Spruce Echiniformis: description, planting and care, tree propagation methods

Canadian spruce Echiniformis is considered one of the shortest conifers. However, this variety appeared quite a long time ago. The exact date of its occurrence is unknown, but it has been established for certain that the plant existed in France before 1855. This culture has pronounced decorative properties and is often used in landscape design. The indisputable advantage of culture is the ease of caring for it.

Description of the tree

Canadian spruce Echiniformis supposedly appeared in the middle of the nineteenth century in France. It is believed that the mother culture is the "witch's broom".A young plant develops in the form of a hemisphere, and grafted onto a low stem has a spherical shape. After some time, the crown of the Canadian spruce spreads in different directions, becoming cushion-shaped. To prevent this from happening, the plant needs to be cut in time.

Until the age of 10, Echiniformis increases by 2-4 centimeters every season. As a result, it reaches 40 centimeters in height and 60 in width. By the age of 30, the size of the tree reaches 60 centimeters. In this case, the width of the crown is 1 meter. With careful care, this spruce variety can live in urban areas for 50 years.

Echinoformis spruce is characterized by thin short shoots that are arranged radially. This means that the culture itself can maintain a spherical shape. Canadian spruce is characterized by a fairly dense crown. In this case, the needles have a length of 5-7 millimeters and are green in color with a grayish or blue tint.The root system is well developed, but grows not in depth, but in width.

A distinctive feature of Echiniformis spruce is the frequent occurrence of reversion, or reverse mutation. This means that ordinary branches appear among short shoots with small needles. They need to be removed as early as possible to preserve varietal characteristics.

Application in design

Echiniformis spruce is a very attractive plant that is often used in landscape design. It can be used in group and single landings. Also, the culture is used to create rocky gardens and alpine slides. It is used to create an oriental-style landscape and rockeries.

Plants look very nice in small areas and in groups with other conifers in the foreground. Also, spruce of this variety can be grown in containers and used to decorate houses, office buildings, restaurants.

Planting spruce

When choosing a site for planting, it should be borne in mind that the Echiniformis spruce, like the common variety, is considered to be very photophilous. However, the culture can withstand a slight penumbra. The plant does not put forward special requirements for the composition of the soil. It thrives well in both acidic and alkaline environments. At the same time, spruce perceives sandy soil worst of all.

Due to the superficial location of the roots, spruce can also be grown in areas with high groundwater. But in this case, it is imperative to organize a drainage layer.

Preparing the seedling

Most often spruce seedlings of this variety are sold in containers. It is important to consider that such plants can be planted from the beginning of spring to the end of autumn. At the same time, dug seedlings need to be moved to open ground from April to May or from mid-August to October.

Buy plants with an open root system is not worth it. Nurseries often offer to dig up seedlings of gray spruce. In this case, the earth lump needs to be moistened and wrapped in burlap. After that, it must be landed as quickly as possible. Immediately before planting, an earthen lump needs to be watered. This will help simplify the transshipment process.

How to plant correctly

To successfully plant Echiniformis spruce, it is recommended to do the following:

1. Prepare a recess for planting. The hole should be approximately twice the size of the root system of the seedling.
2. If necessary, pour a layer of crushed stone or expanded clay on the bottom of the recess. After that, the hole needs to be half filled with a mixture of fertile and garden soil.
3. Carefully pull the seedling out of the container, being careful not to damage its root system.
4. Place in the center of the recess and sprinkle with earth. It is important to ensure that the root neck is flush with the soil surface. Deepening it is not recommended.
5. Water the plant well and cover the near-stem circle with a mulch layer. To do this, you can use peat or bark.
6. In the first winter, cover the plant with any suitable material. To do this, you can use agrofibre or make a cardboard canopy. In early spring, the culture should be shaded from the bright sun.

Care

In order for the Echiniformis spruce to grow and develop normally, it needs to provide full and high-quality care.

Irrigation Rules

Immediately after planting, the plant needs frequent watering. It is important to ensure that the soil does not dry out. It is also not recommended to allow swamping of plantings and constant stagnation of moisture in the area of \u200b\u200bthe roots. After this, watering should be stopped. In summer, it is recommended to moisten the culture every week.

Humidity parameters are of no small importance for this plant.With automatic watering, they can be turned on every day in the morning. The duration of the procedure should not exceed a few minutes. This will be an excellent alternative to systematic crown sprinkling. In the absence of automatic watering, the crown should be sprayed from a hose. In the heat, the procedure is carried out daily.

Loosening

Loosening own-rooted Echiniformis spruce is quite difficult, because its lower shoots are on the ground. The procedure can be carried out exclusively under a grafted tree. However, this must be done carefully and at a shallow depth. The procedure is carried out only during the first 2 years after planting. Subsequently, instead of loosening, mulching is carried out.

Cutting algorithm

When using spruce to create a hedge, drastic pruning is acceptable. Also, from time to time, a sanitary haircut should be carried out to remove diseased and dry branches.This procedure should be carried out in late spring or early summer - after the end of active sap flow.

Cleaning the crown

Canadian spruce Echiniformis has a fairly dense crown, which has very short internodes, since the annual growth does not exceed a few centimeters. Without light, needles and old shoots dry out quickly. In addition, ticks can start there.

Before cleaning the crown of spruce, you need to protect your eyes, hands and respiratory organs. Needles provoke skin irritation, and particles of dry bark can cause swelling if they get on the mucous membranes.

To clean the plant, the branches should be carefully moved apart in different directions and dry needles and breaking shoots should be removed with your hands. After that, you need to collect the fallen needles so that nothing remains under the tree.

At the end, it is recommended to treat the crown and the soil under it with a fungicide. It is best to use a copper-based tool for this. Injured areas should be treated with Bordeaux mixture.

Preparing for cold weather

Mature plants are resistant to frost, and young seedlings need protection. They need to be covered to protect them from late frosts. Spruce branches are used as a covering material.

You can also mulch the trunk circle with peat or sawdust. This option can be used in the first years after planting. The thickness of the mulching layer is 6-8 centimeters.

Sun protection

Echiniformis spruce is less likely to suffer from early spring burns than other Canadian spruces. However, sometimes the tree is damaged. This happens at the beginning of the season due to the fact that the root cannot supply moisture to the top of the tree, and the sun's rays provoke the evaporation of water from the branches and needles. To avoid problems, on a bright afternoon, cover the spruce with burlap or non-woven fabric.

Methods of reproduction

Coniferous plants can be propagated in many ways - by seed, cuttings, grafting. Seeds do not help preserve varietal traits, and grafting is usually only used in commercial nurseries to develop new forms. Because gardeners prefer cuttings.

For rooting, it is worth preparing a small greenhouse with a mixture of sand and peat. Then you need to do the following:

1. At the beginning of summer, cut off a stalk with a heel - a piece of wood. For spruce of this variety, a length of 2-3 centimeters is enough.
2. Process the cut with Kornevin.
3. Deploy the cutting into the soil mixture and cover the greenhouse with a film or lid.
4. Spray the plant constantly. This will help maintain the same level of humidity.

Rooted cuttings can be planted next year. A plant is planted on a permanent plot at the stage of the appearance of lateral shoots.

Disease and pest control

Spruce of this variety has strong immunity, but sometimes it suffers from pathologies. The most common problems include the following:

1. Fungal pathologies - affect weakened cultures. They can develop under the snow during thaws or in the structure of a thickened crown. It is recommended to treat the plant with copper preparations. To do this, you need to perform systematic spraying in spring and autumn.
2. Root rot - develops when moisture stagnates. The signs of pathology include a violation of the development of spruce in the middle of summer and softening of the roots. A diseased plant must be dug up and treated with roots. In this case, infected fragments should be removed. After that, the spruce must be planted in a new area, and the previous place should be treated with a fungicide.
3. Rust - affects conifers growing near pome crops.A characteristic sign of the disease are growths up to 5 millimeters in size. They have a bright orange color and appear on shoots in early summer. At the first sign of pathology, the branches must be removed and burned. At the same time, spruce is recommended to be treated with Bordeaux liquid or other means - "Ditan", "Tseneb".

Of the pests, the following are the most dangerous for spruce:

1. Spruce spider mite - while the needles brighten and lose their luster. Subsequently, yellow spots appear on the needles. For the fight, acaricides should be used - "Aktellik", "Sunmite".
2. Spruce false shield - provokes browning of needles and drying of shoots. After the larvae, shiny traces remain on the plant. Spraying with insecticides will help to cope with the pest. It should be done in early spring. With a strong damage to the culture, the procedure is repeated at the end of summer.

Echiniformis spruce is a beautiful plant that is often used to decorate suburban areas. In order for the culture to grow and develop normally, it needs to be properly looked after.

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