El Oldenburg: description, planting and care, application in landscape design

Oldenburg blue spruce is a fairly common and sought-after culture, which is popular among gardeners and landscape designers. The tree is considered undemanding to care and has excellent decorative qualities. However, for all its unpretentiousness, the plant still needs to follow certain rules. Careful care of the plant will help preserve its decorative properties.

Variety description

Oldenburg blue spruce has excellent decorative qualities. This culture is characterized by a regular wide-conical crown, which is quite dense.The branches form dense tiers that start almost from the surface of the earth. The tree reaches 15 meters in height. At the same time, the width of the crown near the base is 5-8 meters.

The culture is characterized by thick and strong needles, which have 4 edges and are evenly distributed around the shoot. It is noticeably raised and has a bluish-silver or bluish tint. Each needle lives on a tree for 6-9 years. At the same time, young needles are covered with a high-density wax coating.

The plant has fairly loose buds, which are characterized by a cylindrical shape and a length of 3-8 centimeters. The root system is superficial. At the same time, it provides a high degree of resistance to wind and drought.

The Oldenburg spruce is characterized by a high growth rate compared to other conifers. Annual growth from the first years of life is about 30 centimeters per year.With adequate care and proper fertilization, this figure can increase up to 50 centimeters. By the age of 10, spruce grows up to 3 meters.

The tree is used as a tapeworm or in the composition of conifers. With the help of pruning, you can make shapes from it or form a hedge. The plant is often used by gardeners, decorating alleys, parks, office buildings with it.

Planting instructions

In order for the prickly spruce to grow and develop normally, planting work must be carried out correctly. Only in this case the tree will be he althy and strong. It is important to choose a sunny, well-lit place for planting.

In this case, it is recommended to plant spruce in drained sandy loamy or sandy-gravel soil. It should be fairly moist and loose. It is desirable to give preference to a substrate with a slightly acidic reaction. It is important to avoid stagnant water.Culture does not require protection from the sun and wind. Therefore, the open southern slope will be a great place for her to land.

Preparing a suitable substrate for filling the planting hole is of great importance. To do this, mix leaf soil with sod. Peat and sand are also required to be added to the mixture. A drainage layer 15-20 centimeters thick should be placed at the bottom of the recess. Its thickness should be 15-20 centimeters.

To plant a spruce, you need to do the following:

1. Prepare the recess. It should be 1.5 times the parameters of the root system.
2. Pour drainage into the bottom.
3. Place 2-3 pegs near the hole to support the seedling.
4. The top 20 centimeters of soil are mixed with leafy and soddy soil, sand and peat. This is done in a ratio of 2:2:1:1.
5. Form a hill in the central part of the hole. Make a recess in it according to the size of the tap root of the seedling.
6. Place the seedling in the hole and spread the roots. It is important to ensure that the root neck is located just above the surface of the earth.
7. Add soil and water the plant. It is recommended to use 20 liters of water for 1 seedling.

Features of care

If Oldenburg is considered an undemanding plant that does not require specific care.

When and how to water

In dry weather, spruce needs to be watered. For young plants, use 1 bucket of water every week. The tree is drought tolerant, but water deficiency leads to developmental delays and an increased risk of spider mites. At the same time, excess moisture is also contraindicated, since in this case the risk of fungal infection increases.

Loosening

After watering or precipitation, light loosening should be carried out. This is required to do a maximum of 5 centimeters. After loosening, the soil should be covered with a mulch layer. This can be done with peat, fallen needles or compost.

Mulching helps achieve these results:

• keep moisture in the soil;
• provide the earth with nutrients;
• provide protection against weeds.

Tree pruning

This procedure can be omitted, since Oldenburg spruce is characterized by a beautiful symmetrical crown. At the same time, the tree responds well to pruning. This allows him to give the desired shape if desired.

When pruning, do not leave stumps. The fact is that new shoots will subsequently appear from them. If a decision is made to prune, the procedure is best done in late May or early June. At this time, sap flow decreases.

Sanitary pruning of spruce is considered a mandatory procedure. It can be done at any time of the year. After such a procedure, it is necessary to carefully treat the damaged surfaces. It is recommended to do this with wood ash or use garden var.

Possible pests and diseases

El Oldenburg has a fairly strong immune system. The culture is very resistant to diseases and pests. However, in conditions of high humidity, there is a risk of developing fungal pathologies.

When browning needles, you need to use systemic fungicides - Quadris, Horus, Falcon. These funds are recommended to be used at least three times. This should be done at intervals of 2 weeks.

When the apical shoots die off, it is recommended to use fungicides such as Antrakol or Amistar Trio. It is also permissible to use "Falcon". In addition, when such signs appear, growth stimulants are required to be introduced into the near-trunk circle. To do this, you can use Zircon or Epin.

Sometimes Oldenburg spruce suffers from various pests. The most common parasites include:

1. Small spruce false shield - absorbs tree sap. In addition, soot fungus often multiplies in the secretions of parasites, which causes great harm to spruce. Treatment of affected trees should be carried out with insecticidal preparations. In this case, you need to deposit funds three times with an interval of 2 weeks.
2. Spruce spider mite - affects weakened trees that lack water. When a culture is damaged, a thin web is formed in its crown. Acaricides help to cope with dangerous parasites.
3. Typographer bark beetle - represents a great danger for spruce, but is extremely rare. This parasite makes many holes and passages in the wood. This provokes damage to tissues and blood vessels. The first sign of damage is the formation of wood dust. At the initial stages, you need to make insecticides. Moreover, with such means, they not only process the trunk, but also inject them under the bark. If the colony is very large, the plant is considered dead.It needs to be removed and preventive treatments of the remaining trees should be performed.
4. Spruce hermes - is considered a rather dangerous pest. To get rid of parasites, it is worth processing the culture in June and July. For this, it is worth using drugs such as Caesar or Actellik.

Use variety

According to the description, Oldenburg spruce is often used in landscape design. She decorate garden plots, parks, squares. Often the plant is used as a tapeworm. When planted alone, the culture is used as a Christmas tree in winter.

At the same time, this variety goes well with other conifers. It can be combined with pines, thujas and junipers. Barberry will help to emphasize the attractiveness of the plant. In addition, Oldenburg spruce looks great with birches and maples.

With the right choice of neighbors for the plant, it will be possible to get rockeries. It is a garden that combines different cultures and stone laying on the ground. This composition looks very impressive.

Oldenburg spruce is a fairly common culture, which has excellent decorative properties. Because of this, it is often used to decorate garden plots. In order for the plant to develop normally and retain its attractiveness, it is necessary to properly carry out planting work and create optimal conditions for the culture.

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