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You can enjoy the coniferous smell that the cypress aroma exudes, and you can admire the bluish gleam of the crown not only in the park, on the personal plot, but also at home. This coniferous tree is a little more capricious than other cypress trees. But there are no difficulties in creating conditions for successful growth not only in nature, but also at home. You just need to know about its requirements.
Description of the cypress tree
The cypress (Chamaecyparis Thyoides) belongs to the Cypress family. Outwardly, it looks like a cypress tree, but has short and flat branches. Tuyuyu cypress resembles its conical shape. This evergreen coniferous tree, native to North America, reaches 20-25 m in its natural environment. In Europe, its dwarf species are more often grown.
The description of the cypress arborvitae can be almost completely attributed to any cypress tree, but it has its own characteristics:
- the crown is dense and lush with needle-like leaves on young branches and scaly on old ones;
- the needles change color depending on the season and age;
- the bark is thick, reddish-brown, with scaly stripes in an adult tree;
- cones are numerous, small from 4 to 9 mm in diameter, sometimes irregular in shape, bluish-blue, when ripe they turn red-brown, ripen by autumn and release from 5 to 15 small seeds;
- flowers are small, females are green and grow on short branches, males - at the tips of the shoots, have a red or yellowish color, bloom in April-March;
- the roots have a branched system with many small hairs and are horizontal in the ground;
- the shrub grows from 1 to 8 cm per year.
The cypress is considered more winter-hardy than cypress, but less drought-resistant. Therefore, in the heat, it needs to be watered abundantly, and the place for planting should be selected for penumbra. In warm climates, this culture is grown in the open field, in the Northern regions - as an indoor culture.
For cypress thuose, acidic or neutral soil with sufficient moisture content is better. It grows well on peaty or sandy soils, but does not thrive on loamy and clayey soils.
Plant varieties
As a culture, the cypress is known for about 300 years and is widely used for landscaping on the American continent. In Europe and on the territory of Russia, only a few of its garden forms are known.
Top Point cypress
The Top Point cypress is a dwarf form of the Dutch white cedar. Reaches a height of 1.5 m and a width of 0.5 m. The crown is conical with soft bluish-green needles. Grows well in sunny areas and tolerates urban pollution. The Top Point cypress needs annual feeding and sanitary pruning. Grows well in containers, can be used for decorative plantings as a background, to create bonsai.
Thuate cypress Red Star
Another name for this species is Rubicon. A dwarf form, but can reach 2.5 m in height with a crown width of 0.7-0.8 m. The trunk is straight and even, the stems grow upward along the trunk and branch strongly. The needles have a dark green color with a bluish tint, which turns into purple-violet in autumn. The winter hardiness of the red star cypress allows it to be grown in regions with severe frosts. The tree lives up to 300 years.Grown for the creation of hedges, design of park paths.
Erikoides cypress
The dwarf form Erikoides with a height of 1.5 m and a wide crown of 2.0-2.5 m in diameter was bred in France about 150 years ago. It grows very slowly up to 1.2 cm per year. Stems are slightly branched, dense, growing to the sides. Has a regular oval or spherical shape. Changes the color of the needles:
- young ones are blue-green with an ash glow;
- adults - with a violet-brownish tint.
The erikoides cypress, as seen in the photo, has a decorative look and looks appropriate on walking park alleys, an alpine slide, a Japanese garden, on the shore of a reservoir.
Planting and leaving
The planting of the cypress tree in open ground is carried out in the spring in April, when the earth warms up well. The planting process has the following algorithm:
- It is advisable to prepare the landing site in the fall. To do this, you need to dig a hole, put a drainage about 20 cm thick on the bottom and fill it halfway with a fertile mixture of humus, peat, sand and earth.
- Before planting a seedling, you need to water the soil in the prepared hole. Put it in the center of the hole and cover it with earth, tamp it a little and water it again.
- In a few days, the earth around the cypress tree will settle. Therefore, you need to add enough of it to level with the rest of the surface.
- Mulch the trunk circle and tie the trunk to the support.
In order to prevent the destruction of the roots by the nematode, when planting, the roots should be treated with the Vidat-L solution.
The cypress is a winter-hardy plant, but in severe frosts it requires shelter, especially young bushes in the first 3-4 years. In room conditions, the optimal temperature for him is from +180From to +230C. Care must be taken that he is in the sun for several hours a day.
The cypress tree, like other plants, needs timely watering, feeding, loosening and mulching. In the spring, you need to carry out sanitary pruning, removing yellowed leaves and dry branches.
Reproduction
For garden propagation of cypress thuose, you can use 1 of 3 ways:
- Seeds. In autumn, sow seeds in a box filled with light soil. Put the box in the garden and bury it in the snow. In spring, bring to a warm room. The seedlings need to be watered regularly and, when the heat comes, they should be taken out in direct sunlight for several hours.
- Cuttings. In the spring, you need to cut the cuttings from the young lateral stems of the cypress. Remove the needles from the lower part and plant in a container with soil mixture. Cover with plastic and keep warm. In a month and a half, the cuttings will give roots. If the cuttings harden slowly, then they need to be kept at home during the winter.
- Layers. The species of cypress are propagated with a low and creeping arrangement of stems. Choose the lowest stem. An incision is made on it and fixed in the ground with a cut down, sprinkled with soil. After the cuttings have taken root in the soil, they are cut off from the mother bush.
Diseases and pests
The cypress tree, like all conifers, is vulnerable to fungal diseases. He needs periodic preventive treatment with copper oxychloride fungicides.
The shrub is susceptible to attack by such pests as scale insects, spruce aphids, spider mites. The scale insects suck out the sap of the plant, which is why the cypress dries up completely. It is necessary to destroy insects in time with the help of appropriate insecticides.
It is necessary to ensure that the soil is not dry and at the same time avoid waterlogging in order to avoid root rot disease.
Conclusion
The cypress arborvitae makes gardeners only small requirements for its care. He needs to choose the right site, taking into account the composition of the soil and lighting, water it on time, prune it and carry out prophylaxis against pests. In response, the shrub will adorn the place where it was planted for many years.
