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Coniferous trees and shrubs are widely used in landscape design and ornamental gardening. Lovers and professionals are attracted by the beautiful appearance and longevity of such plants. They are harmoniously combined with many garden plantings, although they can also be used in individual plantings. Caring for conifers in spring and the rest of the year is simple, it does not require much labor and time, and even beginners can easily cope with it.
Planting dates for conifers in spring and summer
Spring is the best time for planting coniferous trees and shrubs. A favorable period for planting such plants in open ground is the period from April to the end of May. The exact dates in each particular region will differ, so you need to focus only on weather conditions.
You can start planting conifers in open ground immediately after the ground thaws. If the spring is late and cool, planting plants with a closed root system (from containers) can also be done in early summer, choosing for this morning or evening on a cloudy day. The success of such a planting is largely determined by the age of the seedling. The older he is, the less likely a successful outcome.
Planting conifers in spring and summer
You can start planting coniferous plants in open ground after the ground has completely thawed. In the middle lane, this is approximately the beginning or middle of May. Depending on the weather, a favorable time for planting may stretch until the beginning of summer, then all work on planting conifers must be stopped. Otherwise, the planted plants may simply die due to the so-called biological drought – the state of the plant, when the root system that has not taken root in a new place cannot replenish the amount of moisture evaporated by the crown of the tree.
Choosing and preparing a landing site
Most conifers feel better in the open sun or in partial shade, so you need to choose the appropriate site for their landing. The soil at the planned planting site is preferably loose, well-drained, with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction. In places where water stagnates after heavy rains or melting snow, conifers grow poorly and often get sick.
In order to provide the plant with a balanced diet for many years, many gardeners completely replace the soil with a special soil mixture consisting of peat, river sand and upland from a coniferous forest. This soil is universal and suitable for growing almost all conifers. You can cook it yourself or buy it in specialized stores.
When deciding to plant a coniferous tree, it is necessary to take into account its future dimensions. Over time, large size can become a problem, as a wide crown will begin to cast an additional shadow. Therefore, large forms of conifers must be planted at a distance from beds with sun-loving crops, as well as from buildings and structures, the foundation and walls of which can be damaged by the roots or branches of the future tree.
Pits for planting conifers are best prepared in advance. It is best to dig them out in the fall, then before spring the soil will have time to settle and be well saturated with air. Drainage is necessarily laid at the bottom – a layer of large rubble, expanded clay or broken brick. The size of the planting hole itself should be larger than the earthen clod on the roots, with which the seedling will be transplanted.
The main requirements for the landing site of conifers are given in the table:
plant type | Light requirements | Landing depth, m | Drainage, see |
Ale | Shade, penumbra | 0,5 – 0,7 | 20 |
Pine | Sun, partial shade | 0,8 – 1 | 20 |
Larch | The sun, for the Japanese – partial shade | 0,7 – 0,8 | 20 |
Fir | Тень | 0,5 – 0,6 | 20 |
Cypress | Sun, variegated varieties – partial shade | 0,7 – 1 | 20 |
Thuya | Sun, partial shade | 0,6 – 0,8 | 20 |
Yew | Penumbra, shade | 0,6 – 0,7 | 20 |
Juniper | Sun, light shade | 0,6 – 0,7 | 15 – 20 |
Seedling preparation
Conifer seedlings are best purchased in company stores or specialized nurseries. They are sold, as a rule, in special containers filled with nutrient soil. It is very important to keep this earthy root ball intact when transplanting seedlings of conifers in spring into open ground. Therefore, the container must be handled very carefully.
When choosing seedlings of conifers, it is necessary to pay attention to the appearance, color of the needles, and the absence of dry branches. High-quality planting material is the basis for the future health of the garden. The strongest and most developed seedlings aged at least 4 and not older than 10 years should be chosen.
Rules of landing
A cool, overcast day is best for planting conifers. In order to painlessly remove the seedling from the container, 15-20 minutes before the start of work, the ground in it must be spilled with water. It is necessary to get the plant as carefully as possible so that the earthen ball on the roots remains intact. The seedling is vertically installed in the planting hole and covered with soil, while the root neck should be at the same level with the ground. It is impossible to deepen the root neck of conifers. When backfilling, you need to ensure that voids do not form in the roots. To do this, the earth is periodically compacted during backfilling.
After planting is completed, the trunk circle of a planted tree or shrub is abundantly spilled with water, and then mulched with needles, bark or peat. Mulch retains moisture well in the soil, prevents it from drying out. The first time after planting, young seedlings of conifers are shaded, thereby limiting their heating and evaporation of water from the surface of the needles.
Such a precaution will limit access to them for dogs and other pets, who will certainly seek to mark a new tree. Animal urine has a strong alkaline reaction, and at its high concentration, the seedling may simply die.
Conifers, whose age does not exceed several years, can be transplanted to a new place in the spring. Such a procedure may be necessary due to an erroneously chosen initial landing site or due to any other reasons. In this case, the ground around the trunk of the plant is first bayoneted, and then a tree or bush is dug out along with a clod of earth on the roots. The very same procedure for planting conifers does not differ from the usual one.
Conifer care in spring and summer
Care for conifers in the country in the spring begins from the moment the winter shelter is removed from the plants. At this time, trees and shrubs are inspected, existing crown damage is identified and measures are outlined to eliminate these defects. And also the following types of work are included in the complex of measures for the care of coniferous plants after winter:
- pruning;
- watering;
- mulching;
- treatment for pests and diseases;
- top dressing.
Watering conifers in spring and summer
Watering conifers should begin in early spring, before the snow has completely melted. In different regions, this time comes in March or April, it is important that night frosts stop at this time. Spring watering will allow conifers to quickly restore the water balance disturbed during wintering. It is better to use slightly heated water for this (+ 12-15 ° С) in order to quickly warm the frozen ground in the root zone. It is necessary to water the conifers in the middle of the day so that the water has time to be completely absorbed. If water stagnation is observed in the soil, watering of trees and shrubs should be limited or stopped altogether.
Watering conifers in summer is done only during periods of stable hot weather. At such a time, most plants respond well not only to root watering, but also to crown irrigation. However, sprinkling of conifers should be done only in the early morning or evening hours, so that the plants have time to dry before sunrise. This will avoid burns of the needles under the action of bright sunlight focused by water drops.
Additional fertilizing
Spring top dressing has a beneficial effect on the appearance of coniferous plants, improves the decorative effect of needles, which, thanks to fertilizers, acquires a bright saturated color. The conifers are usually fed in the spring with granular nitrogen fertilizers, for example, nitroammophos, scattering it in the near-trunk circle. Granules have a prolonged action, such a substance will dissolve slowly and provide the plant with mineral supplements for a long time. A good option is to use specialized preparations for conifers, such as Needle or Green Needle, for top dressing in the spring.
Loosening and mulching
Conifers do not need regular loosening. In many species of plants, especially dwarf ones, the root system is close to the surface, so any maintenance work in the near-stem circle must be carried out with great care. Soil mulching in conifers is necessary. This procedure solves several problems for care:
- Retains moisture in the soil and reduces the frequency of watering.
- Restricts or inhibits the growth of weeds.
- Increases the decorativeness of the landing as a whole.
As a mulch for conifers, you can use tree bark, crushed cones, painted wood chips or peat.
Pruning of coniferous trees
In the spring, usually in early or mid-March, sanitary pruning of conifers is carried out. At this time, all dead and dried branches are removed from trees and shrubs, damaged and diseased shoots are cut out. In the same period, the formation of young conifers is also produced. Decorative species are pruned in accordance with the selected type of crown, cutting off extra branches or branches that go beyond the size. For pruning conifers choose a cloudy, but not rainy day. All tools before work must be properly sharpened and disinfected so as not to introduce an infection into the wound.
When cutting coniferous trees in the spring, all precautions must be observed. Avoid getting resin on exposed areas of the body and clothing. Be sure to use safety goggles and gloves.
The subtleties of pruning conifers in the spring – in the video:
Treatment of conifers in the spring from diseases and pests
In the spring, as soon as the air temperature rises to + 5-6 ° C, you can start sanitary pruning, and then preventive treatment of conifers from diseases and pests. If during the inspection signs of the appearance of fungal diseases were found (drying of branches, gray or brown bloom, red spots or black dots on the needles), then work should be started immediately.
To prevent the development of fungal diseases in the spring, conifers are sprayed with solutions of fungicides, for example, Bordeaux mixture, iron or copper sulfate. Processing is carried out in cloudy weather, in the evening or morning hours. After 10-14 days, the trees are sprayed again with the same composition. The crown of conifers is completely processed, bypassing the trees in a circle and spraying each branch.
In the spring, insect pests appear on the conifers, which overwintered in the near-stem circle or in the folds of the bark. These are sawflies, bark beetles, scale insects, hermes. At the same time, sucking pests, such as aphids or spider mites, may also appear on the needles. To prevent their occurrence, plants are treated with insecticides, acaricides or biological preparations, for example, Hom, Aktellik, Iskra, Decis, etc. The conifers are treated several times at intervals of 10-14 days, while changing the type of agent used. This greatly increases the efficiency of the funds used.
An important role in the protection of conifers from diseases and pests is played by constant monitoring of plantings. If the disease is detected at an early stage, most often the plant can be saved. Advanced diseases can be treated much worse, and in some cases it is not possible to cure an infected plant at all and it has to be destroyed.
Conclusion
Caring for conifers in spring and summer includes quite a lot of different work. If you perform all of them on time and in full, then the plant will feel great for a long time. However, it is not necessary to strive to carry out all these events at all costs. For example, in some cases, watering, fertilizing, or pruning can do more harm than good to conifers. Therefore, it is necessary to focus, first of all, on the principle of reasonable sufficiency, as well as control the state of the plant and the conditions in which it grows.