Birch leaf spirea: description of varieties, rules for growing and caring for photos

Spirea bushes are planted on their plots by gardeners and used as urban decoration by landscape designers. Breeders have bred about 90 plant species with different flowering periods. The peculiarity of the birch-leaved spirea is in the blooming of inflorescences in the summer, at a time when most other species have already faded. She attracts attention with the beauty of not only the buds, but also the leaves that change their color during the season.

Description and characteristics

Birch-leaved spirea is a low-growing deciduous shrub. Its height varies from 50 to 80 centimeters, the crown spreads over the same distance.The plant got its name for the leaf plates, which have the same notches as birch leaves. They are oval in shape, with a wedge-shaped base, green in color, with prominent veins.

Spirea begins to bloom at 3-4 years of age. Inflorescences, consisting of 20-100 flowers, are cream, white, pink. By autumn, the green leaves turn yellow-red. The plant is frost-resistant, withstands temperatures down to -35 ° С.

Variety variety

The following varieties of birch-leaved spirea are the most popular among gardeners and landscape designers:

1. Thor. The height of the bushes reaches 70-100 centimeters. The leaves are dark green, turning yellow in autumn. Light cream Tor blooms in late June/early July.
2. Thor Gold. The beauty of this variety lies in the light green-yellow leaves in summer and purplish-purple in autumn. The inflorescences of the Tor Gold variety are white and bloom in the middle of summer.
3. Iceland. Compared to other varieties, the Iceland variety is taller. Its height can reach 1.5 meters. The crown spreads up to 1.8 meters. Spirea blooms from mid-June to early August.
4. Pink Sparkler. Description and characteristics: the bush is compact, its height reaches 60 centimeters. Feature of the variety in the inflorescences of a pink palette. The plant blooms until early August.

Pay attention! If the browned buds are cut off in time, the second wave of flowering will begin at the birch-leaved spirea in the fall.

Subtleties of growing crops

In order for the birch leaf spirea to grow decorative, bloom profusely, you need to plant it correctly. There should be a sufficiently large distance between the bushes, since they have a spreading crown: between tall varieties - about 1 meter, between undersized ones - up to 80 centimeters. If plants are planted as a hedge, the distance between them is maintained in the range of 30-50 centimeters.

Date of planting

You can plant birch leaf spirea in open ground in early spring and autumn. When planted in spring, the bushes should not show signs of vegetation. In autumn, spirea is planted from mid-October to mid-November. At the same time, overgrown bushes are planted. Container-grown shrubs can be planted at any time, but shaded with burlap on a hot afternoon.

How and where to plant?

Spirea birch prefers well-lit places with breathable soil. The brightness of the leaves depends on the level of illumination. Planted plants in cloudy weather. The substrate is prepared from the following components:

• leaf and sod land;
• heavy soil is lightened with peat and sand;
• clay is added to sandy soil.

The root system is inspected before planting: if it has broken or rotten roots, they are removed with a sharp knife. Too long shoots are shortened by a third. Planting birch spirea is performed as follows:

1. A hole is dug in volume 2 times larger than the root system of the plant. The planting hole should settle a little, so they start preparing it 2 weeks before planting the spirea.
2. Expanded clay, broken shards, small stones are laid on the bottom. The drainage layer must be at least 10 centimeters.
3. The prepared substrate is poured from above, a bush is placed in the center of the pit. Next, the soil is poured out - so that the root collar is at ground level.
4. The substrate is slightly compacted, watered.

To keep moisture in the soil and prevent weeds from growing, it needs to be sprinkled with mulch.

Nuances of plant care

Like every plant, birch leaf spirea requires at least minimal care, including watering, top dressing, and pruning to maintain a decorative look.

Irrigation

Newly planted bushes are especially in need of watering: moist soil will allow the plants to get stronger faster and grow. Further watering is carried out as needed. It is especially necessary to moisten the earth in a dry summer. At least 15 liters of water are spilled under one bush. After watering, the earth is loosened to prevent the appearance of a crust on it.

Feeding

Feed birch leaf spirea start the next season after planting. For this, a composition is prepared from the following components:

• 200 grams of mullein;
• 10 liters of water;
• 5 grams of superphosphate.

The first dressing is done after spring pruning, the next - before flowering. For secondary fertilization, a potassium-phosphorus composition is used. You can use ready-made dressings for decorative flowering plants. Rotting mulch also serves as a fertilizer for birch spirea.

Important! At the end of summer, the bushes are not fed with nitrogen: shoots can begin to actively grow from it, which do not have time to ripen by winter.

Cutting

The pruning procedure begins before the start of the growing season. To do this, young shoots are collected in a bunch and cut to the outer buds. Small and weak branches are removed completely. After 4-5 years, all shoots are shortened to a height of 30 centimeters. This will wake up the buds, which will begin to grow actively, making the bush more lush.

When the spirea inflorescences turn brown, they must be removed.Their pruning contributes to the decorativeness of the bushes, and also does not allow plants to waste energy on the formation of fruits that gardeners do not need. To rejuvenate plantings, all shoots are completely cut out after 10-12 years. If you do not make constant pruning, then the spirea bushes will turn into untidy thickets.

Possible diseases and pests

Birch leaf spirea rarely gets sick, but if too much precipitation falls during the season, it can be affected by fungal diseases. If rot is found on the plant, then it must be treated with a fungicide. To prevent diseases in early spring, the bushes are sprayed with Bordeaux liquid.

Insects such as aphids, rosaceous miner, spider mites, leafworms can overcome bushes. They are able to harm the spirea in a short time, reducing its decorative effect. You can determine that the bushes were attacked by pests by seeing cobwebs on them, premature yellowing and leaf fall. Spraying with insecticides will help save the plantings.

Breeding methods

Spirea birch leaf can be propagated in several ways: cuttings, layering, dividing the bush.

Cutting

Cuttings are performed as follows:

1. In autumn, young lignified shoots are cut off, the direction of growth of which is strictly up.
2. All leaves are removed, except for the top 5, which are cut in half.
3. The cuttings are dipped in a growth stimulant solution for 10 hours.
4. At a slight angle, shoots are planted in containers, in wet sand.

Containers with plantings are dug into the soil in autumn and covered. In the spring, each cutting is planted separately in the ground, in the fall the grown seedlings are transferred to a prepared permanent place.

Layers

To breed spirea with layering, it is necessary to pin the lower shoots to the ground in the spring, water, sprinkle with soil. Throughout the season, the places of contact between the cuttings and the soil are kept moist. Layers are covered for the winter. In the spring, they are separated from the mother plant and planted in a separate place.

Dividing the bush

Propagation of birch-leaved spirea by dividing the bush is done in autumn. For this, plantings no more than 3-4 years old are selected, otherwise it will be difficult to dig out a powerful root system. The bush is divided in such a way that each division has a strong root and trunk. Plantings are watered, mulched to protect against freezing.

Advice! Young plants planted in autumn should be mulched and covered when frost sets in.

Application in landscape design

Birch leaf spirea is used both in garden plots and in parks, city flower beds, mixborders, alpine slides. In addition, hedges and high curbs are built from it. Spirea is decorative not only during the flowering period, but also after it. Leaves that are green at first turn purple over time. For these qualities, both gardeners and landscape designers love her.

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