Features of growing carpenterium in the garden

For those who ennoble their summer cottage or garden and are in search of beautiful perennial plants, we advise you to pay attention to California Carpentery. Green leaves all year round and large fragrant flowers are able to decorate any territory and deliver aesthetic pleasure to any person. Details about planting and carpentry care can be found in our material.

Botanical description

Carpenterium Californian (Latin Carpenteria californica) is an evergreen shrub. His homeland is North America. It is from this area that the plant has spread throughout the world and, thanks to its decorative qualities, has taken pride of place in landscape gardening.

Carpenteria shrub can grow in height up to 3 m. On average, shoots have a height of 1.2-1.80 m. However, there are varieties with a small growth - 70-90 cm. The crown of the plant is cap-shaped.

The leaves of carpenterium narrow, dense, with a glossy shine, dark green color, pubescent below, gray-gray. The length reaches 10 cm, width - 2 cm. In winter, the leaves are usually green, but some may grow brown and fall.

The main decoration of the Carpenterium is its flowers. They are quite large - 8 cm in diameter, consist of five to eight rounded petals in shape. Painted white. In the center of the flower are stamens yellow. Buds exude a pleasant aroma. Flowering occurs in the first half of summer. By the middle of August - in September, when the flowers are fading away, the shrub is bearing fruit - boxes with seeds with a diameter of 0.8-1.2 cm. Plant life span is about 20 years.

Landing spot

Carpenterium is considered not to require special care shrubs, but quite gentle. Therefore, the most important thing in its cultivation is to find the right place when planting.

Lighting and wind protection

Place for planting ornamental flowering shrubs should be well lit and sheltered from winds. The flower is thermophilic, can not stand the shadows and drafts. The best site for growing Carpenterium is protected by the southern or western wall of the building. The plant needs several hours of direct sunlight per day.

Some growers manage to grow low varieties in containers at home. They annually produce formative crown haircut, seeking to maintain a low growth of the bush. For the winter, the houseplant should be placed in a dark and cool place to stimulate its dormant state.

Soil requirements

The flower does not make demands on the soil - it will grow on almost any soil. However, the most decorative becomes in the fertile, light, loose earth.

The main requirement for planting refers not to the composition of the soil, but to the presence of good drainage and the absence of close groundwater. Stagnant moisture plant can not tolerate.

Planting and reproduction

Carpenteria seedlings are best purchased and planted in the spring: so they will have time to fully adapt to new conditions before the onset of cold weather. The best plant for planting - bought in a specialty store in a container. When buying, you need to pay attention to the appearance of the shrub. He should look healthy and strong. The shrub easily tolerates transplantation and is quickly restored.

The multiplication of carpenterium can be done by seed and vegetative (layering, cuttings) methods. Seed propagated very rarely. The simplest and most common method is vegetative.

Cuttings cut in June. To do this, select the strongest and most healthy branches and cut off from the top 10-15 cm. It is necessary that the cutting has two or three buds. For rooting planting material is placed in a mini-greenhouse. For planting, a moist and nutritious substrate is prepared, cuttings are deepened into it and covered with a film. Periodically, the substrate will need to be moistened, and the cuttings ventilated. Mini-greenhouses are kept in a shaded place. Young plants should take root in the fall, and then they can be transplanted into the open ground to a permanent place.

Reproduction by layings produced in the spring. Young lower branches of a shrub are bent down to the ground and strengthened with pegs or they are added dropwise, pressed down with stone or brick. The top should be above the ground. The place where the shoots come into contact with the soil is periodically watered. In the spring, the cuttings are separated from the mother plant. Then they are planted in open ground in a permanent place.

How to care for a plant

Watering for Carpenterium is not a mandatory care event. They can be made occasionally, on very dry days and with a long absence of precipitation.

Do not need shrubs and dressing - they can be made only at the request of the owner, and if the plant is planted in poor land. Complex fertilizers for ornamental plants in the spring and summer periods are suitable for feeding. The optimal frequency of application is once a month. Since the shrub does not tolerate winter temperatures down to -15 ° C, he needs to build a shelter for the winter.

In the spring, the plant will need to be cut off - to remove dry, frozen, old branches from it. In autumn, after flowering, too long branches are cut out to give a crown a neat and well-groomed shape. Formative haircut is produced by cutting off the shoots by one third. This haircut can be combined with cutting.

Possible difficulties

Since, fortunately, the owners of Carpenteria, it is not affected by diseases or pest attacks, the only serious difficulty that can be encountered during cultivation is the freezing of shoots and foliage, because the flower can freeze even when the air temperature is -5 ° C, and at -15 ° C dies. To prevent this from happening, you need to fulfill the requirement for providing winter shelter. It can be done with the help of fir branches, lutrasil or roofing felt. The root zone should be mulched 20-cm layer of peat, humus or soil. Cover the shrubs need in November.

Also in some specialized horticultural stores, houses and huts for wintering non-frost-resistant plants are sold. You can take on yourself and this simple option.

There is one more way to help Carpenteria to survive the winter - transplant it into a container and place it in an unheated room for the winter.

Difficulties may also arise when the wrong area for landing. If the plant does not grow well, its foliage is faded, and the flowering is small and not abundant, then most likely the place is not bright enough for it. Carpenteria is an original fragrant plant, worthy of being used everywhere to decorate parks, country areas, flowerbeds. It is suitable for planting as a tapeworm, also looks great in a small group composition, is one of the best plants for a white garden. The flower is successfully used for planting in hedges, mixed flower beds.

It is great for decorating terraces, vertical gardening, as a wall shrub from the south and west. The shrub looks especially impressive in autumn, greening beautiful foliage against the background of the already yellowed and browned other plants.Some also use carpenterium for cutting, but be aware that it does not live in water for a long time.