How to plant a pine seedling

Pine is considered a symbol of health and longevity: in a pine forest, the air is saturated with phytoncides – biologically active substances that have a beneficial effect on the human body. For this reason, many people try to plant a pine seedling near their home in order to constantly use a natural inhaler and create a unique, healthy microclimate in their place of residence. It is necessary to clearly understand where and how to plant a pine tree in a summer cottage, what care should be in the future, so that the plant develops correctly and serves as a good addition to the landscape.

Is it possible to plant a pine tree near the house

Scotch pine is an evergreen tree with a spreading dense crown. It grows rapidly in poor sandy soils and reaches a height of 30 meters. This is worth considering if it is decided to plant a pine tree in the courtyard of the house. The peculiarity of the tree is that it dries up the soil. With a lack of moisture, its roots can go to depth, but much depends on the quality and nature of the soil. A tall pine serves as a target for lightning in a thunderstorm, so it can become a source of fire and danger to others.

Experts do not advise planting a tree close to home. In adulthood, it has a strong root system that can damage or even destroy the foundation. The distance from the pine tree planted in the garden to the house should be at least 5 meters.

Coniferous crops are attacked by pests (bark beetles, mealybugs) or suffer from specific species diseases. The fight comes down to the use of insecticides. In the event that the drugs do not help, the infected tree is removed entirely.

Planting sites should be carefully determined, varieties that satisfy the needs should be selected, and the necessary agrotechnical measures should be regularly carried out with trees.

What kind of pine to plant on the site

Do not give up on the idea of ​​​​planting a pine tree in the country or near the house because of the height that it reaches in adulthood. There are undersized varieties that have the same cleansing, bactericidal, healing properties as their tall relatives:

• Scots pine varieties Fastigiata has a pyramidal shape, reaches a maximum height of 15 meters. It is very compact, easily fits into any garden, so it is ideal for planting in small areas;

  

• Variety Waterery has an egg-shaped crown, its height is an average of 4 meters. The tree grows slowly, loves sunny areas, tolerates wintering well;

  

• Pine mountain – a small branched bush, harmoniously combined in design with larches, birches. The plant is undemanding to the soil, resistant to diseases and pests, winters well after planting;

  

• Sort Compact small, up to 5 meters, with a variety of ground cover dwarf forms creeping along the ground. Annual growth after planting is only 10 cm;

  

• Cedar elfin – has widely spread branches. The maximum height of the plant is 4 m. The needles are very beautiful, collected in bunches of five pieces. Trees look more spectacular in group plantings;

  

The listed varieties can successfully grow throughout the Federation, easily enduring heat, frost, snowfall, and drought. Pine trees in the Moscow region, Novosibirsk, Krasnodar look great and feel good.

Where to plant a pine tree on the site

Pines are hardy trees that can grow on poor soils. The best soils for planting are sandy and sandy. On organically rich land, peatlands, limestones, conifers, surprisingly, do not grow well. Mediterranean and American varieties do well in rich soils, but their shoots do not have time to ripen, so there is a high probability of freezing without shelter. Alpine species prefer planting in alkaline soils with a high lime content.

Pine is a light-loving plant for which any place is suitable if it is located in a lighted area. Then the tree grows spreading, with a dense crown. In the shade, the plant stretches upward, its lower branches dry up and die.

The best place to plant will be the south side of the house or garage.

Pine planting dates

The ideal time for planting pine in the fall will be the end of September-beginning of October, in the spring – in late April – early May. There is a technology for transplanting in winter, but this requires special equipment.

In summer, during the period of active growth, such manipulations are not recommended because of the need for a large amount of water for the roots of the plant, as well as its formation and lignification of shoots that have not yet ended.

Planting a pine in the spring would be the best option, because in this case, before the fall, the plant will have time to take root and prepare for winter.

In autumn, all processes in the trees slow down, the engraftment is painless.

In winter, planting pine is possible only if the seedling is further covered with spruce branches or special material.

How to plant a pine tree on the site

The process of planting pine from the nursery includes a number of activities:

• choice of location;
• determination of soil type and acidity;
• mixing the components of the substrate;
• preparing a hole for planting a tree;
• seedling selection;
• landing;
• top dressing;
• watering;
• mulching;
• pretension;
• garter – if necessary.

Soil preparation for planting pine

 The substrate should be prepared in accordance with the preferences of conifers. They love breathable, moisture-intensive, with an acidic soil reaction. During planting, it is worth mixing high-moor peat, fallen needles with the soil (in a ratio of 1: 2: 1). Next, add 100 g of fresh sawdust and 8 g of garden sulfur to the substrate.

In the future, it is necessary to monitor the acidity and keep it at the level of 4 units. To this end, every spring it is recommended to mulch the soil with sawdust, feed it with acidic fertilizers, and water it with acidified water (1 tsp of citric acid per 3 liters of water). These activities after planting the pine in the ground create optimal conditions for its growth.

Planting pine seedlings

When landing, it is necessary to make a hole, in the form of a cone or an inverted pyramid. For a seedling no more than 70 cm tall, a pit 60 by 60 cm is enough. If the soil in the area is dense, clayey, the pit needs to be deepened by 30 cm – to create drainage at the bottom of expanded clay, sand, broken brick, pebbles. It is necessary to add universal fertilizer to the pit – 100 g per seedling, spill the planting site with water (6 liters per pit). The root neck of the seedling must be above ground level, otherwise the plant may die. The correct location of the neck is easier to achieve if the seedling has a clod of earth on the roots. The tree must be strictly vertical. Add soil if necessary. Watering pines after planting is required. Due to the supply of water, the roots and soil are in better contact, the seedling recovers faster. To preserve moisture, the soil must be mulched with any improvised material. A frame or support will be useful to the plant during strong winds and bad weather.

How far apart should pine trees be planted?

Keeping the distance between the pines during planting is a prerequisite for proper agricultural technology. If tall varieties are planted, then the minimum distance between the trees should be 4 – 5 meters, for undersized varieties a gap of 1,5 meters is sufficient.

It is worth considering that planting tall trees is allowed no closer than 4 meters to the border with neighbors, no closer than 1 m to the carriageway of common roads, and 5 m from the residential buildings of the site. Pine trees cannot be located under power lines if their crowns interfere with the supply of energy . The minimum distance from gas and water pipes must be maintained at a distance of at least 2 m.

What can be planted under a pine tree in the country

Coniferous litter increases the acidity of the soil under the trees, so next to them it is possible to plant plants that love this type of soil.

Shade-tolerant rhododendrons harmoniously fit into the design. Petiole hydrangea, parthenocissus feel good under pine trees: for these vines, the tree is a support. Ground cover wintergreen grows well on acidic soil. At the base of the pines, various types of hostas look good and develop. Planting under coniferous species of snowberry, bergenia, fern, lilies of the valley looks original.

Is it possible to plant a cut down pine

Recently, on New Year’s holidays, instead of traditional Christmas trees, many people use pine trees. It is possible to give a cut down tree a chance for further life, but the process of rooting and planting will be quite complicated, painstaking, and in most cases the result is not guaranteed. To hold such an event, you need:

1. Choose a low tree (1,5 m) with green needles and flexible branches.
2. Saw off a couple of centimeters from the trunk at the base.
3. Soak saw cut in a solution of a root growth stimulator.
4. Tie it with a damp cloth, leave the pine tree on the balcony until the New Year.
5. Put the tree in a container with wet river sand.
6. Spray the branches with a growth stimulator.
7. Place the tree away from heating appliances.
8. In two weeks, roots, new shoots should appear.
9. Water with growth stimulants.
10. If in April the tree is green, gives growth, it can be planted.

Features of planting pine from the forest

In order for the pine selected in the forest to take root after planting, its height should be from 60 to 120 cm, and its age should be about 4 years, the trunk should be even, the branches should be alternate. After choosing a tree, you should dig it around the trunk at a distance of 50 cm to such a depth that the largest clod of earth is extracted with roots.

Planting is best done in early spring, but plant survival will depend on climate and care. Fertilizers must be applied to the hole corresponding to the size of the coma, then the plant should be placed there, pour the prepared soil and water abundantly. At the same time, it is necessary to maintain soil moisture.

How to care for pine

Thanks to the developed root system of the pine, as well as unpretentiousness to the soil, it can grow in any conditions, including rocky and mountainous areas. Planting a pine tree and caring for it are not difficult and are as follows:

• top dressing – during planting and in the next 3 years;
• watering – the first 2 years until full rooting;
• loosening – during weeding;
• mulching – after planting;
• pruning – to slow growth and crown formation;
• the fight against diseases, pests – is carried out by timely treatment with appropriate insecticides;
• preparation for winter – protection of young seedlings from frost.

How to water a pine

In the adult state, pines easily tolerate the lack of watering, especially since the fallen needles mulch the soil and retain moisture in it. The exception is the Rumelian pine, which belongs to moisture-loving plants, requiring repeated watering per season (20 liters per plant).

Pine watering in autumn is necessary for seedlings, which were planted recently. If the soil is moist, the plant freezes less, its needles do not burn in the spring, since the roots nourish the entire tree with moisture.

How often to water a pine tree

The need for watering depends on the age of the tree. Immediately after planting, young seedlings require weekly watering. The roots will not suffocate in the water if the drainage is done well.

It is enough to moisten a rooted tree three times per season. In summer, it will be useful to water the pines by sprinkling at sunset, when there is no active evaporation. This procedure allows them to more easily transfer the sultry dry air.

How to water a pine tree

Under young trees, after planting, up to three buckets of warm, settled water are poured at a time. Mature plants require 5 – 10 buckets per watering.

With a decrease in soil acidity, it is worth carrying out periodic watering with a solution of citric acid or vinegar.

Do not neglect periodic liquid feeding of plants, which contribute to their rapid development.

Additional fertilizing

Top dressing of an adult pine is optional. But if it was carried out, then the tree looks more well-groomed, grows more actively. An ideal fertilizer would be compost – decomposed organic waste. It is similar in composition to soil. To apply it, it is necessary to loosen the near-stem circle, add the composition, mix it with the soil.

Fertilizing with mineral fertilizers is carried out once a year, according to the instructions. They are scattered around the entire near-stem circle, pouring abundantly after that with water. Fertilization in the fall is not recommended, so as not to provoke the growth of new shoots that do not have time to mature by the winter cold.

Loosening and mulching

While the pine is in the stage of a young weak plant, its near-stem circle must be kept clean. This requires regular inspections and weeding. Weeds can harbor pests that carry diseases. Weeding is accompanied by shallow loosening, so as not to touch the roots of a young tree. Loosening should be combined with mulching with peat, bark, leaves. With such care, the soil does not dry out for a long time, and the number of weeds is significantly reduced.

Formation of pines

The shape of the pine can be adjusted. With an asymmetrical or not entirely harmonious development of tree branches, it can be aesthetically pruned.

For crown density in May-June, it is worth pinching the tips of young shoots. Due to this, the juices of the plant are redirected to the formation of lateral shoots, and the growth of the central ones will stop.

In the spring, sanitary pruning is carried out, dry or damaged branches are removed.

The garden shears used in such an operation must be sharp, disinfected. Sections must be treated with copper sulphate or garden pitch. One pruning should not remove more than a third of the green mass of the crown.

Protection against diseases and pests

The onset of the disease or the presence of pests is evidenced by damage to the bark, needles, a change in their color. With the onset of spring, it is worth inspecting the tree in order to detect these signs. The most common pests include:

• Hermes – its colonies resemble cotton wool, while the needles turn yellow;
• sawfly – shoots turn red, branches lose their needles;
• bark beetle – a beetle that eats holes in wood is able to destroy a tree in a month.

Pest control is carried out with insecticides. In case of ineffectiveness of the preparations, the trees are destroyed.

Pine diseases include:

• shute – when brown spots appear, the needles fall off;
• rust – characterized by orange spots, swelling on the needles.

To prevent diseases for preventive purposes, coniferous plants can be treated in autumn with Bordeaux liquid.

Preparation for winter

A young plant with a weak root system requires its protection after planting. To this end, before frost, the trunk circle must be covered with a thick (up to 10 cm) layer of peat. This maintains a comfortable temperature and moisture.

You can protect seedlings from frost in the northern regions of the country by covering them with spruce branches. In the spring, conifers often suffer from the bright sun, in which they get burned. For protection, a special non-woven covering material or mesh is also used. This creates a shadow and prevents the pine from being damaged.

How to save pine seedlings until spring

Unlike seedlings of deciduous plants, coniferous species are not stored in the cellar until spring planting. It is enough to dig them in the garden directly in containers. The place should be protected from the sun, wind, the roots of the seedlings should be in moist soil, which must be covered with peat or earth from above. Next, they should be covered with polyethylene to avoid getting wet, and the crown with a non-woven covering material.

If the soil is frozen and it is impossible to dig the seedlings, they can be placed in a box, covered with sawdust or peat, put in a cold room. In this case, the crowns do not need to be covered, and the box itself should be insulated from above and below with a cloth, felt or rags. The soil in the containers must be moist.

Reproduction

The most commonly used method of propagation of pines by seeds. It provides for two methods – with an open (sowing directly into the ground) and a closed (in a personal container) root system. The second method is more reliable, since the plant is not injured during planting.

The vegetative method of reproduction consists in rooting pine shoots. But the process is very unreliable: the cuttings do not give roots well.

The division method is suitable for pine varieties with several trunks.

Reproduction by vaccination is possible. As a rootstock, four-year-old seedlings are used. In this case, the plant retains the properties of the pine from which the graft was taken.

Growing pine trees as a business

Growing pines for sale is considered a profitable business, characterized by minimal financial and labor costs. The first profit is possible already two years after planting. This business is suitable for both gardeners and businessmen. The work is simple, profitable, but seasonal. To begin with, you will need a plot of at least 2 hectares, fertile land and a greenhouse. Of great importance is the choice of varieties for planting. They must meet the following criteria:

• adaptation to the local climate;
• disease resistance;
• unpretentious content;
• rapid growth.

Both planting purchased seedlings and growing pines from seeds, with the right business organization, is a profitable business.

Conclusion

Before planting a pine seedling on the site, it is worth deciding on the variety, place and further development of the design, taking into account the new plant on it. Planting a pine tree in the summer will be a risky business, since there is no guarantee of its further survival. It is better to do this at a more comfortable time – in autumn or spring, while observing the agricultural practices of growing coniferous plants.