Ornamental and medicinal plants on the site. Spirea: planting, growing and care
Known in ancient Russia as a meadowsweet, spirea rightfully occupies one of the places of honor in modern landscape design, due to the mass of its advantages, which have found their application in decorative gardening. These advantages, as well as the characteristics of planting, cultivating and caring for spirea, will be discussed in detail in this article.
Content
- Spirea and its varieties. Early flowering and late flowering spirea video
- Reproduction of spirea. Landing and care
- Japanese Spirea - the most striking representative of the species
- Spiraea in landscape design
Spirea and its varieties. Early flowering and late flowering spirea
There are legends about unpretentiousness of spirea, which landscape designers and gardening lovers know firsthand. Long flowering, resistant to low and high temperatures, spirea is successfully cultivated in different parts of the country: from the southern borders to places that do not know the excess heat and sunlight.
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From the point of view of botany, spirea is a decoratively growing deciduous shrub belonging to the family Rosaceae. Translated from Latin speira means bending, spiral, which once again emphasizes royal grace and become a spirea bush. At this stage in the development of botany, there are more than one hundred species of spirai, which are distinguished from each other by the shape and color of inflorescences and leaves, the shape of the bush, the location of the shoots and the flowering time intervals. A variety of species with their original differences, as well as unpretentiousness in cultivation and low requirements for weather conditions and landscape features were the result of the widespread distribution of the royal shrub.
There are certain features of dividing the spirea bush into subgroups, according to which it is customary to distinguish between early flowering and late flowering species. This classification also defines the features of care.
Early flowering spireas are characterized by the appearance of flowers in the spring on last year's branches, in connection with which they are contraindicated annual pruning in order to exclude damage to flower buds. Features of spring-flowering spires provide for the beginning of pruning 10-15 years after planting, which is done in order to rejuvenate the bush. To do this, it is necessary to remove all obsolete branches, which will contribute to the intensification of growth of shoots from buds located at the root neck. The main representatives of early flowering spiraea are: Wangutta and oak-leaved spirea, which are characterized by white coloring of flowers and short, but simultaneous flowering.
Late-flowering spirea are characterized by the appearance of shoots in the summer on the branches of this year. At the same time, inflorescences are grouped on the upper part of the shoots, mainly on their terminal parts, in connection with which pruning of late flowering spirea must be carried out annually at the end of the winter period. It is also worth noting that experienced gardeners recommend pruning a distance of at least 30 cm from the ground when pruning, which is necessary in order to improve branching and accelerate the formation of new large inflorescences. The main representatives of late flowering spirea are Japanese spirea.
Reproduction of spirea. Landing and care
Spirea is characterized by propagation by seeds and vegetatively (by cuttings, offspring, division of the bush). Typically, seed planting is carried out in the spring, when the seeds are planted in boxes with sufficiently moist soil. The emergence of seedlings usually occurs after a week, but this does not mean that they are ready for planting in open ground. Usually seedlings are planted the next year, when they are a little stronger. The optimal period for this is the autumn months, when there is a certain period of time for leaf fall. But some varieties require spring planting.
Spirea planting begins with the selection of the optimal site. It is recommended to give preference to a well-lit area, although spirea quite successfully grow in partial shade. The presence of a minimal fertile layer will exclude the addition of fertilizers, although the abundance of mineral fertilizers and well-drained soil is only welcome. It is preferable to choose soddy soil, the composition of which will be represented by two parts of the earth, one part of sand and one part of peat. The size of the hole into which the landing will be carried out should not exceed the size of the root system by more than 20%. At the same time, the recommended landing depth is 50 centimeters.
Due to the fact that spirea has a shallow root system, drought is quite fatal for it. But, despite the fact that the royal shrub is quite hygrophilous, watering should be carried out in moderation. In the summer, one watering in two weeks is enough at the rate of 12-15 liters per spirea bush. Planting and care also includes systematic weeding and loosening of the soil. A mandatory moment in caring for spirea is to protect the plant from pests, since the ornamental shrub is often attacked by a meadowsweet bud gall midge and a spiraea aphid. In the event of an attack, it is recommended to spray the shrub with metaphos or chlorophos or seed with the indicated chemicals.
Japanese Spirea - the most striking representative of the species
The most prominent representative of late flowering spirae is Japanese spirea, whose natural range is represented by the mountainous areas of China, Japan and Korea.
Japanese Spirea is characterized by high frost resistance, a long flowering period and a variety of subspecies. It is a shrub with directly located red-brown standing branches, freely located in space. Leaves in most cases are ovoid in shape with jagged edges, the color is varied throughout the leaf: below is a bluish tint, above is greenish, and when blooming, a reddish tint can be observed. The color scheme of flowers is in a wide range: from light pink to dark red collected in corymbose inflorescences.
There are many varieties of Japanese spirea, the main representatives of which are: Spirea Little Princess, Shirobana Spiraea, as well as Darts Red Spirea. The famous hybrid of Japanese spirea and white-flowered is considered to be Bumald’s spirea, the cultivation of which is also widespread in landscape design and decorative gardening.
Spiraea in landscape design
As mentioned above, the widespread use of spirea in landscape design is due to its long decorative effect, ease of care and the absence of root shoots, and therefore spiraea is not inherent to inhibit the root system of neighboring plants. That is why spirea is an indispensable decorative plant in the arrangement of a garden plot.
Due to the fact that many species of spirea are characterized by compactness, they can supplement flower beds and flower beds, planting together with bulbous species, annual and perennial plants. One hundred percent combination of spirea with original stones allows us to use shrubs in the design of rocky gardens, architectural and flat rockeries, where spirea will be a good addition to junipers, thuja, small fir trees. At the same time, dwarf varieties of spirae will fit most successfully into the design of the rockery.
The most common way to plant a spirea is to create a hedge or to fill surfaces when a spirea is planted instead of a lawn.
