Content
Spiraea lily is one of the many species of this ornamental shrub of the Rosaceae family. Due to its very beautiful flowering, it is often planted to decorate the territories of parks, gardens, and personal plots. It is quite frost-resistant and undemanding to care, therefore it is grown both by experienced growers and beginners.
Description of spiraea salivary
Spiraea lily is a rather tall, spreading shrub. Under natural conditions, it grows in China, Japan and Korea. It is used as elements of landscape design in many countries, including Russia.
Spiraea salivary is presented in the photo below:
The main characteristics of the spiraea slushy terry (Plena) are given in the table.
Parameter | Value |
Type of plant | Deciduous shrub |
Height | Up to 2 m |
Crown size | Up to 2 m |
Escapes | Thin, flexible, rod-shaped |
Leaves | Bright green, oval-oblong, with a pointed end, pubescent on the back. In autumn the color turns orange or reddish brown |
Flowers | Snow-white, terry, collected in umbrella-type inflorescences of 3-6 pcs., Framed with a rosette of small leaves |
Flowering time | April May |
Spiraea lily in landscape design
Spirea lily can be used in landscape design both in group and in single plantings. The shrub is often used as a tapeworm, as an element of the decoration of a Japanese garden. Can be used to create hedges, roads, alleys, lawns, rock gardens. It is often used for industrial landscaping of streets, areas of enterprises, health care facilities, children's institutions.
Planting and leaving
In order for the spiraea to grow well and to please with abundant flowering for many years, you need to choose a suitable place for it. The subsequent care of the shrub is quite simple and will not cause problems even for an inexperienced gardener.
Preparation of planting material and site
Spirea is a spring-flowering one. Therefore, it can only be planted in autumn, in September. For planting spirea lily on the site, you can use the vegetative method by rooting cuttings or cuttings from the bushes of this plant, taken from friends. However, most gardeners purchase the seedlings of this shrub from specialized stores or nurseries.
As a rule, they are sold in special containers or with clay root coating. You need to carefully examine them. The seedling should look healthy, have 2-3 taproots and a sufficient amount of lobe.
The landing site must be selected and prepared in advance. Spiraea lily, like most other representatives of this species, refers to light-loving plants. To plant it, you must choose an open place with a lot of sunlight, light partial shade is allowed. The soil should be loose, light and breathable, with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction. Calcareous soil does not tolerate spiraea. It is better to choose a place with moderate humidity; lowland and wetland areas are not suitable for this shrub.
Therefore, you should avoid places open to cold north winds and drafts.
Planting holes for seedlings must be prepared in advance, 2-3 weeks before planting. Their volume is selected taking into account the root system of the seedling, the holes should be at least 1/3 larger. If the soil is unsuitable, the pits should be enlarged by about 3 times. This will allow the root system of the spirea to develop in specially prepared soil. The depth is enough 0.7 m. Drainage from large rubble, pieces of brick or stones must be laid on the bottom. A small hill of earth is poured over the drainage.
The excavated soil is preserved. To increase fertility and friability, peat, humus and sand are added to it, a small amount of superphosphate will not be superfluous. If necessary, the soil can be completely replaced with a more suitable one.
Landing rules
For planting, it is advisable to choose a cloudy, rainy day. The seedling is placed vertically in the planting hole, spreading the roots along the earthen mound. The root collar must be leveled with the ground. If necessary, the height of the earthen slide can be increased or decreased. Having leveled the seedling in height, cover its roots with prepared nutrient soil, slightly compacting it so that there is no layer of air left in the roots. Then the seedling must be watered abundantly.
Watering and feeding
Quite often, gardeners neglect measures for caring for a spirea, treating it according to the principle of "plant and forget". Indeed, this plant has good endurance and often develops well even without care. However, the spiraea can only fully reveal all its decorative qualities when performing certain activities.
The shrub is drought-resistant, and, as a rule, they do not water it, since the rain is enough for the plant. Watering is recommended only in the summer months, during the driest period. At this time, the root zone of the spirea is watered using 1.5-2 buckets of water for each bush.
For good growth, flowering and preparation for winter, the spirea is fed three times:
- In early spring, nitrogen-containing fertilizers or organic matter to stimulate the growth of shoots and a quick set of green mass.
- Before flowering with complex mineral fertilizers.
- At the end of summer, potash and phosphorus fertilizers.
Pruning
Pruning the spiraea of spiraea allows you to stimulate the growth of young shoots and rejuvenate the bush. Often the shrub is sheared for decorative purposes, giving it a certain geometric shape. You can cut off bushes that have reached the age of 3-4 years. It is also necessary to carry out sanitary pruning on a regular basis, removing broken and dried branches.
For spirea, the following types of trimmings are recommended:
- Stimulating. Pruning woody stems at a height of 25-30 cm stimulates the growth of a large number of lateral shoots in spirea. This increases the density of the bush.
- Rejuvenating... It is carried out in the fall for old bushes, as well as in case of severe pest or frost damage. In this case, the shoots are completely cut off at ground level, leaving no stumps. In the spring, the spirea bush actually begins to grow again from the buds located near the root collar, using the existing root system.
- Formative... It is carried out during the season to maintain the given crown shape. Spirea tolerates pruning well and grows quickly, so it is usually cut several times per season.
Preparing for winter
Spiraea lily is poorly adapted to frost and without shelter can winter only in the southern regions. Often, not only young shoots freeze, but also old, lignified ones. The root system also suffers from severe frosts.For the winter, the root zone of the spirea must be covered with a thick layer of mulch made from sawdust, tree bark or fallen leaves.
A shelter is usually built around the spirea, which is a wooden frame covered with parchment or other covering material.
Reproduction
Spirea lily, like most other species of this shrub, can be propagated in the following ways:
- seeds;
- cuttings;
- layering;
- dividing the bush.
The seed method is used quite rarely for the reproduction of spirea, since when using it, the plant does not retain varietal characteristics. Vegetative methods are devoid of this drawback, therefore they are used much more often.
Cutting is a fairly common method of reproduction of spirea spiraea. Cuttings are cut in September from annual vertical shoots. Each of them must have at least 5 leaves. The bottom sheets are removed, the top ones are cut in half to reduce moisture evaporation from the surface of the sheet plate. The cuttings are kept for 12 hours in Epin's solution, then powdered with Kornevin and planted at an angle of 45 ° in a container with wet sand.
The container is removed under the film in a warm, shaded place. In the future, they are regularly sprayed to maintain constant humidity. Spirea cuttings will take root in 4-8 weeks. After that, they are dived into separate containers, and in the spring they are planted in a greenhouse for growing. By the fall, the seedlings will have a developed root system, after which they can be planted in a permanent place.
It is quite simple to obtain cuttings from the mother bush of spiraea. To do this, you need to choose a flexible long side shoot, bend it to the ground, fix it with a wire clip and sprinkle it with earth. Regular watering of this area will lead to the establishment of the allotted shoot, which will give roots and sprout its own.
He must winter together with the mother bush. It will be possible to separate the cuttings and the maternal shoot in the spring by transplanting the separated plant into a greenhouse for independent growth. In the fall, you can plant a seedling in a prepared place.
Dividing a bush is the easiest and fastest method of reproduction of spirea spiraea. You need to share it in the fall, in September. For this it is better to use young plants that have reached the age of 3-5 years. It is possible to divide old spirea bushes, but this is a more time-consuming task. The bush is completely dug up. The root system is washed with water from a hose. The easiest way to divide it is with a garden pruner.
Usually the bush is divided into 3-4 parts, making sure that each division has several developed shoots and a good lobe of roots. After that, parts of the bush are transplanted into prepared pits in the same way as ordinary seedlings.
Diseases and pests
Spiraea mucosa is ill infrequently. Unkempt bushes may develop gray rot or mottling. This is due to the increased humidity inside the bush. To prevent the disease, it is necessary to carry out sanitary pruning in a timely manner, remove excessive thickening and avoid water ingress on the leaves during watering. If the disease does begin, the affected shoots must be immediately cut out and burned, and the bushes must be treated with fungicides.
In the fall, all fallen leaves from diseased bushes must be collected and burned, since spores of the fungus can winter in it.
Pest insects are rarely found on spiraea. The greatest danger to the bushes is aphid, spider mite and leafworm. They fight them by spraying the bushes with various chemical and biological preparations, such as Pirimor, Aktelik, etc.
Conclusion
Spiraea lily is an excellent ornamental shrub that can decorate any landscape. It looks equally impressive in individual and group plantings. Blooming spirea is the real queen of the garden. It is also of great importance that the plant is very unpretentious.It gets along well with any neighbors in the garden, and even a novice florist can handle it.
