Evergreen trees are perfect for garden landscapes, because they do not change color throughout the year, provide shade and privacy, soften the landscape of the garden. They are hardy and look great with free-standing trees, as well as in the form of hedges and in the vicinity of other plants and shrubs. You will learn from the article how to grow spruce, how to grow it correctly and how to care for a tree.

Growing spruce at home

Spruce is a familiar tree for most of Russia. All over the world, this tree is loved as a model for creating a landscape. The dense structure of the branches and tolerance to soil changes made it a popular tree for gardens, gardens, malls and parks. Young trees, especially when grown outdoors, have a beautiful conical shape with wide branches near the ground, gradually tapering to the top point, with shorter branches at the top (crown).

However, this form varies with growing conditions, such as space, soil, and light. The future evergreen should be purchased in special nurseries or from professional gardeners.

When choosing a seedling, you need to pay attention to such signs of a healthy plant:

• branches are flexible, so the plant is not overdried;
• needles do not crumble;
• strong coniferous aroma when rubbing the needles indicates normal development processes;
• new growth resembles spruce twigs and needles, painted in light green;
• the soil at the root layer is well spilled and the roots are not dry.

Spruce is sold in the form of seedlings up to 15-60 cm tall in special shipping containers filled with soil-peat mixture. This type of soil dries quickly, which can be detrimental to the seedling, since evergreen conifers are sensitive to overdrying of the root system.

If it is not possible to plant a fir tree directly in the garden, then it is advisable to transplant the newly acquired Christmas tree into a larger container, since in small containers the soil also dries out very quickly, and there are not enough useful minerals there. Under favorable conditions, a young Christmas tree can be planted directly on the site.

Did you know? In the wild, spruce can survive for several thousand years. Such a tree grows in Sweden, has its own name Old Tjikko, has an age of 9550 years and is considered the oldest tree on the planet.

Choose a place in the garden that mimics the natural conditions of growing - spruce prefer cool, moist areas that are well lit by the sun. Avoid places where stagnant water accumulates and there is rocky soil under the topsoil. It is better to land her in a place protected from the wind and drafts, for example, under the cover of house buildings. A tree needs bright, but not direct lighting, but it will also tolerate light shading.Lack of light can lead to yellowing and shedding of needles, which is difficult to recover. Under sunlight, the plant forms a dense and brightly colored crown. In order to develop well, coniferous plants require careful care, which consists in choosing a place and time for planting, preparing a suitable soil mixture in composition, timely watering and providing fertilizing.

Soil preparation

Soil for spruce should be prepared from a mixture of sheet, coniferous earth and coarse sand. Conifers love the slightly acidic reaction of the soil. This can be ensured by adding an upper layer of forest soil to the planting pit from the place where spruce grows (decomposed needles will give the desired acidity). When planting, garden soil and forest soil are loosened and mixed - so it is easier for the plant to bear the stress of the transplant.

How to plant

When planting a spruce seedling near the house, you should adhere to the following instructions:

1. The best time for planting is late autumn or winter, when the plant is at rest.
2. Dig a planting pit 60 × 90 cm and to a depth sufficient to place the roots so that after planting the tree trunk is in the ground at the same height as in the container.
3. Fir trees require well-drained soil, so the planting site should be dug up and well loosened, and a drainage layer of stones, broken brick or pebbles should be laid in a landing pit with a layer of 10–20 cm.
4. Before planting, you need to soak the root layer, and carefully soil the soil in the dug hole.
5. Set the tree in the center of the dug hole, spread the roots and cover it with earth, periodically compacting the soil to remove air pockets.
6. Water the tree well after planting.
7. The distance between trees in case of planting in groups should be 4-6 m.

Watering

Abundantly water newly planted trees to ensure quick engraftment. During the first year, with the exception of periods when there is enough rainfall, continue to water the spruce tree every week so that the roots are always moist. In the future (on the 2nd – 3rd year after planting), watering is carried out only if the soil dries to a depth of 3–6 cm. Mature trees are watered only for extended periods of drought.

Top dressing

During the growing season, feed the spruce with soluble or slowly released fertilizers for conifers. This will replenish the soil with nutrients. Soluble types of fertilizer should be mixed with water in the ratio for dilution proposed according to the instructions - a too concentrated solution can cause irreparable damage to the roots and shoots of spruce, and a weak consistency will reduce the desired effect and prevent the plant from developing in full force.

Important! Do not feed in the winter when the plants are resting.

Excess fertilizer often leads to overgrowth of shoots, the tree develops unevenly, thinned areas appear in the crown, and thereby the plant loses its decorative appeal. Fertilize new or recently transplanted plants once every 4-6 months with soluble fertilizers that are more suitable for starting fertilizing freshly planted crops.

This allows the spruce to gain quick access to the entire volume of the constituent elements. In the future, it is enough to fertilize once every 3-4 months with slowly released fertilizers. Such top dressing will supply the spruce with the necessary nutrients as necessary and are ideal for plants with a long growing season. In the spring, you can use growth stimulants for spraying.

Video: fertilizers for conifers

Pruning

Many varieties of spruce initially have decorative regular shapes and crown density. Easy correction and sanitary pruning of evergreen spruce is carried out once a season in the fall in cool weather. This removes the diseased and dry branches, as well as pruning the tips of the shoots of a young coniferous tree, which are extended and extruded from the common habitual shape of the pyramid.When the spruce reaches a height of more than 1.5 m, you can cut the lowest branches at the same level with the trunk using a cutting saw. Slices and saw cuts on conifers can not be glossed over with garden varieties, since the released resin is a natural protection against the penetration of infections.

Features of growing Canadian spruce at home

The Canadian wild-growing gray spruce of a fir has a decorative hybrid - Konik's fir-tree which is suitable for cultivation at home in containers or in small gardens. These spruces are very compact in shape, because of the thick needles the trunk is not visible, the needles are short and densely located on the branches. The annual growth in height of Canadian spruce is 6-10 cm, the crown increases in width by 3-5 cm. Such a small increase is considered a virtue, not a disadvantage, since it allows you to create compact compositions on alpine hills and flower beds.

Important! Until the age of two, Canadian spruce can in no case be pruned.

The height of Canadian spruce at the age of twenty is only 1.5 m, and a five-year-old seedling barely reaches 20 cm. This type of spruce is simply an ideal solution for personal household plots, because this tree grows slowly, does not need pruning and is very resistant to the cold climate typical of Russian latitudes. Due to its small growth, it needs less nutrients and enough moisture from past rains or moderate watering.These miniature Christmas trees look good not only in gardens, but they can decorate glazed loggias and balconies, terraces and verandas, and some grow this tree in a pot to decorate it for the New Year. Living beautiful fir-tree is much more aesthetic and humane than the annual purchase of a tree cut for only 2 weeks. If you grow this decorative tree at home, then to ensure small growth, it is advisable to remove the arising “candles” and buds in a timely manner, then it will be possible to maintain the minimum size of the spruce for a long time.

Did you know? The Wright brothers used spruce wood to make their first airplane, called the Flyer, and the Stradivarius for their violins.

If you want to buy and dress a container tree for the New Year holidays, then choose the Canadian variety according to the following rules:

1. Do not take a plant decorated with aerosol preparations of artificial snow - the needles cannot breathe under such a layer, so the seedling will die anyway.
2. The tree should not stagger inside the tank. If so, then he was recently transplanted, and the spruce painfully transplanted, and some of the roots could be damaged during this procedure.
3. The volume of the container must match the size of the crown. If it is small, then part of the roots were removed from the tree during transplantation, and for normal development in the future, the plant needs a powerful root system.
4. The soil in the container should be moist and entangled with roots, this indicates that the plant grew in this capacity, and about the good quality of the seedling.
5. At the ends of the branches there are no young shoots and "candles." Their presence indicates that the tree was awakened in time, and it will begin to hurt.
6. A healthy Christmas tree has a dense light green needles, a trunk bare without thinning and a dense clump of roots emerging from drainage holes.

You can subsequently transplant such a plant to a personal plot. If there is enough space on the site and you want to add greens and coniferous aroma, then the spruce is perfect and fits well into the surroundings.In winter, when the rest of the landscape is gray or covered with snow, the appearance of evergreen needles will please the eye, and the family will be able to decorate the garden beauty for New Year and Christmas. Observing all the recommendations for growing, you will get a beautiful and decorative tree to decorate your garden.

Video: how to plant Canadian spruce