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Ornamental almonds captivate everyone who has seen the flowering of its bushes - fragrant pink clouds with its extraordinary picturesqueness. It is not difficult to plant and grow a beautiful plant in the climate of the middle lane. Caring for ornamental almonds includes watering, feeding, and regular pruning.
Description of ornamental almond bush
This ornamental culture is more often found in the form of medium-sized bushes. Sometimes almonds are formed on a trunk or in the form of a low tree. In Russia, low and three-lobed almonds are usually grown. The grayish-red trunks of the deciduous plant rise from 1 to 1.5 m or up to 2.5-3 m in different species. The bush forms straight, slightly fanning out shoots in all directions, forming a spherical-oval silhouette. After the third year of development, the plant lets out root suckers, which are later replaced by the first, obsolete after 7 years of growth, shoots. Ornamental almonds have brittle roots.
Leaves do not bloom equally in all species. They also differ in size - 4-8 cm long, 1.5-3 cm wide. Steppe almond, or low, provides an opportunity to admire its flowering against the background of young leaves. In most other species, leaf buds open after the flowering period. The lanceolate leaf blades of the culture are leathery, dark green in color, with a graceful serrate pattern of the edges.
Ornamental species delight with early spring flowering 4-5 years after planting. Depending on the variety, simple and terry corollas are incredibly picturesque. In many species, the petals are rounded, although there are also elongated ones, usually of different shades of pink or white. Numerous graceful stamens of decorative almonds, as seen in the photo, create the image of a fragile and delicate flower. Corolla diameter is from 1 to 2.5-3 cm. The buds open very densely along the entire length of the shoot, especially its upper part. The flower show lasts from one to three weeks.
Use in landscape design
The ability of ornamental crops to withstand low temperatures allowed gardeners, lovers of beauty, to grow them not only in the south of the country, but in the middle climatic zone and even in Siberia. Species are planted that can recover after freezing:
- steppe;
- Ledebour;
- Georgian;
- three-bladed.
The culture is suitable for creating decorative hedges, very effective in the spring, and as a bright tapeworm in the garden. Beautiful flowering bushes act as an element for the alpine slides against the background of large coniferous groups. In autumn and winter, the shrub also has peculiar decorations - fleecy fruits.
Popular varieties of ornamental almonds
Each of the decorative forms has separate varieties. Steppe almonds, or legumes, are represented by white-flowered and pink-flowered shrubs, which are highly decorative for 7-8 days.
The intermediary is a frost-resistant variety, created by I. V. Michurin, a 2-3-meter tree with pale pink flowers.
The Pink Mist has corollas up to 2.5 cm in diameter of a rich shade.
Flowers of Pink Flamingos up to 1 cm, but lush, double.
The Anyuta variety blooms with bright pink.
The White Sail has small white flowers, but very abundant.
Gessler's form is represented by a low-growing shrub with bright and saturated petals.
The type of almond Ledebour, from the foothills of Altai, is famous for the Fire Hill variety with red-pink petals, its corollas are up to 3 cm. The shrub is decorative for 14-20 days. Shoots grow up to 1.2-2 m in height, the crown is compact - 0.8-1 m.
A tall, up to 3-5 m, three-bladed almond, a plant originating from China, has recently been given a different name - three-bladed luiseania. Its shoots with gray bark create a spreading crown with three-lobed leaves. It blooms in large, up to 3-3.5 cm thick double or simple corollas of rich pink and crimson color. The species has many varieties.
Tanyusha amazes with dense twisted petals.
By the end of flowering, the shade of the Snega Uimura variety turns from pink to cream.
The rich color of the petals of the decorative variety Ladislav approaches crimson.
Planting and caring for decorative almonds
The gardens are decorated with both the usual steppe ornamental almonds with edible nuts, as well as the more picturesque Louiseania. The culture is resistant to urban conditions, very colorful in the spring. Bushes quickly rise and grow.
Preparation of the planting site and material
The natural habitat of almonds is calcareous and stony soils, sandy loam, light loams, with an acidity index of pH 5-7.5, open sun areas. It is advisable to reproduce similar conditions on the site, placing the tree from the south, under reliable protection from the north winds:
- light partial shade is allowed, no more than 120-150 minutes during the day;
- deep bedding of groundwater;
- for planting substrate prepare in a ratio of 3: 2: 1 garden soil, humus or compost, sand;
- 300-400 g of dolomite flour or slaked lime are added to the mixture;
- holes in a group planting are dug every 1-2.5 m.
Before planting, seedlings with an open root system are placed in a mixture of water and clay for several hours to restore moisture.
Planting decorative almonds
The shrub is planted in the evening, morning or afternoon in cloudy weather:
- pit depth 30-40 cm, the same diameter;
- a 10 cm drainage layer is laid;
- an almond seedling is placed on the nutrient substrate, making sure that the root collar is located above the surface level;
- hammer in a low support for the barrel;
- sprinkle with soil, compact, pour 10-15 liters of water and mulch the trunk circle.
Watering and feeding
The shrub is drought-resistant, but when watering, especially before budding and during flowering, it will look much more decorative. With sufficient moisture, almond petals will retain their original color longer. Water 10-20 liters under a bush every 7-10 days, focusing on weather conditions. The dried soil is loosened, removed weeds.
In early spring, preserving natural moisture, the ornamental shrub is mulched with nutritious materials:
- compost;
- humus;
- low-lying peat.
In April-May, before flowering, dilute in 10 liters of water:
- 1 liter of mullein, 25 g of carbamide;
- 40 g of ammonium nitrate and water the bush.
Top dressing with 30 g of superphosphate in a bucket of water in the middle of summer will make it possible for almond wood to ripen well and form future flower buds. In the fall, the site is dug up with fertilizers: 20 g of double superphosphate and potassium sulfate per 1 sq. m.
Trimming and shaping
In almond seedlings, the ends of the shoots are cut off by 20 cm. On the central conductor, future skeletal branches are determined, which grow with an interval of 20-30 cm. The formation of the almond trunk lasts the first 3 years. The species Luiseania is usually grown on boles.
An adult ornamental almond bush is pruned and beautifully formed into a crown in 3 or even 4 stages annually:
- In early spring, branches affected by the elements and those that thicken the crown are removed.
- After the flower parade, the shoots are cut, which blossomed violently. The procedure helps the wood to mature and form new branches.
- At the same time, the ornamental almond bush is given the desired silhouette. A stem up to 60-70 cm is formed, 6-7 branches are left on the conductor trunk.
- In summer, almond shoots that go beyond the form are pinched, stopping their growth. Planned branches are also pruned if they grow longer than 60 cm.
Preparing for winter
Correctly pruning and pinching the tops of ornamental almonds in summer is the best way to prepare your plant for cold temperatures. Due to stopping growth, wood accumulates and matures, which will not be so afraid of frosts. A thick layer of mulch made of straw, dry leaves, and plant debris is arranged around 1-3-year-old shrubs. Cover up to half the height of the trunk. Additionally, you can put the snow that has fallen, which is quickly removed with the first warm days. Adult ornamental almond bushes usually hibernate without shelter.
Reproduction
The method of propagation of decorative almonds depends on its shape. Species plants are sown with seeds, and varietal plants are sown only by cuttings, layering, shoots or grafting. Amateurs often grow their own rootstocks from seeds, and then take out cuttings of the variety they like for engraftment. Almond seed fruits are sown in the fall in the school. In the spring they sprout. On rising shoots 1 cm thick from below, up to 10 cm in height, all branches are removed on the ring. Plants are transplanted in the fall. Next year they can already serve as stock. Almonds are planted in spring and August.
Easy ways to propagate ornamental almonds are layering and growth. Root suckers grow after heavy pruning. They are dug up in the fall a year later, when a separate root system is formed. The lower branches of varietal decorative almonds are added dropwise in the spring, leaving the top. The shoots are transplanted in the fall, after a year.
Ornamental almond cuttings are cut after June 15 from semi-lignified tops. The length of the segments is up to 20 cm, each should have 2 knots. Cuttings with a lower cut are placed in a growth stimulator according to the instructions, then they are planted in a light substrate of peat and sand so that 1 node remains above the surface. Sections of almond twigs take root in a month, in the fall they are transplanted into a school, carefully mulched and covered.
Diseases and pests
Leaves and shoots of an ornamental shrub are susceptible to fungal diseases:
- gray rot;
- rust;
- moniliosis;
- scab;
- clotterosporium disease.
In the presence of symptoms of the disease - brown spots and dots on the leaves, the dying off of the tops, almond bushes are treated with fungicides:
- Cuproxat;
- Fundazol;
- Speed;
- Topaz.
Harm the leaves and fruits of ornamental shrubs:
- almond seed-eater;
- leaf roll;
- aphid;
- spider mite.
Acaricides are used against the latter pests:
- Agravertine;
- Akarin;
- Kleschevite.
Insects are fought with effective insecticides:
- Zolon;
- Fufanon;
- Calypso and others.
Conclusion
The colorful almonds are decorative, drought-resistant and winter-hardy, showing the full range of their colorful effect with regular pruning, watering and feeding. The shrub is durable, it can grow up to 100 years in one place. Having planted a cute plant on the estate, you can decorate it for years to come.
