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Spirea Little Princess is one of the most popular plants used in landscape design. The species is believed to be Japanese, which is reflected in its name, but its exact origin is unknown. The plant is very decorative: it has thick leaves and inflorescences; the color of the leaves remains until the end of October.
Spirea is unpretentious in care, tolerates droughts well, can grow both in the sun and in partial shade. This article provides a photo and description of the Little Princess spirea and how to use it in landscape design.
Description of spirea Little Princess
The plant is a typical representative of deciduous ornamental plants of the Rose family. The name of the species comes from the Greek word "spiral", the shape of which in spirea shoots and inflorescences have.
The height of the Little Princess spirea is from 15 cm to 60 cm, rare specimens reach a growth of 120 cm This perennial plant (life expectancy is 25-30 years) has a very low growth rate, no more than 10-15 cm per season, especially in the first years of life.
The shrub has a shallow fibrous root system. Its leaves are decorative: during the flowering period, their color is emerald green, and by the beginning of autumn they change color to orange-red. The leaves themselves are alternate, with short cuttings. Their shape is lanceolate, with small denticles at the edges. The size of the leaves can be up to 8 cm, but mostly they are no more than 3.5 cm in length. The crown of the spirea is round and dense.
Numerous flowers of Little Princess spirea are collected in close corymbose inflorescences. The buds themselves are small and are located exclusively at the ends of the branches. The color is predominantly purplish pink.
The flowering period is June-September with the constant formation of new flowers. After the end of flowering, fruits appear at the ends of the branches, the appearance of which is not too aesthetic. They are cut off so that they do not spoil the decorative appearance of the plant, which in the autumn gives beautiful spirea leaves. Spirea Japanese Little Princess blooms, starting from the third year of life.
Spirea Little Princess in landscape design
Since all periods of active life, Little Princess spirea during the summer season is accompanied by bright colors of flowers and leaves, it has been widely used in landscape design.
Starting in mid-spring, the Little Princess spirea begins a one and a half month growing season, when the entire bush is covered with pale green leaves.
It is replaced by the flowering period (in early June). Despite the fact that the inflorescences appear only at the ends of the shoots, their density is so high that the leaves are practically invisible, and the whole bush is a beautiful pink mound of flowers.
With the end of the flowering period (early September), leaves with a yellow-red or orange-red hue begin to play the main role in decorativeness, which remains almost unchanged for about 2 months.
How Little Princess spirea looks in landscape design can be seen in the photo.
Little Princess spirea hedge
The Little Princess spirea hedge is a fairly cheap and at the same time very beautiful solution.Its height will not be too high, however, correctly designed bushes have sufficient density to fence off the area from animals.
Separately, it is worth pointing out that the Little Princess spirea can be grown in any type of soil, so there should not be a problem with choosing a hedge location. In addition, the straight stems of this variety (unlike the cascading varieties of spirea) are perfect for a hedge without special ways of forming a bush. We can say that Japanese spirea, when planted as a hedge, does not need formative pruning at all.
The only drawback of using Japanese spirea as a material for a hedge is its low growth rate. If you take very young seedlings, the process of forming a hedge can take about 10 years. At the same time, do not forget that in the first 3 years of life, the spirea does not bloom. To speed up the formation of the hedge, it is advisable to buy already adult bushes 4-6 years old.
Little Princess spirea border
The height of the Little Princess spirea allows it to be used as a curb plant, especially in the first years of life. Spirea bushes already at a young age have sufficient density and can be used as a border.
Such curbs can not only be used along the paths, but also "knock out" large tree and shrub groups, act as delimiting plants in vegetable gardens, be used as the perimeter of alpine hills, and so on.
Best of all, in the "border" version of the spirea, the Japanese Little Princess is combined with coniferous crops: thuja, juniper, spruce.
Planting and caring for spirea Little Princess
The plant itself is quite unpretentious, so caring for it is easy. Perennials, with rare exceptions, are quite viable plants. To bring them not so much to death, but even to a bad look, you should seriously "try".
Nevertheless, even when growing them, one should not forget about the main features of caring for bushes of this type, especially those with dense foliage.
This should not be done, since such actions will lead to a significant increase in a large amount of green mass, and the first flowering may not occur in the third year, but much later.
Further, the issues of planting and caring for the Japanese Little Princess spirea are discussed in more detail.
Preparation of planting material and site
The Little Princess spirea is planted in the spring, starting in mid-April or early May. The choice of seedlings is made according to the following method: it is necessary to take only those specimens that have a bare stem with buds, preferably without leaves. The roots of the seedlings should be moist, free from rot and dried out areas. Good quality seedlings have noticeable flexibility.
Preliminary preparation of seedlings consists in shortening too long roots and removing the ends of the shoots located above 3-4 cm relative to the last bud on them. Immediately before planting, the seedlings are soaked in liquid for a day, and then washed with running water.
A sunny site is preferable for spirea, but this is not critical. The plant tolerates partial shade well. The root system is located close to the surface, so the groundwater level at the planting site is not critical.
The soil on the site can be any, even slightly rocky, however, the Japanese Little Princess spirea grows best on moist and loose soils of weak acidity. The ideal soil is the so-called "leaf land".
Planting spirea Little Princesses
To plant a plant, you should dig a hole with sheer walls. The volume of the fossa should be approximately 3-4 times the volume limited by the root system.The hole should be dug 2-3 days before planting and all this time it needs to just "stand" open.
Drainage is laid on its bottom in one layer of broken brick or expanded clay. Planting soil can be used as follows:
- 4 pieces of leafy land;
- 1 part peat;
- 1 part river sand.
Planting is carried out on a cloudy or rainy day, while the plant is set in a hole and sprinkled to the level of the root collar. After that, the earth is tamped and abundant watering occurs.
Finishes planting by mulching soil 30 cm in diameter from the center of the bush using peat.
Watering and feeding
Abundant watering is necessary for the plant only during transplantation and in the first years of life. Plants over 2-3 years old only need a little soil moisture once a week. Naturally, during a dry period, watering should be more abundant.
The root system, located close to the soil surface, with abundant watering, can quickly begin to rot.
Top dressing is done 2 times per season. The first is carried out after the spring sanitary pruning, it includes mineral fertilizers, standard for ornamental perennials.
The second is done during the flowering period, it includes the use of organic fertilizers (for example, mullein at a concentration of 1 in 10).
Pruning spirea Little Princesses in the fall
Caring for Little Princess spirea involves pruning it, usually at the beginning of the season. This is a standard procedure, which consists in sanitary pruning and removal of too old shoots that interfere with the active growth of the bush.
In autumn, only pruning of the plant's fruits is performed, since they spoil its appearance and take additional resources from it. This pruning is carried out in July-September as the fruit appears.
Older bushes, which are more than 10-15 years old, are recommended to be cut every 4-5 years to a height of 20-50 cm relative to the soil level. In this case, 3-4 kidneys should be left on them. If after a similar procedure within 1-2 seasons the bush does not grow abundantly, it is replaced.
Preparing for winter
In temperate climates, Little Princess spirea does not need to be prepared for winter. If severe winters are coming, it is enough to cover the bushes in autumn with a thick (up to 30-50 cm) layer of fallen leaves.
Reproduction of Japanese spirea Little Princess
Reproduction of the plant is carried out by dividing the bush, and it is best carried out in the autumn. Planting young plants should be carried out before the end of leaf fall. At the same time, it is allowed to separate bushes that are at least 4-5 years old, that is, those that have already bloomed.
They also practice the reproduction of the Little Princess spirea using cuttings and layering, but these methods are too laborious and their effectiveness is significantly lower than the previously considered division of the bush.
Diseases and pests
The plant is practically not susceptible to diseases, therefore it does not even require any preventive treatment. The only thing that can threaten him is an invasion of aphids or a spider mite. In both cases, you should immediately apply a remedy that gives a guaranteed result: some powerful insecticide or acaricide (for example, Actellic).
Conclusion
Spirea Little Princess is a beautiful ornamental plant with simple growing and care conditions. This perennial of the lower tier is perfect for the formation of hedges and borders and retains its decorative properties throughout the warm season.
