Japanese spirea Albiflora: description, planting and care, photo

Content

1 Description of the Japanese spirea Albiflora
2 Spirea Albiflora in landscape design
3 Planting and caring for the Japanese spirea Albiflora
4 Reproduction
5 Diseases and pests
6 Conclusion

Spirea Japanese Albiflora (also spiraea Bumald "Belotsvetkovaya") is a popular dwarf ornamental shrub in Russia, unpretentious in care and resistant to low temperatures. This variety is distinguished by high decorative qualities - it retains an attractive appearance even after flowering, until late autumn, when the light green color of the leaves is replaced by a rich orange.

Description of the Japanese spirea Albiflora

It is a small deciduous shrub, about 80 cm tall. The diameter of the bush is on average 1.5 m, the crown is spreading, dense. Young shoots of this variety are slightly pubescent.

Spirea Japanese Albiflora grows slowly. The annual growth is only 10 cm.

The shape of the leaves is elongated, ovoid. The edges are slightly serrated. The length of the leaf plate reaches 7 cm. The foliage is painted in gentle green tones, however, in September the leaves turn yellow and gradually acquire a bright orange color.

The description indicates that the flowers of the spirea of the Japanese variety Albiflora are small, as can be seen in the photo below, and they are collected in dense corymbose inflorescences, the diameter of which does not exceed 6-7 cm.The color of the petals is white.

One of the leading characteristics of the variety is the abundant flowering that lasts from July to August.

Spirea Albiflora in landscape design

The Japanese Spirea variety Albiflora is highly valued in landscape design for its resistance to air pollution, which makes it possible to use the shrub as a decoration for city parks, medical institutions and playgrounds. Plants are planted both singly and as part of group flower arrangements: rock gardens, borders, flower beds.

Advice! The combination of albiflora spirea with coniferous shrubs, lavender, barberry and St. John's wort looks spectacular, and the creation of a curtain of spiraea of different varieties will extend the flowering of the group until September.

This variety can also be used as a ground cover crop for decorating slopes. In addition, the Japanese spirea Albiflora is often included in multilayer compositions, where the shrub is combined with trees and shrubs weaving along the supports.

The photo below shows a homogeneous composition from the bushes of the Japanese spirea of the Albiflora variety.

Planting and caring for the Japanese spirea Albiflora

This variety is not capricious and grows well both in open sunny areas and in partial shade. The shrub does not impose special requirements on the composition of the soil, however, when planted in loose fertile soils, the flowering of the spirea will be more abundant.

Advice! Best of all, the Japanese spirea Albiflora feels on well-drained sandy loam and loamy soils.

Plant care includes the most basic procedures: sanitary and formative pruning, watering and feeding. The shrub is one of the most frost-resistant varieties, so adult plants do not need shelter for the winter. Albiflora does not tolerate the drought of spirea well, therefore it is important to ensure that the soil in the near-stem circle of the plant does not dry out.

Preparation of planting material and site

Before planting a plant in a permanent place, it is necessary to carefully inspect the planting material for mechanical damage. There should be no breaks or cuts on the seedlings - through these damage, the spirea can be infected with the fungus.

In addition, it is recommended to slightly cut the roots of the plant if some of them are very out of the general mass. Only a sharp instrument can be used for this. When trimming with blunt scissors or a knife, there is a high risk that creases will remain at the cut. This greatly affects the survival rate of the plant in the open field.

If desired, you can also shorten the shoots of the seedling in order to correct its shape, but pruning should be moderate. The branches are cut only by 20-25%, not more.

The garden plot before planting the spirea should be carefully dug up 10-15 days before. In this case, organic fertilizers are applied in moderation to the soil.

Planting spirea Japanese Albiflora

The Albiflora variety is planted in the fall, before leaf fall ends. The landing algorithm is as follows:

Before planting in open ground, planting material is watered abundantly if it was previously in containers.
The recommended size of the planting pit is 40-50 cm deep and 50 cm in diameter. In many ways, one should be guided by the size of the root system of the seedling - the roots should be freely located in the hole.
If the soil on the site is heavy and clayey, a drainage layer of fragments of bricks, small stones or fragments of clay shards is placed on the bottom of the pit.
After that, the pit is filled with soil mixture, which is usually made independently. To do this, it is necessary to mix in equal proportions peat, fine-grained sand and the topsoil from the site.
For better growth of the spirea, you can add a complex fertilizer to the pit (about 5 g per 1 kg of the mixture).
The seedling is carefully lowered into the hole and the roots of the plant are spread.
The pit is covered with earth and the trunk circle is slightly tamped.
Planting ends with abundant watering, loosening the soil near the plant and mulching. This is done so that the soil retains moisture better after rains and watering. Sawdust, dry grass, tree bark, or wood chips can be used as mulch.

Important! The best survival rate can be achieved by treating the roots of the seedling with growth stimulants, such as Radifarm or Kornevin. Do this just before burying.

In addition, you can learn about the features of planting spirea of the Japanese variety Albiflora from the video below:

Watering and feeding

Spirea Japanese Albiflora responds well to regular watering. This is especially true of young plants, since their roots have not yet had time to develop sufficiently and are not able to provide the shrub with the necessary amount of moisture from the lower layers of the soil. An adult spirea is watered about 1 time per week.

In spring, plantings are fed with nitrogen fertilizers for a better green mass gain or with complex mineral fertilizers for horticultural crops. In autumn, potassium and phosphorus are added to the soil.

Pruning

Abundant flowering of spirea is provided by annual pruning. The procedure involves the moderate shortening of healthy shoots and the removal of dried out branches. Pruning old shoots stimulates the formation of young shoots. It is recommended to remove about ¼ of the old branches annually.

You can prune shrubs in both spring and autumn. After pruning, the planting is abundantly fertilized with a manure solution in a ratio of 1: 6. Pour the mixture directly under the roots. After that, you can fertilize them with a superphosphate solution. The optimal dosage is approximately 8 g per 10 liters of water.

Preparing for winter

Despite the fact that the Japanese spirea Albiflora is a cold-resistant variety, it is better to cover young seedlings for the winter, especially in regions with a cold climate. Prepare them like this:

Before the onset of the first frost, the trunk circle is loosened and hilled, forming a hill about 15-20 cm high in the center.
The bushes are mulched with peat or compost.
The branches are tied and bent to the ground, laying them on leaves or burlap.
After that, the shoots are fixed on the ground with metal brackets and covered with insulating material.

Reproduction

Spirea Japanese varieties Albiflora can be propagated both vegetatively and by seeds, but the first method is still preferable. Seed propagation is time consuming.

Vegetative methods include cuttings and layering.

Cuttings are prepared according to the following scheme:

Semi-lignified branches of the current year are selected on the bush and cut closer to the ground.
The resulting cut is still divided, as a result of which cuttings should be about 10 cm long each. For reproduction, you can use both extreme cuttings and the inner part of the shoot.
The bottom of the cuttings is cleaned of leaves.
The lower cut is treated with a root growth stimulator, after which the cuttings are planted in containers.

After a year, the spirea can be transplanted to a permanent place.

Reproduction by layering is considered one of the easiest ways to breed albiflora spirea:

Before the leaves bloom, the side branch of the bush is bent over and fixed in the ground.
During the season, the cuttings are watered regularly.
In autumn, the branch is finally separated from the mother bush and transplanted.

Diseases and pests

Spirea Japanese Albiflora practically does not get sick, but occasionally plantings can infect pests. These include:

spider mite;
rose leaflet;
aphids.

Among these insects, the mite is the most dangerous. The appearance of a pest is given by whitish spots on the leaves and a thin web. If nothing is done, the leaves of the spirea will begin to turn yellow and crumble, and small holes will appear in the inflorescences.

In order to get rid of the tick, it is necessary to treat the bushes with insecticides. Such drugs as "Phosphamide" and "Karbofos" effectively deal with the pest.

In the middle of summer, bushes can attract aphids, which gnaw at the inflorescences and suck the juice out of them. Against this pest, the drug "Pirimor" is used, which also copes well with the leaf roll.

Traditional methods of dealing with insects include processing spirea with a solution of ash or laundry soap.

Conclusion

Spirea Japanese Albiflora is a shrub with abundant flowering, care for which is very simple. The main advantage of the variety is the fact that it rarely gets sick and does not need shelter for the winter. In addition, it is distinguished by abundant flowering and retains its decorative effect until late autumn.