the country, excluding any hot spells and rainy days.

However, planting it in the milder months of June or September and avoiding the hot summer months will allow the plant to establish itself quicker.

Because of the great diversity in garden Deutzia varieties, some will perform better in full sun and others in partial shade, but you can’t go wrong if you choose one or the other.

They may be sited in any exposure but sheltered is preferable and as for aspect, simply avoid north-facing.

Using the type of soil described underneath, prepare a planting hole about 1.5 times the width of the pot or root system.

If it is a young plant, dip the roots in water and gently spread them out before planting, but if it is a mature plant, leave the soil ball as it is.

Dip the roots with a soil ball in water but do not interfere with them.

As you backfill the hole, dampen the soil and tamp it down, ensuring that the soil level is no higher than it was in the pot.

Soil Requirements

One of the several merits of these low-maintenance shrubs is their ability to thrive in any type of soil.

However, to get the best out of these plants, take a mixed loam as a base and amend it by one-third of its volume with humus compost or other organic compost.

Shovel in some grit and perlite to ensure good drainage.

“As with most woody shrubs, in subsequent years I would recommend an annual mulch in a ‘doughnut ring’ around the base with good organic matter such as garden compost or rotted manure in the autumn,” shares Horticultural Consultant Roy Nicol.

“This improves the soil structure over time and allows a good root run to access water and nutrients in the soil.”

Container Growing

You cannot make an overall generalisation about container growing where Deutzias are concerned because these woody shrubs differ so much in size.

We suggest that varieties that are 2m or more in height and spread not be grown in containers.

After all, there are quite a few varieties that are just perfect for pots.

When you grow these shrubs in a container, choose a pot that is one size bigger than you would choose for a similarly sized shrub of some other genus.

Deutzia Plant Care

Watering & Feeding

Though Deutzias are not bog plants nor are they drought-tolerant, established plants of various varieties can put up with both overwatering and poor-draining soil and with short dry spells.

During the growing season, water the shrub deeply and allow the soil down to a few centimetres to become dry before watering again.

In normal mild weather, watering once or twice a week, accounting for rain, should suffice.

During the dormant season, after the plant has shed its leaves, water plants in pots infrequently so that the roots stay hydrated and do not dry out.

Any high-quality all-purpose fertiliser applied annually upon the arrival of spring will bring forth healthy growth and blooms.

Propagating Via Cuttings

Though quite a few Deutzias can be propagated by both softwood and hardwood cuttings in different seasons, all can be propagated by softwood cuttings in the summer, with June being the best month.

Prepare a small pot with cuttings compost.

I like layering the media in a pot so that the cutting not only roots but can also grow and thrive in the same pot.

To use this method, put pebbles and grit at the bottom, then readymade potting compost or a mix of organic compost and sand, with a final layer of perlite and sand with a touch of compost for the uppermost layer.

Either way, moisten the medium.

Water the plant well in the early morning, then cut an 8-10cm length from a softwood shoot.

It should be green for most of its length and greyish-brown in the bottom section.

Make the cut just below a node, then strip the lower leaves, retaining the upper two or three leaves.

Dip the base to a third of its length in rooting hormone gel or in honey and cinnamon.

Insert it to about a third of its length in the pot and moisten it.

Common Problems

Deutzias are uncommonly resistant to pests and diseases.

The only problems you need to watch out for in the UK are aphids and honey fungus.

While aphids are quite easily controlled, honey fungus is one of the most serious fungal infections which is hard to detect early and from which there is no recovery.

Common Deutzia Varieties

For a plant that is not exactly world famous, Deutzia encompasses quite an astonishing number of varieties in the form of crosses, hybrids and derivative cultivars, besides the many species.

The selections offered underneath are chosen to reflect this diversity in lineage but are also amongst the prettiest, most popular and most readily-sourced varieties.

D. gracilis

Rising to almost 1m with a spread only a little smaller, the Japanese Snow Flower is aptly named for its star-like, salver-shaped, small flowers that are snow white.

These delightfully fragrant blooms are held aloft in upright sprays.

D. gracilis ‘Nikko’

Deutzia gracilis has very many cultivars of which ‘Nikko’ is one.

Its flowers resemble those of the species plant but this compact cultivar rises to only 60cm with twice the spread.

Its leaves put on shades of purple in the autumn and this cultivar has received the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

D. scabra ‘Plena’

A tall variety reaching 2.5-3m with about half the spread, Deutzia scabra ‘Plena’ produces double-form white flowers whose outer petals often show a pinkish-purple tinge.

The nodding flowers are borne on dense panicles.

D. crenata ‘Pride Of Rochester’

Breaking the mould, ‘Pride of Rochester’ has small, double blooms that are white with decorative pink flushes on the petals appearing in highly varying degrees.

It grows to about 2.5 metres and is another recipient of the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Deutzia pulchra

Not only beautiful but big at about 2m tall, beautiful Deutzia lives up to its name.

Its pendant panicles contain shy and demure little blooms that feature rich pink blushes on the white petals.

D. × magnifica ‘Rubra’

This Deutzia justifies its various complimentary names, as it produces bigger-than-average, rosy flowers.

Born in panicles, these blooms vary in colour from soft pink to pinkish-red with marvellous tonal gradations.

It grows to about 2m tall and has received the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

D. × elegantissima ‘Rosealind’

A compact variety at about 70cm tall with a spread of a little over 1m, the floriferous ‘Rosealind’ bears flowers in big, thick clusters.

These little blooms are a classic candy pink to reddish-pink hue.

It has achieved the RHS Award of Garden Merit.