Growing juniper "Strict": description, planting, care

In the wild, more than six dozen species of juniper are known - tree-like or shrubby coniferous plants of the cypress family. In addition, breeders brought the number of ornamental species of juniper to 150. All of them are distinguished by a variety of greenery, their characteristic small scaly needles and a variety of forms - from creeping to columnar. At the same time, in most cases, these plants are resistant to droughts, frosts and grow on any soil. And yet, in addition to external aesthetics, they have healing properties. Among junipers, the Chinese variety occupies a worthy place. "Stricta", the landing of which, by the way, and with simple care, can be taken by all lovers of natural grace.

Juniper "Stricta": description of the variety

By the age of ten, the Chinese juniper Stricta grows to a two-meter height. This ratio of growth with age allows specialists to consider "Strict" a juniper, in the description of which the term "slow-growing" is appropriate. In addition, "Strict" is described as a thick, conical-shaped bush with upright, straight and thin shoots that does not require special care conditions. In diameter, the bush reaches one and a half meters with a maximum height of 2.5 m. Prickly, but soft to the touch, the needles have a green-blue color. "Stricta" brings a harvest of waxed dark blue pine cones, enhancing the decorative effect of the plant. In addition to China, Korea, Mongolia and Japan are considered to be the homeland of the Strict, in addition to China. The rich oriental charm of juniper is able to last more than one human generation, because the plant's age is estimated at 100 years.

Planting rules of juniper "Strict"

Before you start planting a Chinese juniper called "Strict", it is advisable to get a certain guarantee of its future viability. For example, to get a good confidence in the successful cultivation of a plant, you can buy in a specialty store a young bush grown directly in a box (container) with closed roots.

Choosing a place to plant shrubs

Juniper "Strict" especially well grows in the open sun, so the choice of a place for its landing should be made taking into account this circumstance. It will also be possible to avoid oppressive external influences if the place determined for the juniper is far from climbers. The best periods for planting a juniper "Strict" are considered April-May or the very beginning of autumn.

Soil for planting

No matter how you start planting a Strict juniper, given its unpretentiousness to sandy, limey or loamy soil, it’s still better to take care of its most optimal composition.

There are two options here:

• turf, sand and peat in a ratio of 1: 1: 2;
• sand, peat, coniferous land in a ratio of 1: 1: 1.

Having chosen and having realized one of the offered ways of mixing of soil, you should not be limited to it. In order to put a decent point in the soil preparation, immediately after planting, mulch the ground around the new bush, using cones, chips, shavings or pine bark, depending on the possibilities.

The scheme of planting juniper "Streakt"

Dug for the juniper bush "Strict" pit, before you put it there, you need to fill two bayonet spade with the prepared soil mixture. Domestic soil fits on a substantial, twenty-centimeter drainage from crushed bricks or very coarse sand. Determining the overall size of the pit, it is necessary to focus on the size of the bush. Standard are the same, 0.7 m each, depth and width. When planting, the root collar should be raised 5-10 cm above the edge of the pit so that it is at the desired level after the subsidence of the soil. When planting several bushes between them, you need to keep at least a meter distance, otherwise the roots will not get enough freedom to grow.

Features of the cultivation of Chinese juniper "Stricta"

Watering and feeding

The first watering of new bushes is made immediately after planting.

In the future, the juniper "Strict" in the process of growing is watered downward:

• abundant fluid in the first days and weeks;
• 4 watering for the 4-month season.

Weeding should be followed by weeding and loosening the soil. Despite the good tolerability of the juniper Strickt, as well as its numerous relatives, the hot season, to take care of it, using the weekly sprinkling of the crown with water in a particularly dry period, is still needed. In contrast to watering, fertilizing in the process of caring for a plant will be only an episode - every season in early summer you need to fertilize the soil with a nitroammophotic (30-40 g per 1 m²).

How to trim Chinese juniper

Juniper "Strict" well tolerated and targeted pruning, and produced in the process of comprehensive care for him. In this regard, in addition to the natural removal of dry and diseased shoots, it is possible to produce shaping to give the bush the most spectacular aesthetic appearance.

How to save a plant in winter

"Stricta" is a winter-hardy variety. But a young plant can not withstand a strong decrease in temperature. Therefore, in the first two years for a juniper, it is desirable to make shelter for the winter. You should not wrestle with what the juniper itself can cover for the winter - this is not necessary, but it is worth creating a warming layer made of peat, chips or sawdust on the adjacent land, and the circle right next to the trunk should be covered with fir or pine paws.

Reproduction of Chinese juniper "Stricta"

Reproduction by cuttings

The donor for the new bushes of the juniper "Streakt" is best served by an 8-10-year-old plant. Cuttings from it are cut in April-May along with a piece of wood. The length of the cutting should be 12 cm, and the 5-centimeter lower end is cleared of needles and lowered into the growth stimulator solution for 24 hours. For rooting is used sand and peat mixture and a dark place under the film. For good root development, it takes 1.5 months. In open ground seedlings are placed in early July.In winter, they are protected from hypothermia by a spruce twig. Grown bushes are transplanted to a permanent place no earlier than two years later.

Growing juniper "Stricta" from seeds

Gardeners who are not afraid of painstaking, unhurried (the first shoots will be no sooner than a year), can be quite difficult work, can succeed by growing Chinese juniper "Stricta" from seeds. In the autumn they are stratified and sown in a container with the ground. Then follows a period of natural stratification: boxes with seeds are left outdoors for the entire winter period (up to 150 days). The result is sowing in open ground in May.

The main pests and diseases of the Chinese juniper "Stricta"

The main danger for the Chinese juniper "Strict" is represented by the juniper shchitovka, spider mite and aphid. The latter often moves to a juniper from garden roses. Processing plants with insecticides should be made on the detection of pests. At the same time, it is necessary to process nearby trees and shrubs.

Juniper "Strict" is ill, mainly fungal diseases:

The main advantage of the Chinese juniper "Strict" is its ability to decorate any living landscape, so its cultivation is most often engaged in those who understand the aesthetics of rock gardens, stone and heather gardens and compositions. But also by his lonely beauty, and in a simpler environment, he is able to delight the eyes of his masters and their guests.