Columnar Arnold Juniper is one of the most popular plants in the modern landscape. The botanical name is juniperus communis arnold. Frost-resistant culture is suitable for cultivation in all regions of our country. A slender, evergreen tree adorns any composition and makes it truly original and unique.
Arnold Juniper is a compact evergreen
Brief information about the variety
- Colour: needles are short - up to 1.5 cm in length, green, emerald or bluish.
- Height: 1.5-2 m.
- Crown diameter: 1m.
- Landing features: scheme - 1x1 m. Likes a sunny place with a little shading.
- Distribution regions: grows in northern and western Europe, southern and northern America, and Siberia.
- Immunity: disease resistance average, high frost resistance.
Description of the plant
Arnold is one of the best varieties of common juniper. It is widely distributed in the northern and western parts of Europe, in the south and in the north of America, as well as in Siberia.
In nature, this tree can be found in the undergrowth of coniferous forests, where it forms dense and bright thickets.
The description of a plant of the Cypress family includes several important qualities:
- the crown is columnar, growing slowly - in a year it forms about 10 cm of growth, and by ten years it reaches 1.5-2 m in height;
- erect shoots, adjoining the central conductor;
- short needles - up to 1.5 cm in length, green, emerald or green-blue;
- fruiting begins in the third year of life - cones are small (from 0.5 to 0.9 mm), conditionally edible, sweetish in taste;
- the seeds are burgundy or dark brown.
This variety belongs to the dwarf varieties, since its maximum length can reach from 3 to 5 m.
The price of seedlings with a height of 60-80 cm is 850-900 rubles, from 80 to 100 cm - 1200 rubles.
Landing rules
Growing this ephedra is a simple process and even a novice gardener can do it. The main thing is to choose high-quality seedlings for planting, find a good place and provide timely care.
The optimal time for planting in open ground is late April or early May, depending on the region. It is important that the soil warms up to a temperature of 10-12 ° C, and the heat of the street stabilizes within 14-15 ° C.
Selection of seedlings
You can buy young plants for planting in the garden in one of the gardening nurseries.
The best material is seedlings with an earthen ball or planted in containers. Such conifers take root better on the site, since the closed roots do not dry out and are not subject to injury.
Choose specimens 1-2 years old with a beautiful green crown and erect shoots. Mechanical injuries, mold, red and black spots are a sign of unhealthy planting material, which may die after planting.
The optimum seedling height is 40-100 cm.
Before planting, conifers with closed roots are soaked in water for 2-3 hours in order to thoroughly saturate the aerial part with moisture.
If you plan to plant plants with an open root system, it is necessary to treat the roots with a growth stimulator - Kornevin or Epin.
Site and soil preparation
Juniper doesn't like drafts
Juniper Arnold grows well in a sunny place, easily tolerates a slight shade.
If planted in the shade, next to a farm building or along a house, it will be faded, and the needles are pale green.
Choose an area that is sheltered from the winds and free of moisture stagnation, otherwise the tree will dry out or quickly rot.
A planting bed is prepared in two weeks - weeds and plant residues are removed. If the soil is acidified, add calcite, dolomite flour or chalk at the rate of 350 g per 1 m².
When planting on loam, it is necessary to add a couple of buckets of sand, on loamy clay in the same amount. After that, deep digging and leveling are carried out.
Landing technique
The planting holes are dug out according to the 1x1 m scheme. The dimensions should be three times the size of the earthen coma. At the bottom, 20 cm of a drainage layer of crushed stone or pebbles is laid. Then the nutrient composition of leaf earth, peat and sand is poured in half (2: 1: 1).
When planting seedlings, it is necessary to ensure that the root collar remains on the surface of the soil. All voids are covered with a substrate, trampled around the trunk and watered abundantly - one seedling requires 5 liters of water.
To protect against rapid drying, each stem is spud with peat or coniferous sawdust.
Basic care
It is not difficult to take care of the ephedra; all it needs is regular watering, loosening, feeding and pruning.
Watering
For a month after planting, young trees need frequent moisture, since they do not tolerate drought well and can die. Frequency - 2 times a week in dry summer conditions. 10 liters of water are consumed per plant.
Adult specimens are watered less often - 2-3 times per season, 20-30 liters of water are poured under each bush. If spring and summer are dry, moisturize once a month.
This ephedra reacts positively to frequent sprinkling of the crown - once a week. This procedure helps to maintain its decorative effect, and also protects against the appearance of harmful insects.
Loosening and mulching
After each watering, the soil must be loosened so it will pass moisture and oxygen to the roots well.
In parallel with loosening, the aisles are weeded, weeds are removed, which are an excellent medium for the appearance of infections and pests.
Then add mulch from peat, pine sawdust or bark. It protects against unwanted vegetation in the garden, prevents the soil and roots from drying out.
Top dressing
Basic care includes regular and balanced feeding every year. The first fertilization of the juniper is carried out one year after planting.
In early spring, nitroammofoska is applied at the rate of 40 g per 1 m² or liquid top dressing - 20 g of Kemira Universal is dissolved in 10 liters of water. Such nutrition contributes to the intensive growth of the underground and aboveground parts.
In the fall, a month before the onset of cold weather, you can add a complex mineral composition - superphosphate (15 g) and potassium salt (10 g) to a bucket of water. Consumption per plant - 3 liters. These trace elements strengthen the immune system against diseases and increase the frost resistance of the needles.
Pruning
This culture does not need a shaping haircut, as it initially develops a beautiful and symmetrical crown. In early spring, they carry out a sanitary dooming - they remove all branches damaged by frost, winds, as well as yellowed and dried out organs.
A sterile and sharp object is used for this procedure. All cut off places are treated with a solution of copper sulfate, dried and powdered with charcoal. Such treatment will help prevent infection with various diseases.
Shelter for the winter
Mature trees do not need to be covered for the winter
Junipers from the age of 5 years do not require insulation for the winter, because tolerate long-term frosts well. It all comes down to mulching the near-trunk zone.
Young plants can freeze, so they are first covered with peat or pine sawdust, then the crown is covered with spruce branches or burlap.
They remove the shelter in the spring, when the threat of return frosts has passed.
Reproduction
The description of needles includes two methods of reproduction, each of them has advantages and disadvantages.
Seeds
This is a laborious growing method that requires freshly harvested seeds. Before sowing, they are scarified (they break the shell by cooling in the refrigerator for 4-5 months). After this procedure, the seeds germinate better.
They are then planted in a seedling box or container with drainage holes. Expanded clay is laid at the bottom, a nutrient mixture of sand and peat (1: 1) on top. The seeding depth is 1-1.5 cm.
Seedlings are irrigated with warm water, covered with foil and placed in a warm place with diffused light.
Until the emergence of shoots (2-3 months), they are periodically moistened and ventilated. Landing on the site is carried out a year after germination in early autumn.
Cuttings
Propagation by semi-lignified cuttings is the most common and effective method. Cutting of the apical shoots with a piece of old bark is carried out in the spring.
They are planted in a substrate of peat and sand (1: 1) to a depth of 3-4 cm at an angle of 45 °. Then watered, covered with transparent film or half a plastic bottle. They are placed in a warm place with a temperature of 15-18 ° C, after germination, they are raised to 20-23 ° C.
Basic home care consists of regular watering, airing, loosening the soil, and removing weeds. You can determine the success of rooting by the new buds on the shoots.
After that, they remove the shelter and continue to grow the houses for another year. Transplanting to the site is carried out in September according to the same scheme as the planting of seedlings.
Diseases
As practice shows, this plant is often sick in the spring, when immunity is weakened after wintering.
Rust
Fungal infection that damages the central conductor and skeletal branches.
Signs: A reddish or brown swelling on the surface of the bark. A favorable environment for the appearance of a fungus is high humidity, dampness and sudden temperature changes.
Tracheomycosis
A fungal disease that causes yellowing and drying of the needles, dying off of the bark on the central branch and adjacent shoots.
First, the top of the crown is affected, then the infection covers the entire aerial part.
Schütte brown
It is necessary to get rid of diseased branches
Another fungal sore that provokes yellowing of the twigs. The needles are covered with small black growths, then acquire a brown tone and massively crumble.
To prevent these diseases, it is necessary to treat the crown and soil around the trunk with sulfur and phosphate preparations, as well as water, feed, remove damaged organs and avoid thickening of the plantings in time.
At the advanced stage of the lesion, the ephedra must be removed from the site and burned to prevent further spread of the infection.
Also, the neighborhood of juniper with pears, plums, which are affected by the same ailments, is not recommended.
Pests
In addition to diseases, Arnold juniper suffers from an invasion of pests.
- Angle-winged moth. The butterfly itself does not harm the tree, but its offspring - caterpillars, with a massive raid, can completely destroy the needles. They gnaw out young branches, as a result of which it stops growing, turns yellow and dries out.
- Shield. Adults and the younger generation love to feast on pine needles juice. The affected parts turn yellow and crumble.
- Gall midges. Microscopic mosquitoes ranging in size from 1 to 4 mm lay larvae on needles. The hatched offspring sticks them together, as a result of which galls appear. The affected areas begin to dry out.
- Aphid. A sucking insect that sucks juices from buds, needles, young shoots. The infected plant weakens and dies.
- Spider mite. Signs - the appearance of a small cobweb in different parts of the needles. This pest also loves to feed on the sap of young organs on the tree.
To destroy parasites, systemic insecticides will be required - Actellic, Aktara, Angio or Fundazol. The treatment is carried out three times with an interval of 7 days. Additionally irrigate the soil around the trunk.
To avoid infection, it is necessary to keep the site clean, follow the planting scheme, regularly inspect the crown and remove damaged parts.
Application in horticulture
Cultivating evergreen juniper, gardeners create the most unusual and original landscaping in the garden:
- used both in single and group plantings with ground cover and medium-sized conifers;
- planted in a column along the curbs, complement the compositions in rock gardens, rabatki, rockeries and mixborders;
- used to create hedges, decoration of fences;
- combined with decorative flowering bushes - roses, hydrangeas;
- great for rocky, heather gardens.
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Reviews
The Arnold juniper has received many positive reviews:
- thanks to the compact columnar shape, the needles can be planted in a tiny area, while it does not lose its decorative effect and fully develops;
- successful propagation by cuttings allows you to grow a large number of young specimens with good adaptation after transplanting into open ground;
- high winter hardiness - one of the main qualities for which the plant fell in love with gardeners of the northern zone, central and middle zone.
The only negative is that the ephedra does not tolerate gas pollution, so it should be planted away from dusty, dirty and industrial areas.