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Spruce Serbian Nana is a dwarf variety known since 1930. The mutation was discovered, fixed and polished by the employees of the nursery of the brothers Gudkade, located in Boskop (Netherlands). Since then, the Nana variety has become widespread and is grown in private and public gardens. It is especially popular in Europe and throughout Our Country.
Description of spruce Nana
Probably, the time has long come to divide coniferous dwarfs into at least two categories – those that grow really tiny, and those that form rather large trees in a few decades. Amateur gardeners are used to believing that if the word Nana is present in the name of the variety, the plant will be small. But this is not always the case.
The description and photos of the Serbian Nana spruce at a young age show a really charming, but not so small tree. Its height, with good care in Western Europe, reaches 10 m by the age of 1,5. For Our Country and neighboring countries with a harsher climate and dense soils, these dimensions are much more modest – about 1 m.
But by the age of 30, the Serbian spruce Nana can stretch up to 3 m (in European countries – up to 4-5 m) with a crown diameter of 2 or 3-4 m, respectively. During the season, the culture adds 5-15 cm in height, increases in width by about by 5 cm.
Crown shape changes with age. Spruces are considered young up to 10 years old. At this time, the Nana variety has a round-ovate crown, very dense, with a weak leader. By trimming it, you can form a ball, a cone, placed on the blunt end of an ovoid. An adult tree gradually becomes looser, broadly conical, with a pointed top.
The branches of the Serbian spruce Nana are hard and short, densely pubescent. The length of the needles is less than that of a species plant, and is 7-8 mm, width – 1,5 cm. The color of the needles is yellowish-green above, blue below, which creates an interesting visual effect.
Cones are formed infrequently, but their appearance cannot be called a rarity. They are 3-6 cm long and spindle-shaped. As you can see in the photo of the Serbian Nana spruce on the trunk, at first the color of the cones is purple.
Then they change color to dark brown. The bark of the Serbian spruce Nana is flaky, reddish-gray. The root system is superficial. Trees live, presumably, for more than 100 years.
Use in landscape design
Conscientious manufacturers do not release conifers younger than 4 years old for sale. This should be remembered by those owners who are engaged in the design of the site on their own, without the involvement of landscape designers. As well as the fact that the Serbian spruce Nana will stretch up to 10-1 m by the age of 1,5, then it will grow faster, and will soon take its place among medium-sized trees, although it is considered a dwarf.
So, Serbian spruce should be placed on flowerbeds and ridges with small plants only if they are supposed to have a large tree. Or when the owners like to constantly change and move something. But still, it must be borne in mind that after 10 years of eating, it is necessary to transplant only as a last resort. However, the Nana variety will have already formed a rather large tree by this time, and it will be problematic to move it from place to place.
In rock gardens and rockeries, this Serbian spruce is inappropriate, since during transplantation it will be necessary to destroy the entire composition, dig up the plants and turn out large stones. Unless the ensemble was originally composed of large cultures.
Harmoniously Serbian spruce Nana will look in large and small landscape groups, single plantings. It is planted in alleys and at the main entrance. Can be used as a “family tree”, decorated for the New Year.
Planting and caring for Serbian spruce Nana
Serbian spruces are not as decorative as Canadian or prickly ones, but they behave much better in Our Country – they take root faster, get sick less often and are affected by pests, and require less maintenance. But they cannot be completely ignored. Serbian spruce is not intended for low-maintenance gardens and areas rarely visited by the owners (unless the gardener will look after the plants in the absence of the owners).
Seedling and planting preparation
The plant is shade-tolerant, but forms a dense dense crown in an open sunny place, prefers loose acidic or slightly acidic loams. Serbian Nana spruce does not tolerate stagnant water, but its root system is superficial, so it will grow where other tree crops do well. It is enough not to place it in hollows and grooves, on constantly blocking dense soils.
It is not necessary to completely change the soil in the planting hole. It can be improved by adding:
- to neutral or alkaline soil high-moor peat, and, the more, the higher the pH;
- clay is introduced into light sandy soil;
- on dense soils, they make a larger drainage layer and improve the structure with leaf humus, red peat and soddy soil.
Depending on the age of the Serbian spruce Nana, 100 to 150 g of nitroammophoska are required to be added to each planting hole.
When choosing seedlings, preference is given to those grown in a local nursery. You can buy them both in a plastic container and with an earthen lump lined with burlap.
The substrate and earthen clod lined with burlap should be wet.
Standard trees are grafted, the vast majority of them come from abroad. Particular attention should be paid to the place of fusion of cultures. The vaccine should heal well and not even show signs of damage: discoloration, cracks, wounds, rot or incomprehensible plaque.
Carefully examine the needles to identify pests and signs of disease, damage to the bark or branches. The needles should be of a characteristic color for the culture, flexible. The presence of needles on 3-year-old branches is an indicator of the health and quality of the Serbian Nana spruce. You can not buy a tree if at least part of the needles on the shoots at the age of 1-2 years have dried up. A sign of trouble, perhaps critical, are even the red tips of the needles of the Serbian spruce.
Rules of landing
You can plant container Serbian firs Nana at any time, but in the south in the summer it is better to refrain from this. If possible, the operation is carried out in warm regions from the beginning of autumn and all winter. In cold weather, planting is best done in the spring.
It takes at least 2 weeks to prepare a hole for the Serbian spruce Nana. It is even better to dig it up in the fall for spring planting and vice versa. The diameter of the pit should be 1,5-2 times the size of the earthen clod, the depth – the height of the container or earthen clod, plus 15-20 cm for drainage and about 10 cm for adding soil. You can make it more, less – undesirable.
Before planting, part of the soil is removed from the pit and set aside, a seedling is placed in the center, carefully measuring the position of the root neck of the Serbian spruce Nana. It should be on the same level with the ground surface or slightly rise. Falling asleep with an earthen lump, the substrate is constantly rammed. Serbian spruce is abundantly watered and mulched.
Watering and top dressing
Soil moisture is most important for a newly planted plant. Watering is carried out regularly, not allowing the soil to dry out, but so as not to drown the Serbian spruce in water. In this case, there is a high probability of root rot.
An adult tree is watered less frequently, spending at least 10 liters of water per meter of growth. The top layer of soil should dry out a little between wetting. It may be necessary to water every week during hot summers.
Sprinkling of the crown is of great importance. From time to time, and in hot summer – daily, Serbian spruce should be doused with water. If there is a fogging installation on the site, you will not have to carry out the procedure.
Serbian spruce Nana needs to be fed with special fertilizers for conifers. There, all substances are selected in accordance with the requirements of the culture. They produce two types of top dressing: spring with a high nitrogen content, for the end of summer and early autumn – phosphorus-potassium.
Trace elements Serbian spruce Nana better absorbs through the vegetative organs. Therefore, no more than once every 2 weeks, it should be sprayed with a well-soluble fertilizer for conifers, and even better – with a chelate complex. It is useful to add magnesium sulfate, epin or zircon to the balloon.
Mulching and loosening
The first two seasons after planting, the soil under the Serbian spruce Nana needs regular loosening. Its branches lie on the ground, so you have to do this by gently lifting them with your hands.
Then it will be inappropriate to carry out the procedure. The sucking roots come close to the ground surface and are easily damaged. The soil under the Serbian Nana spruce is mulched with sour peat or pine bark sold in garden centers. So the branches will not come into contact with the ground, moisture will be saved and a microclimate useful for conifers will be created.
Trimming
The Serbian spruce Nana has a beautiful and symmetrical crown. You can not create it specially. In a young plant, sanitary measures are replaced by cleaning and sprinkling. When the Serbian spruce stretches out and its crown becomes sparse, every spring it will be necessary to remove all dry, broken branches with a pruner.
If necessary, you can correct the crown with pruning. Haircut Serbian spruce endure well. But if it is supposed to give it some exotic form, the “education” of the tree should begin as early as possible.
Crown cleaning
The photo of the Serbian spruce Nana shows that at first it has a dense crown, and with age the trees become tall and more sparse. Cleaning is most important for young plants. Inside the crown, the needles, without access to the sun and the influx of fresh air, quickly dry out, become dusty, and spider mites appear and multiply there. True, in this regard, the Serbian Spruce is not as problematic as the Canadian one.
If every spring you push the branches apart, carefully clean off the old needles and dry branches, and regularly sprinkle, the culture will not cause any special problems. And the operation itself will not take much time.
Sun protection
From the direct rays of the sun, young Serbian spruces should be protected from mid-February, and before the buds begin to open. At this time, there is an active evaporation of moisture from the upper part of the plant, and the roots are still at rest, and cannot make up for the lack of water.
This should be done only in sunny weather, throwing burlap or white non-woven material over the Serbian Nana spruce.
Preparation for winter
Serbian spruce Nana winters without shelter in zone 4. Only young trees need to be protected from frost in the first year after planting. To be safe, in cold regions, shelter is also made for the second winter. To do this, Serbian spruce is wrapped with white spandbond or agrofiber, fixed with twine, and the ground is covered with a thick layer of acidic peat, which is buried in the ground in spring.
Then in zone 4 and warmer regions they are limited to mulching. Where winters are traditionally severe, Serbian spruce is covered up to 10 years of age.
Reproduction
Serbian spruce is propagated by grafting only in nurseries to create beautiful standard trees. Fans can’t do it.
The Nana variety sometimes produces buds from which seeds can be obtained. It is not difficult to germinate them, it is much more difficult to bring the seedlings to a transplant to a permanent place. In addition, it is not a fact that spruces that inherit varietal characteristics will grow from seeds. In nurseries, they begin to be rejected, starting from the second year of life.
Until the Serbian spruce acquires a marketable appearance, it is transplanted several times from place to place, moreover, the percentage of varietal trees will be low. Growing conifers from seeds requires not only certain skills, but also sufficient space and high labor costs. For amateur gardeners, doing this does not make sense.
You can independently propagate the Serbian spruce Nana with cuttings. But the process is also not easy, there will be many attacks. It is especially offensive when the plant dies 2-3 years after the rooting of the cutting. But this happens often, and not all ate will live to land on a permanent place. You just need to be ready for this.
Cuttings can be taken from the Serbian spruce Nana all season, but it is better to do this in the spring so that they have time to take root before the cold weather and cause less trouble. The shoot is torn off with a “heel”, freed from the lower needles. Using a stimulant, they are planted in sand, perlite, peat-sand mixture.
Contain at high humidity of the substrate and air in a cool place, protected from the sun. When the cuttings of the Serbian spruce Nana take root (after about 2,5-3 months), they are transplanted into a more nutritious mixture. You can take equal parts of sand and leaf humus or purchased substrate for conifers. Holes are made in the cups for the outflow of water and drainage is laid.
Thus, you will have to grow the cuttings of the Serbian spruce Nana until the seedling begins to branch.
Diseases and pests
Serbian spruce is considered the healthiest among the representatives of the genus. But this does not mean that you can ignore preventive treatments, or not take care of the health of the tree at all.
Of the pests on the Serbian spruce Nana, the spider mite most often appears, especially if sprinkling is carried out rarely. The appearance of an insect will not lead to the death of the tree, but will significantly reduce the decorative effect. Other pests of the Serbian spruce Nana:
- caterpillars of the Nun butterfly;
- mealybug;
- spruce leaflet;
- aphids;
- hermes;
- sawyer.
When pests appear, Serbian spruce Nana is treated with insecticides.
Among the diseases that get rid of with the help of fungicides, it is necessary to highlight:
- Shutte snowy and ordinary;
- rust;
- rot;
- traumatic cancer;
- fusariosis;
- necrosis.
To reduce the damage caused by diseases and pests to the Serbian spruce Nana, treatment should be started as early as possible. To do this, the tree is regularly inspected, pushing the branches apart and using a magnifying glass.
Reviews of the Serbian spruce Nana
Conclusion
Spruce Serbian Nana is an unpretentious tree that decorates the site in summer and enlivens a dull landscape in winter. Even a novice gardener can take care of him without experiencing any special problems.