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Broom Albus is an ornamental deciduous shrub from the legume family, which has become famous among gardeners due to its abundant and very showy early flowering. It is used by landscape designers to create beautiful landscapes, in addition, the plant is considered a good honey plant, which is important for beekeepers.
Description of broom Albus
Flexible thin branches of bright green color form a dense spherical crown up to 80 cm high and up to 120 cm in diameter. Small narrow trifoliate leaves about 2 cm long have a dark green color.
Flowering begins in April, before the leaves appear, and continues until mid-June. At this time, the shrub is abundantly covered with white flowers with a yellow tint, resembling pea flowers. There are so many of them that the thin branches of the broom take on an arched shape, bending under their weight. The cooler the weather, the longer the bloom lasts. The size of the corollas is about 3 cm. Like most brooms, the Albus variety is a good honey plant. This broom bears fruit with pods filled with small beans.
The average life span of Albus broom is about 10 years, after which it gradually loses its decorative qualities and dies. Unfortunately, pruning shrubs for rejuvenation is ineffective.
Winter hardiness of Albus sea buckthorn
A distinctive feature of the Albus variety is its frost resistance – adult plants can withstand temperatures as low as -20 ° C, so the shrub feels good in the middle lane without shelter. Plants under the age of 3 years are less frost-resistant, therefore, in the middle lane they need protection from frost.
Broom Albus in landscape design
The shrub is widely used in landscape design, not only due to the long abundant flowering. The plant looks picturesque and the rest of the time, because thick and spreading, drooping branches with small leaves create a beautiful crown of the correct form. Broom Albus is used both in single and in group plantings, several simultaneously flowering specimens of broom of different varieties give an interesting effect. Shrub looks good in rocky gardens, goes well with conifers, ornamental grasses, perennials with small flowers, as well as ground cover plants. It is often used in container plantings, forming a standard tree or a lush bush. You can find this broom in hedgerows. This crop is also planted to strengthen the slopes.
Due to toxicity, the plant should not be planted in close proximity to water bodies, so as not to harm their ecosystem.
Conditions for growing broom Albus
Albus broom is suitable for areas protected from the winds with diffused sunlight. Hot sun rays can harm the delicate foliage of the shrub. The site should be open and well warmed up. The shrub grows poorly and blooms in the shade and does not tolerate stagnant moisture, as it belongs to drought-resistant crops.
Planting and caring for broom Albus
Broom Albus is an unpretentious plant, and with the right choice of a place for planting and soil preparation, it requires minimal maintenance. The agrotechnics of growing this shrub includes infrequent watering in dry summers, top dressing, mulching or shallow loosening, sanitary pruning after flowering, shelter for the winter of young plants.
Preparation of planting material
If the planting material is not grown independently from seeds or vegetatively, it should be purchased only in specialized stores or garden centers. Most often they sell cuttings that have reached the age of 3-4 years. Younger or adult broom specimens take root much worse. The plant must be healthy, without broken shoots and dry leaves. It is better to purchase a seedling with a closed root system. An indicator of the readiness of a young plant to endure the winter well is the presence of lignified lower shoots.
Planting broom Albus is carried out by the method of transshipment, i.e., together with an earthen clod. This will protect the delicate root system of the seedling from damage and significantly increase its survival rate.
Site preparation
The choice of a place for the Albus broom must be approached with particular care, since adult plants do not tolerate transplantation well.
Broom Albus prefers slightly acidic or neutral soils, tolerates calcareous substrates well. It can grow even on poor soils, but loose fertile soils that allow air and moisture to pass through are best suited, therefore, before planting, it is necessary to dig a site on a shovel bayonet, apply mineral fertilizers for digging and prepare a substrate from peat, compost, river sand and sod land.
Rules of landing
Planting broom Albus is very simple. It is enough to adhere to the following algorithm:
- plant in the spring so that the plant has time to take root before the onset of cold weather;
- it is better to plant cuttings in the evening or in cloudy weather;
- prepare planting holes 2 times larger than the root system of the seedling;
- pour a layer of drainage (broken brick or pebbles) to the bottom. The heavier the soil, the thicker the drainage pad should be;
- pour a layer of fertile soil over the drainage;
- place the cuttings in the hole and cover with earth to the level of the root collar;
- tamp and water the soil well;
- mulch the trunk circle;
- if hot sunny weather is established, at first it is advisable to shade the newly planted plants from direct sunlight.
It is possible to transplant a broom only in extreme cases and should act with extreme caution, since an adult plant takes root with great difficulty in a new place.
Watering and top dressing
With normal rainfall, drought-resistant broom does not need additional watering. In dry hot weather, the plant is watered abundantly, but not often. Mulching reduces the amount of watering. Peat is the best mulch.
Broom plantings are fertilized twice per season. In the spring, nitrogen-containing fertilizers are applied, for example, urea, and in the summer – phosphorus-potassium complexes. To stimulate vegetation, wood ash can be applied once every 1 weeks, scattering it around the trunk circles.
Preparation for winter
Only young plants up to the age of three and rooting cuttings need shelter for the winter. They are covered with dry foliage, spruce branches or non-woven material. Mature bushes do not need shelter, but it will not be superfluous to pile up the trunks high with earth, peat, or other organic mulch.
Reproduction
It is very easy to propagate brooms. Unlike many varietal ornamental shrubs, Albus is well propagated by seeds. Sometimes, to increase germination, the seed material is pre-stratified – the beans are wrapped in cloth and kept in the refrigerator in the vegetable compartment for two months. You can do without this procedure. In both cases, in spring, the seeds are soaked in warm water for 2 days, then sown in boxes filled with a mixture of peat and sand to a depth of 1 cm. The boxes are covered with glass or film and left at room temperature. The grown seedlings are transplanted into individual containers with a substrate consisting of sod, humus soil and sand in a ratio of 2:1:0,5, respectively.
Transplantation into open ground is carried out in the spring, when the seedlings reach the age of two.
No less popular is the reproduction of broom Albus using cuttings. Young green shoots are cut off after flowering and placed in a soil consisting of peat and sand. Just as when forcing seedlings, the container with the cuttings must be covered with a transparent material and watered periodically. After 35 – 45 days, the cuttings will take root, and next spring they can be transplanted to a permanent place.
You can use the method of propagation by layering. When the adult bush fades, the lower branches are bent down, fixed on the ground and sprinkled with soil. Already next spring, rooted daughter layers can be calved and transplanted.
Diseases and pests
Broom Albus is not very susceptible to diseases and pests. Specific pests of the broom, including the Albus variety, are the broom moth, which is controlled by dichlorvos, and the broom moth, which is sensitive to insecticides.
Black spot and powdery mildew are rare in well-maintained plants, but are the most dangerous; at the first signs of the disease, the plants are treated with copper sulphate and Fundazol. For preventive purposes, plants are recommended to be sprayed with a copper-soap mixture.
Conclusion
Broom Albus is a very promising shrub for landscaping various areas. Its long spectacular flowering can transform both private gardens and city streets. Frost resistance, unpretentiousness and resistance to diseases make it especially attractive for growing in the middle zone. Broom Albus is very hardy, it is able to survive with little or no care, but truly luxurious flowering can only be obtained by observing agricultural practices.