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Plum leaf spirea is one of the many species of this ornamental shrub of the Rosaceae family. Due to its very beautiful flowering, it is often planted to decorate the territories of parks, gardens, and home gardens. It is quite frost-resistant and undemanding to care, therefore it is grown both by experienced flower growers and beginners.
Description of plum-leaved spirea
Plum-leaved spirea is a fairly tall spreading shrub. Under natural conditions, it grows in China, Japan and Korea. It is used as elements of landscape design in many countries, including Our Country.
The plum leaf spirea is shown in the photo below:
The main characteristics of the plum-leaved terry spirea (Plena) are given in the table.
Parameter | Value |
plant type | deciduous shrub |
Height | Until 2 m |
crown size | Until 2 m |
Shoots | Thin, flexible, rod-shaped |
Leaves | Bright green, oval-oblong, with a pointed end, pubescent on the reverse side. Color turns orange or red-brown in autumn |
Flowers | Snow-white, terry, collected in umbrella-type inflorescences of 3-6 pieces, framed by a rosette of small leaves |
Flowering time | April May |
Spirea plum leaf in landscape design
Plum leaf spirea can be used in landscape design in both group and single plantings. Often a shrub is used as a tapeworm, as an element in the design of a Japanese garden. It can be used to create a hedge, design roads, alleys, lawns, rock gardens. It is often used for industrial gardening of streets, territories of enterprises, healthcare facilities, children’s institutions.
Planting and care
In order for the plum-leaved spirea to grow well and delight with abundant flowering for many years, you need to choose a suitable place for it. The subsequent care of the shrub is quite simple and will not cause problems even for an inexperienced gardener.
Preparation of planting material and site
Spirea plum-leaved refers to spring-flowering. Therefore, it can only be planted in autumn, in September. To plant plum-leaved spirea on the site, you can use the vegetative method by rooting cuttings or cuttings from the bushes of this plant, taken from friends. However, most gardeners purchase seedlings of this shrub in specialized stores or nurseries.
As a rule, they are sold in special containers or with a clay coating of the roots. You need to carefully examine them. The seedling should look healthy, have 2-3 taproots and a sufficient amount of lobes.
A landing site must be selected and prepared in advance. Plum leaf spirea, like most other representatives of this species, belongs to light-loving plants. For its landing, it is necessary to choose an open place with a lot of sunlight, light partial shade is allowed. The soil should be loose, light and breathable, with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction. Spiraea plum-leaved does not tolerate calcareous soils. It is better to choose a place with moderate humidity; low-lying and wetlands are not suitable for this shrub.
Therefore, you should avoid places open to the cold north wind and drafts.
Planting pits for seedlings must be prepared in advance, 2-3 weeks before planting. Their volume is selected taking into account the root system of the seedling, the holes should be at least 1/3 larger. If the soil is not suitable, the pits need to be increased by about 3 times. This will allow the spirea root system to develop in specially prepared soil. Depths of 0,7 m are sufficient. Drainage from large rubble, pieces of brick or stones must be laid out at the bottom. A small hill of earth is poured over the drainage.
The excavated soil is preserved. To increase fertility and friability, peat, humus and sand are added to it, a small amount of superphosphate will not be superfluous. If necessary, the soil can be completely replaced with a more suitable one.
Rules of landing
For planting, it is desirable to choose a cloudy, rainy day. The seedling is installed vertically in the planting hole, spreading the roots along the earthen mound. The root collar must be level with the ground. If necessary, the height of the earthen slide can be increased or decreased. Having leveled the seedling in height, its roots are covered with prepared nutrient soil, slightly compacting it so that there is no layer of air left in the roots. Then the seedling must be watered abundantly.
Watering and top dressing
Quite often, gardeners neglect measures to care for spirea, treating it on a “plant and forget” basis. Indeed, this plant has good endurance and often develops well even without care. However, plum-leaved spirea can fully reveal all its decorative qualities only when performing certain activities.
The shrub is drought-resistant, and watering, as a rule, is not done, since rain is enough for the plant. Watering is recommended only in the summer months, during the driest period. At this time, the root zone of the plum leaf spirea is watered, using 1,5-2 buckets of water for each bush.
For good growth, flowering and preparation for winter, plum leaf spirea is fed three times:
- In early spring, nitrogen-containing fertilizers or organic matter to stimulate the growth of shoots and quickly set green mass.
- Before flowering complex mineral fertilizers.
- At the end of summer potash and phosphate fertilizers.
Trimming
Pruning plum-leaved spirea allows you to stimulate the growth of young shoots and rejuvenate the bush. Often the shrub is sheared for decorative purposes, giving it a certain geometric shape. You can cut bushes that have reached the age of 3-4 years. It is also necessary to carry out sanitary pruning regularly, removing broken and dried branches.
For spirea, the following types of pruning are recommended:
- Stimulating. Pruning lignified stems at a height of 25-30 cm stimulates the growth of a large number of lateral shoots in spirea. This increases the density of the bush.
- Rejuvenating. It is carried out in the fall for old bushes, as well as in case of severe damage by pests or frost. In this case, the shoots are completely cut off at ground level, leaving no stumps. In the spring, the spirea bush actually begins to grow anew from the buds located near the root collar, while using the existing root system.
- Formative. It is carried out during the season to maintain a given crown shape. Spirea tolerates pruning well and grows quickly, so it is usually sheared several times a season.
Preparation for winter
The plum-leaved spirea is poorly adapted to frost and, without shelter, can winter only in the southern regions. Often, not only young shoots freeze, but also old, lignified ones. The root system also suffers from severe frosts. For the winter, the root zone of the plum leaf spirea must be covered with a thick layer of mulch from sawdust, tree bark or fallen leaves.
A shelter is usually built around the spirea, which is a wooden frame covered with parchment or other covering material.
Reproduction
Plum-leaved spirea, like most other species of this shrub, can be propagated in the following ways:
- seeds;
- grafting;
- layering;
- division of the bush.
The seed method is used for propagating spirea quite rarely, since when using it, the plant does not retain varietal characteristics. Vegetative methods are devoid of this drawback, therefore they are used much more often.
Cuttings are a fairly common method of propagating plum-leaved spirea. Cuttings are cut in September from annual vertical shoots. Each of them must have at least 5 leaves. The lower sheets are removed, the upper ones are cut in half to reduce the evaporation of moisture from the surface of the sheet plate. Sections of the cuttings are kept for 12 hours in Epin’s solution, then powdered with Kornevin and planted at an angle of 45 ° in a container with wet sand.
The container is cleaned under the film in a warm shaded place. In the future, they are regularly sprayed to maintain constant humidity. In 4-8 weeks, spirea cuttings will take root. After that, they are dived into separate containers, and in the spring they are planted in a greenhouse for growing. By autumn, the seedlings will have a developed root system, after which they can be planted in a permanent place.
It is quite easy to get layering from the mother bush of plum-leaved spirea. To do this, you need to choose a flexible long side shoot, bend it to the ground, fix it with a wire clamp and sprinkle it with earth. Regular watering of this place will lead to the rooting of the allotted shoot, which will give roots and sprout their own shoots.
He should winter with the mother bush. It will be possible to separate the layering and the mother shoot in the spring by transplanting the separated plant into a greenhouse for independent growth. In autumn, you can plant a seedling in a prepared place.
The division of the bush is the easiest and fastest method of propagating plum-leaved spirea. You need to divide it in the fall, in September. It is better to use young plants that have reached the age of 3-5 years for this. It is possible to divide old spirea bushes, but this is a more time-consuming task. The bush is completely dug up. The root system is washed with water from a hose. The easiest way to divide it is with a garden pruner.
Usually the bush is divided into 3-4 parts, making sure that each division has several developed shoots and a good root lobe. After that, parts of the bush are transplanted into prepared pits in the same way as ordinary seedlings.
Diseases and pests
Spiraea plum-leaf is sick infrequently. On groomed bushes, gray rot or spotting may develop. This is due to the increased humidity inside the bush. To prevent the disease, it is necessary to carry out sanitary pruning in a timely manner, remove excessive thickening and avoid getting water on the leaves when watering. If the disease nevertheless began, the affected shoots should be immediately cut and burned, and the bushes should be treated with fungicides.
In autumn, all fallen leaves from diseased bushes must be collected and burned, since spores of the fungus can overwinter in it.
Insect pests are found on the plum leaf spirea infrequently. The greatest danger to bushes is aphids, spider mites and leafworms. They fight them by spraying the bushes with various chemical and biological preparations, such as Pirimor, Aktelik, etc.
Conclusion
Plum-leaved spirea is an excellent ornamental shrub that can decorate any landscape. It looks equally impressive in individual and group plantings. Blooming spirea is a real queen of the garden. Of great importance is the fact that the plant is very unpretentious. It gets along well with any neighbors in the garden, and even a novice florist can cope with caring for him.
