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Cypress trees are often associated with southern cities and rows of pointed beauties of trees. Indeed, most cypress trees are not only natives of the south, but they cannot grow or develop in the conditions of the middle zone. Although the Arizona cypress is the most winter-hardy species, and it is quite possible to grow it at home, and later try to plant it in open ground.
Description of the Arizona cypress
The Arizona cypress belongs to the family of the same name, which also includes the well-known arborvitae and junipers. If the well-known evergreen cypress is a huge tree, then its Arizona counterpart rarely reaches more than 20-25 m in height, even in its natural habitat. Its homeland, as you can easily guess, are the highlands in the southwestern United States, mainly in the state of Arizona. Although small areas of its distribution are also found in Texas, Southern California and even Northern Mexico. It lives at altitudes from 1300 to 2400 m above sea level, more northern and colder conditions do not contribute to the survival of the young generation of cypresses. Usually in nature, it forms mixed plantings with oaks, maples, pines, spruces and poplars. This type of cypress has been known since the middle of the XNUMXth century, when it was first discovered for botanical science and described in detail by Edward Lee Green.
Over time, the Arizona cypress came to Europe, where it is often grown in cultivation. And as a natural habitat, he chose the Crimea and the Carpathian Mountains. In 1885, the seeds of this variety of cypress came to Our Country, where they are still cultivated, mainly in the southern regions.
Trees are characterized by fairly rapid growth, especially in young years. At the same time, life expectancy is high, the age of some Arizona cypresses is hundreds of years old and reaches 500-600 years. But such specimens are rare, since the trees are subject to fires, which are not uncommon in their homeland.
The trunk of the Arizona cypress is straight when young, and over time it can bend and divide into several branches. In young trees up to 10-20 years old, the bark is characterized by an interesting purple hue, it is quite smooth and shiny. Later, wrinkles and cracks begin to form on it, the color changes to brown. It begins to delaminate vertically along the trunk into narrow plates. In adulthood, the trunk of the Arizona cypress can reach a diameter of 50-70 cm.
The crown in the first half of life is quite thick, many people compare it in shape with skittles. But with age, it can become more disheveled and shapeless.
Despite the fact that cypresses are coniferous plants, their leaves bear little resemblance to needles, but rather scales. They have a very tiny size, up to 2 mm long and tightly pressed opposite to the branches. The branches themselves are located in different planes and therefore form a rather dense, voluminous, but openwork crown. The needles have a grayish-greenish color, in some forms it is frankly bluish with white speckles. Contains glands filled with essential oils.
Male and female flowers appear most often in autumn, as the seed ripening period can last up to one and a half years. But they open only in the spring. Despite their microscopic size, male flowers can still be seen. They look like small ovoid spikelets at the ends of twigs, a couple of millimeters long. Female cones are initially completely invisible, have a kidney-shaped shape. After pollination, they grow into round or oblong lumps with an intricate pattern, up to 3 cm in diameter, with convex, hard and thick scales. One cone can contain from 4 to 9 protective scales. As they mature, they change their color from greenish gray to brown.
The maturation of cypress seeds is quite long, it can last up to 24 months. And even after opening for a long time, they do not leave the branches of their parents. All this time, the seeds of the Arizona cypress remain viable.
Of all the cypresses known to science, it is the Arizona subspecies that has the maximum resistance to frost: they can endure up to -25 ° C. Of course, this applies primarily to adult specimens. Young seedlings are not as resistant to frost. It is for this reason that they most often do not survive in nature in more northern regions. But in cultivation, young plants of the Arizona cypress can be protected up to a certain age and thus promote their distribution in relatively northern latitudes.
In addition, growing young seedlings from seed initially in harsh conditions can help develop even more frost-resistant cypress trees.
An interesting feature of the Arizona cypress is a very heavy, dense and durable wood, which can only be compared with walnut. It has a light shade and is often used in carpentry and construction. The wood is resinous, so it is not afraid of rotting. Yes, and various insects also bypass Arizona cypress products.
Arizona cypress trees have good tolerance to drought conditions, but can be affected by rust fungus in high humidity. They are quite photophilous, but young plants may well endure some shading.
Arizona cypress in landscape design
Cypress trees will be welcome guests in any area due to their sophisticated look with an exotic touch. Arizona cypress is the only tree from the representatives of its family that can be used for landscaping plots in the middle lane.
These trees are easy to cut from almost a very young age. Therefore, they can be given any shape and used as a hedge.
About 17 cultural forms of the Arizona cypress are known, among which the most popular are:
- Conica – trees with an elongated crown shape, sensitive to frost and growing no more than 5 m in height.
- Compact – a variety that is a shrub with a rounded crown shape. The scales differ in a bluish-silver tint.
- Fastigiata – a slender tree, characterized by smoky blue needles and rather large openwork cones. One of the most frost-resistant and resistant varieties of cypress.
- Glaucus – trees of relatively small height (up to 4-5 m), with a columnar crown and silvery needles. Does not differ in special frost resistance.
Planting and caring for Arizona cypress
Arizona cypress is distinguished by unpretentiousness to growing conditions. The only difficulty is relatively low frost resistance compared to other conifers (pines, spruces). Therefore, when planted in the southern regions, cypress seedlings will require minimal care. Well, in the middle lane, at least 5 years after planting, it is necessary to carefully cover young trees for the winter.
Seedling and planting preparation
Arizona cypress does not make special demands on the soil. It grows quite well on its most diverse types: on loam, and on sand, and even on stony soil.
It is only important that the site for its landing is on a hill and is not flooded in the spring with melt water. The groundwater level should also not come close to the surface, since the trees frankly cannot stand swampy lowlands.
Lighting can be anything but deep shadows. However, cypress trees usually grow long enough to plant them in the shade of something. And with young seedlings, they will quite easily transfer the shade, especially in the afternoon.
Arizona cypress should not be planted near noisy and gassed highways – in such conditions it will be difficult for trees to take root. It is best to use seedlings with a well-preserved earthen clod, because, like most conifers, these trees cannot stand bare roots.
Rules of landing
A hole for planting Arizona cypress is dug in such a way that it is twice the size of an earthen coma in depth. This must be done so that at least 1/3 of its volume is occupied by drainage. Without it, tree roots that are sensitive to waterlogging can easily rot. Drainage is prepared from broken bricks, ceramic fragments, gravel or crushed stone. A small layer of finished soil is poured over it. It can be made up of equal parts of humus, peat, clay and sand. Cypress will greatly appreciate if it is possible to add up to 20% of coniferous humus or litter from under any conifers to the soil for planting.
Then an earthen clod is placed in the planting pit along with an Arizona cypress seedling and a wooden stake is stuck, to which the cypress trunk is tied for the first two or three years. The pit is completely covered with ready-made soil and lightly tamped. It is necessary to make sure that the root neck of the cypress is not buried in the ground, but not too exposed.
The distance between adjacent seedlings when planting a cypress hedge should be about 1,5 m. When planting separate trees, it is better to leave a distance between them and the nearest buildings or plants of at least 3 m.
Watering and top dressing
Immediately after planting, the young cypress must be watered abundantly. After a few days, when the earth settles slightly, it is watered again and, if necessary, the soil is slightly topped up.
In the future, only seedlings need regular watering in the first year after planting and in especially dry and hot periods. Plants aged 10 years or more do not particularly need additional watering.
For good and uniform growth, young Arizona cypress seedlings need to be fed fairly regularly. During the active growing season, they are watered once a month with mullein infusion (2 kg per 10 liters of water) with the addition of superphosphate (20 g). It is often convenient to use specialized complex fertilizers for coniferous plants. After the cypress is 5 years old, it is enough to feed it 1 time per season, in the spring.
Arizona cypress trees will also react well to periodic spraying of needles with water, with Epin or other growth stimulator dissolved in it. Young seedlings can be sprayed with water even at intervals of 2 times a week if the weather is hot and dry.
Mulching and loosening
For protection against weeds and additional application of nutrients, mulching of the trunk circles of planted cypress is used. For this, the bark of many trees, and fallen needles, and ordinary straw, and peat, and rotted humus are useful. It is advisable to update the mulch layer annually in spring or autumn, after slightly loosening the soil under the crown.
Trimming
Pruning Arizona cypress should not be started too early. It is better to wait a few years until the seedling takes root well and begins to grow rapidly. Mandatory annual sanitary pruning, during which dry or frozen shoots are removed.
Formative pruning is performed by trimming the tips of the branches by no more than ¼-1/3 of their length. Otherwise, the tree can do more harm than good. But after properly pruning and subsequent feeding, the cypress begins to branch intensively, and the crown becomes thick and beautiful. Professional gardeners manage to use pruning to give cypress trees completely unique shapes.
Preparation for winter
When growing Arizona cypress in the conditions of central Our Country, it is desirable to cover young seedlings completely with spruce branches, and on top with non-woven material for the winter during the first 3-4 years of life. This technique will help ensure their safety. In the future, it is necessary to carefully insulate the near-trunk circles with any organic matter in the fall, so that in the spring the trees can be freed from it at least half.
For tall cypress trees, thick snow cover can also pose some danger. It can break branches, so if possible, you should periodically clear them of snow during winter.
Reproduction
This type of cypress is relatively easy to propagate by seeds, cuttings and layering.
When growing Arizona cypress, many young plants are immediately obtained from seeds, which, moreover, can be hardened from birth and accustomed to frosty winters. For germination, seeds need a stratification period of 2-3 months at temperatures around + 2-5 °C. Seeds can be placed in wet sand or even simply wrapped in a damp cloth.
Then the stratified cypress seeds are laid out at a depth of about 1 cm in light, moist soil, covered with polyethylene with holes. At a temperature of about + 20 ° C, shoots most often appear after 2-3 weeks. Germination is usually around 50%.
Sprouts can be planted in separate containers when they reach a height of 5-6 cm. Usually 3-4 year old plants are transplanted into open ground.
Cypress cuttings are cut from semi-lignified shoots that have a small area of the bark of an older branch (“heel”). The lower needles are removed by 1/3 of the shoot and left for a day in water with the addition of Epin or Kornevin. Then placed 4-5 cm into a light nutrient mixture, moistened and covered with a glass jar on top. Under favorable conditions of heat and humidity, the cuttings will root in a few months.
It is even easier to propagate cypresses by layering. To do this, choose a seedling with branches close to the ground. They make an incision on it, insert a piece of polyethylene into it and drop it in the ground, preventing it from drying out for several months, when roots should form from the incision.
Diseases and pests
With proper care and a properly chosen landing site, the cypress will not get sick at all, since the smell of resin from its wood repels parasites. But when waterlogged, it can be affected by fungal diseases. For prevention, regular phytosporin treatments of young plants are used.
Of the insect pests, the spider mite and scale insect are the most dangerous. Treatment with Actellik, Fitoverm or any other insecticide will help.
Conclusion
Arizona cypress is a very beautiful tree that can bring a southern flavor to any site. At the same time, it is not difficult to grow it, you only need to take care of its shelter for the winter in the first years.