Juniper is one of the most common ornamental trees. These coniferous trees are incredibly aesthetic, compact and have useful properties. The most popular and simple in growing juniper is an ordinary, planting, caring for which requires the implementation of certain rules.
Last year, coniferous trees were hard hit by the whims and surprises of nature. Frosty winter and unusually hot summer have become a difficult test for plants. Nuisances did not escape the junipers, although they are considered rather unpretentious. What surprises await them this winter? What should be taken into account when choosing and then planting your favorite "thorn" in your garden? How to stock up the planting material? Let's consider these issues in more detail.
What kinds of juniper are preferable to grow in the middle band
The most resistant to the middle belt are junipers: common, Cossack, virgin, scaly, sargu, as well as Chinese, Daurian, hard, recumbent and horizontal. But, despite drought resistance, they need watering in a prolonged drought. Under one adult plant pour at least 10-20 liters of water. Different species and their garden forms react differently to the lack of water in the soil and the humidity of the air. For example, juniper and Chinese do not tolerate dry air. A juniper virgin is drought-resistant, but it grows better on medium-moisture soils. To improve the water regime of needles, you can use sprinkling, which gives the best result in the evening or in cloudy weather. Comfortable juniper and near water reservoirs. Autumn extreme drought is a rare phenomenon and significant impact (with regular watering of plants in summer) for wintering plants will not. Then, as fertilizing in the second half of the summer will lead to an increase in the period of growth of shoots, which will not allow them to properly lignify and subsequently cause frost.
Where and how can you save the plant acquired in late autumn
It happens that we went to friends at the dacha, and became interested in juniper. Despite the fact that the window is late autumn, we really wanted to transplant a couple of trees to ourselves. What should I do in this case? If the ground is not yet frozen, and the plant was grown in the open - it is better to land it on a permanent place. With frozen soil, you can put juniper in a place protected from the wind. And the root system should be covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, sawdust or peat.
Preparing juniper for winter
Special preparation for winter juniper is not needed. Only the columnar forms of juniper ordinary require protection from burns of needles in February-March. To do this, use burlap, shields or spruce lapnik, which cover the crown on the south side. In the middle belt the soil freezes to a depth of 30-50 centimeters, and in severe winters and deeper. Experience shows that the types of junipers and their garden forms recommended for gardening successfully hibernate not only in the open ground, but also when grown in containers in nurseries.
Causes of needle dropping
The causes of needle dropping can be different. And one of them is the defeat of mushroom diseases. It is also possible for it to wither and because of the density of the crown, but it can be both together. It is necessary to remove the dead pine needles and treat the plant with a drug against diseases. You can use a 0.1% solution of folicour, menar, prozaro or topsin-M. Carry out two or three treatments with an interval of 15-20 days. Unfortunately, there is not much chance of recovering the crown. However, if it is a columnar shape, you can remove all branches from the bottom to the level of their location around the entire trunk. This will make the plant neat.
Selecting the location and preparing the soil before planting
Most junipers are photophilous. In the shade, they tend to become loose, lose the density of the crown, the color of the needles. Some shading can only be transferred to juniper, but this does not apply to its decorative forms. In planting, junipers are reconciled with the presence of other plants. But it is important to exclude their full or partial shading by other inhabitants of the garden. Juniper plants grow successfully on almost all types of soils, but the best development is achieved in light and fertile soils. When planting junipers on sandy or clayy areas, planting pits should be supplemented with compost or peat chips. In the first case the soil fertility is somewhat increased. And in the second - it becomes more loose, which will positively affect the growth of plants. By experience, we can say that there is no need to arrange a drainage layer when planting junipers. By the way, juniper does not need any additional fertilizing. But it can not be said that he is not responsive to their introduction. And you need to do this in the first half of the vegetation period, for the middle band - April-first half of June. You can use any complex fertilizer. Make them according to the attached instructions.
How and when to transplant the juniper
Such a transplant is associated with the removal of most of the root tips during digging, which can lead to a decrease in the growth of shoots or even to the death of conifers. Such plants must be transplanted with a clod of land, the size of which depends on the species or garden shape of the juniper. Large plants should preferably be prepared for transplantation in advance. To do this, in the spring at a distance of 30-40 centimeters from the trunk with a sharp shovel, the roots are cut to the depth of the bayonet, thereby stimulating the branching of the root system inside the surviving coma. Such plants will be less sick during the transplant in autumn, but they can be transplanted in the next spring. But transplant adult conifers, grown in containers, you can almost all year round.
Reproduction of juniper and care
Seed reproduction is usually used to produce species. Seeds grow in one to two years, and seedlings grow slowly. Therefore, the most effective method of reproduction of junipers is cuttings. Rooting depends on the species, the timing of cuttings and the type of cuttings. The juniper is ordinary, horizontal, cossack, scaly and their garden forms, as well as some others, with a high ability to root.
Cuttings should be harvested from relatively young and healthy plants. The age of the uterine plants of most garden forms is 10-15 years. The cuttings taken from the upper and middle parts of the crown are better rooted. For cuttings, cut the main or side branches with all the shoots. To prevent their withering and drying during harvesting, as well as for transportation over long distances, shoots are wrapped in a damp cloth and put in polyethylene bags. At such packing they can be stored two-three days. Prepare cuttings better in the morning or in cloudy weather.
In the presence of heated greenhouses, coniferous plants can be cut all year round. However, optimal rooting is observed in cuttings harvested in February-March, and also in summer in the period of the end of growth and the beginning of secondary growth of shoots. Winter cuttings until the moment of planting are stored in plastic bags on a glacier or in cold rooms.
Cuttings should be with the apex point of growth, which allows them to maintain the character of growth inherent in stump cultivation. For most garden forms, coniferous cuttings are not cut off, but by a sharp movement down they are torn off the stem (taken with a "heel"). The tip is neatly trimmed, removing only the burrs. The needles at the lower end of the cuttings, which are immersed in the substrate, are usually cut off or cut off, but can also be planted with pine needles.
The most universal substrate for rooting most of the garden forms is a mixture of equal parts of coarse-grained (0.5-1.5 mm fraction) sand and milled peat (sphagnum) peat. Often, for the preparation of the substrate, low-lying peat and river sand are used. But in fact, these components are unsuitable, because when mixed, an acidic substrate with poor aeration is obtained. Under such conditions, cuttings of very few species are rooted. When using river sand, it must be washed through a sieve with a cell 0.5-1.5 millimeters in order to get rid of the mud particles. Before planting, the surface of the substrate is well leveled, compacted and abundantly watered. The distance between the rows is 6-8 centimeters, depending on the size of the cuttings, in the rows - 4-6 centimeters, the depth of planting is 5-7 centimeters. The substrate around the planted cut is slightly squeezed and watered, preferably with a solution of potassium permanganate or fungicide.
Winter cuttings planted in May in the greenhouse when the air temperature on the street is 17-20 degrees. Optimal is the temperature of the air in the greenhouse during the day + 20-27 degrees, and at night - +16-21 degrees. Cuttings of most plants are better rooted at substrate temperature by 3-6 degrees above air temperature. To increase the temperature of the substrate, biofuel, water or electric heating is used.
What kinds of juniper are suitable for creating hedges
For tall hedges (from 1.5 meters and above) tall forms and forms of junipers are used. In the middle zone, this is an ordinary juniper and its columnar forms. And also the juniper of the virgin varieties Skyrocket and Blue Arrow. The distance between plants when planting a hedge is 50-70 centimeters. The juniper is sheared as needed, approximately two to three times a season. The first haircut is held in late April - early May. And the following - as necessary to preserve the shape of the fence.
In general, pruning junipers begin in early spring, when the dead branches or side shoots that extend far beyond the crown are removed. With respect to horizontal forms, it is used only to restrain the growth of individual shoots within the crown, thus forming the compactness of the plant.
Diseases and pests
The most common disease of junipers is rust. To combat it, the plants should be sprayed four times with an interval of 10 days with a solution of arceride (50 g / 10 liters of water). Of pests, the greatest threat is the spider mite, juniper miner moth, aphid and juniper scab. When the first signs of damage appear, the plants are treated with one of the following preparations: an actinic; fufanon - 0.2% solution; decis; karate; fastak - 0.1% solution or extra condensate; actar - 0.08% solution.
Juniper in the form of bonsai
Junipers in the form of bonsai are very popular. However, it is necessary to distinguish traditional bonsai, which requires a long time and possession of special techniques and skills, and the so-called garden bonsai, often used by amateurs. Garden bonsai from junipers are formed in two ways. The first is when the haircut is used to form the branches, rather than manually pinching the growth points. For this, as a rule, multi-barreled forms are used - juniper virgin Hetzii and Cossack Femina or Mas and others. The second one - with the help of grafting on tall rootstocks (more often, juniper virgin is used as a stock) of junipers juniper: juniper Green Carpet, juniper bed Nana, juniper scaly Blue Star and others. The grafts of grafts grafted at different heights grow horizontally, forming an even, well branched plane, imitating a branch. It turns out "planted" with preset parameters, a plant that does not grow up any more. To maintain its dimensions, you can trim the horizontal increments as the shoots grow. Plants formed in the form of bonsai require the same care as ordinary junipers. At the same time, do not apply large doses of fertilizers, so as not to cause increased shoot growth.
Juniper in Feng Shui
Juniper is a plant of the planet Saturn, and the symbol of Saturn is the god of time Chronos, ruling over old age. This is a school of patience and hardness, the science of wisdom. He restricts, "forces" to work, teaches humility, does not allow to be scattered. Hence it is clear that a plant of juniper is desirable to have in every garden. The main thing in this case is to use Saturn's severity in the light of benevolence and love.
So, we learned more about juniper, planting, caring for it and other species of this remarkable ornamental coniferous plant.