Secrets of growing and caring for Konik spruce

If a gardener dreams of decorating a live Christmas tree with his own hands every New Year, then planting a conic spruce would be an excellent solution. A low cone-shaped tree goes well with various types of flowers and shrubs. Landscape designers plant a plant singly, as well as in small picturesque groups. The combination of Canadian firs of Konik and Echiniformis in sunny glades is considered a classic.

A little about the fluffy beauty

Canada is famous for its dense forests. More than a hundred years ago, travelers brought a small copy of the huge Canadian spruce - Konik. The latter grows up to three meters only if all the rules of planting and quality care are observed. The compact tree is popular among breeders for its unpretentiousness and great decorative effect.

Tip: if a tree in a pot is bought on the market, then planting can be delayed. A seedling with an open root system requires immediate placement in the hole.

Konik spruce grows only a few centimeters per year. As the plant matures, growth also slows down significantly. Gardeners rarely notice large cones (5.5-6 cm) - with proper care, the tree spends all its strength on the formation of shoots and needles of an unusual gray-emerald color. The needles are soft, not prickly, short (2 cm) and fragrant.

What is the best breeding method?

The easiest way to get a spruce tree in your house is to buy a copy you like on the market. But it is important for a true lover of green spaces to grow a tree himself. Konik spruce, like Echiniformis, can be obtained from seeds. In autumn, ripe cones are collected, the seeds are dried and planted in seedling boxes to a depth of 1 cm. In a cool place, with moderate soil moisture, the first shoots will appear in three months.

Tip: young plants can be planted immediately in large pots. Over the summer, they will grow up, but a transplant will not be required with further care.

Stronger seedlings are obtained from cuttings, new trees will retain all the features of the original sample. Together with a piece of bark, the lower branch of the spruce is cut off, and then the excess is removed, leaving 8-15 cm with a “heel” from the bark. After drying the cutting, it is immersed in a solution of any growth stimulant for several hours. At this time, prepare the soil mixture from equal parts:

leaf land;
bottom peat;
river sand;
turf.

Cuttings are planted in separate flowerpots, deepening by 2-3 cm. For high-quality care of seedlings, it is necessary to find a bright, cool place. Young plants need to be watered as the top layer dries, the conic needles also love spraying. The tree will stay indoors for 3-4 years, and then the time comes to settle the Canadian beauty on the lawn.

The best place for a Christmas tree

An excellent choice for planting a Canadian Christmas tree is the area near the house. Soft diffused lighting prevails here. These trees, like Echiniformis, can be planted in open space, but only if hot summers are not typical for the area. Cold piercing winds do not have the best effect on the Christmas tree of the horse.

Tip: trying to protect the plant from the heat, you should not plant it in a shady place. Even with quality care, a compact spruce will always stretch out, and the needles will fall off.

Like its forest counterparts, the tree loves acidified soil, enriched with nutrients. Landing on the ground with slightly alkaline PH values \u200b\u200band also will not bring catastrophic consequences, but if there is an excess of lime on the site, it is better not to plant Canadian spruce at all. The hole must be made wide (up to 1 m), but shallow (up to 0.5 m), bring a bucket of rotted manure into it and dig it well.

Easy care

In the summer, you need to pamper the Konik spruce by giving it a soft shower from a hose. You can water the tree abundantly, 2-3 waterings weekly in the early morning or evening are enough. Young plants in closed ground are watered and sprayed often in summer, and in winter they only slightly moisten the soil. Waterlogging of the plant will inevitably end in death from rotting of the root system.
Spruce is sick if:

The branches were covered with brown spots (rust).
There is a rapid fall of needles (rot).
The needles began to acquire a reddish tint (tracheomycosis).

Sick trees must be dug up and burned. Intact specimens are treated with a solution of the drug with fungicidal activity. The root system of the Canadian spruce, like the roots of Echiniformis, is not deep under the soil surface, so loosening should be accurate. When loosening, you can apply organic fertilizers or complex top dressing.

Tip: in late autumn, it is necessary to wrap the Canadian spruce crown with breathable material (burlap). Reflected from ice crystals, the rays of the sun burn fragile needles.

The Canadian herringbone has a remarkable quality for care - it requires little to no pruning. The conical crown of the tree grows evenly, if you have to cut it, then only a couple of protruding branches. In spring and autumn, gardeners carry out a routine inspection of the plant, and also remove dry shoots and needles. You can immediately mulch the surface of the soil under the spruce with peat, leaves, sawdust.

Konik spruce, like Echiniformis, is so unpretentious that it can be planted in the fall. The species is frost-resistant, suitable for planting in the middle latitudes of our country. In one place, spruce grows for about three hundred years. So, grandfather can safely tell his grandson about caring for a tree.

Caring for the Konik spruce is equivalent to a health walk. Inhaling the aroma of needles, a person receives a charge of vivacity for the whole day. If tall trees are planted in the background, and a flower bed is planted in front of the spruce, then the garden will look elegant. A magic tree in a pot for the New Year will be a surprise for the household.

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