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Catalpa is beautiful - a garden culture native to North America, which is a sprawling tree with loose white inflorescences. In the course of breeding work, the plant was adapted for cultivation in the conditions of central Russia and the Moscow region. At the same time, caring for a crop implies warming young plants for the winter, but the catalpa is beautiful - the tree is rather unpretentious.
Description of the beautiful catalpa
Beautiful catalpa or "tree of happiness", as the plant is called at home, is an ornamental garden culture, best suited to Russian conditions from the entire genus of catalps. Initially, the tree was 35 m tall, but in more severe climates, the size of this culture has decreased to a modest 12-15 m.
The trunk of the tree is straight, the bark is lamellar, gray. The leaf blade of this species is rather large - about 20-25 cm in length and 10-15 cm in width. Each leaf is attached to the shoot with a flexible long petiole. The color of the leaf plate is presented in dark tones. On the inside, the leaves of the tree are pubescent.
For the first time, beautiful catalpa blooms when the tree reaches the age of 10 years. By season, flowering occurs in mid-June.
Creamy tubular flowers reach 6-8 cm in length, forming loose inflorescences. The flower petals of the beautiful catalpa are wavy along the edge. On the inside, you can see yellow stripes and brown dots. The fruit of this species is represented by a narrow capsule.
Catalpa is gorgeous in landscape design
Beautiful catalpa is rarely used in solitary plantings - for this the tree is undersized. Most often it is part of a group composition, and the plant is combined mainly with deciduous magnolias. Neatly cut trees frame the paths in the garden and park, and they are also used to strengthen the slopes on the banks of decorative ponds. Also, beautiful catalpa is placed near fences and fences.
Growing conditions for beautiful catalpa
Catalpa beautiful prefers soils of moderate acidity. The plant is quite demanding for lighting - it fully develops only in open sunny areas, in extreme cases, partial shade is suitable. It is also important to provide young trees with protection from strong winds - seedlings are vulnerable to drafts.
Transplanting the tree is not recommended - it is a great stress for the plant. If it is necessary to do this, then in terms of time it is better to transplant in the spring, before the sap flow begins. You can also transplant the tree in the fall, but only after it has shed its leaves. During digging, it is important to preserve the earthy lump - you cannot shake off the soil from the roots. This will make the plant less likely to take root in a new location.
The planting hole for the tree should be the same as for the first planting. The composition of the nutrient mixture should also be identical to the previous one. Immediately after transplanting, the area of the trunk circle is tamped and watered.
Planting and caring for a catalpa tree is beautiful
It is not difficult to grow beautiful catalpa. The tree needs basic procedures, except for the need to warm the plant for the winter, but only young seedlings need this.
Beautiful catalpa grows slowly in the Russian climate, blooms late. Plants often require sanitary pruning in spring - some of the young shoots freeze over in winter, despite the fact that this is one of the most frost-resistant species.
Preparation of planting material
Catalpa seedlings aged 1 to 2 years are suitable for planting. It is important to pay attention to the roots of the plant - they should be open and wide. Planting material with weak roots hardly takes root in a new place.
There is no need to specially prepare the plants before planting in open ground. It is enough just before planting to properly water the catalpa seedlings.
Landing site preparation
There is no need to prepare a fertile site. If the soil at the landing site is scarce, the site is dug up and gravel and compost are added to the soil.
Landing rules
The algorithm for planting a beautiful catalpa is as follows:
- In spring or autumn, catalpa seedlings are transplanted into open ground. It is desirable that the soil on the site is neutral. According to the timing, it is recommended to plant a beautiful catalpa in spring - this way the plant will have more time to take root in a new place.
- The planting pit is prepared 2 weeks before the direct planting of the catalpa. Its approximate dimensions are 80 cm deep and 100 cm wide. This diameter is due to the large root system of the catalpa.
- A mixture of humus, turf, peat and sand is added to the bottom of the planting pit, in a ratio of 1: 2: 1: 2.
- Additionally, you can dilute 2-5 kg of wood ash.
- After that, a seedling is placed on the soil mixture, its roots are sprinkled with earth and watered abundantly.
Watering and feeding
Watering the seedlings of beautiful catalpa regularly, but in moderation. Water consumption is 15 liters of water per plant. Watering is carried out on average once a week. An adult plant is watered with the same frequency, increasing the water consumption to 18-20 liters. It is important not to fill in the area of the trunk circle. If heavy rains begin, watering is stopped.
Feeding young seedlings is not necessary. The soil is fertilized only 2-3 years after planting the beautiful catalpa. You can use slurry for this, diluted in a ratio of 1:20. For each seedling, 1 liter of fertilizer is consumed. The plant is fed before the beginning of the growing season.
Starting from the second half of the growing season, the tree is again fertilized with slurry, the concentration of the solution is 1:10.
Mineral fertilizers are applied to the soil once a season, always during the flowering period. In this case, it is important to combine top dressing with watering.
Pruning
Pruning when caring for catalpa cannot be neglected - it is the basis of the decorativeness of the tree. If the shoots are not cut off in time, the plant will grow to the sides and take on a sloppy appearance.
The crown of the plant is formed in May-June, while the pruning should not be too deep. Sanitary pruning is carried out throughout the year, except for winter.
Preparing for winter
Mature trees in a temperate climate winter safely without additional shelter. In the north of the country, it is better not to plant a beautiful catalpa.
Young seedlings are covered with sacking for the winter. The trunk and the area of the near-trunk soil are sprinkled with spruce branches and dry foliage.In the spring, the shelter is removed with the onset of heat so that the plant does not come out. If, after wintering, frozen shoots are found, then they must be removed. Do not cut the branches too much - this stimulates the growth of young shoots and leads to thickening of the crown. Ultimately, the leaves from the inside will experience a lack of light.
Features of growing beautiful catalpa in the suburbs
In the conditions of the Moscow region, beautiful catalpa can suffer from frost in winter. Young plants are covered for the winter so that they do not freeze under the influence of low temperatures.
Reproduction of beautiful catalpa
There are two main methods of reproduction of catalpa: seed and vegetative. Both are equally effective, so here, when choosing a breeding method, gardeners proceed from purely personal preferences.
Seed propagation
By the seed method, the beautiful catalpa is bred as follows:
- When the fruits of the tree are ripe, seeds are removed from them and put into a paper bag before sowing. You can store them for 3 years.
- The next step is to fill the seedling container with soil. For this, ordinary garden soil is suitable without additional admixtures.
- At the end of February, the seeds are removed from the bag and soaked overnight in filtered water at room temperature.
- After that, they are sown in a container, deepening by 1 cm.
- Then the seedling container is covered with a transparent lid or glass and placed in a room with a good level of lighting. The air temperature in the room should be in the range from + 15 ° С to + 25 ° С.
- Within 3-4 weeks, the soil is regularly watered and aired. After this period, the shelter is removed. By this time, the first shoots should appear, and the beautiful catalpa rises unevenly.
- For some time, the seedlings are grown in a warm place. Then they begin to harden the catalpa - they take it out into the street, gradually increasing the time the seedlings are in the fresh air.
- A week after the start of hardening, the seedlings can be transplanted into open ground.
Propagation by cuttings
Cuttings for breeding beautiful catalpa are harvested in mid-late summer. The procedure consists of the following steps:
- Blanks of 10 cm are cut from young shoots.
- The cut on the trees is treated with garden pitch. The lower cut of the cuttings is dipped into "Kornevin" - a growth stimulator.
- After that, the workpieces are lowered into separate containers filled with a mixture of peat and sand.
- The first 2-3 weeks, the cuttings are kept under a cover in the form of cut plastic bottles. In general, the slices take root within a month.
- For the winter, they are left in a room with a temperature above 0 ° C. In mid-spring, catalpa can be planted in open ground.
Diseases and pests
Catalpa is beautiful, subject to all the rules of agricultural technology, does not need additional protection from pests. Plantings do not need to be treated with insecticides for prevention purposes. Occasionally a tree is struck by a Spanish fly, but it is easy to get rid of it after 1-2 treatments with Decis or Karbofos, and Kinmix is also suitable.
Of the diseases, the greatest threat to the beautiful catalpa is the fungus of the genus Verticillus. It provokes a rapid drying out of the tree, as a result of which it dies in the shortest possible time. At the first signs of drying of the leaves, it is recommended to treat the plant with fungicidal preparations. As a prophylaxis against fungal diseases, it is necessary to loosen the area of the trunk circle from time to time and observe watering norms. Excessive waterlogging of the soil creates ideal conditions for the proliferation of fungal pores.
Conclusion
Catalpa is beautiful, despite the mediocre winter hardiness, will be an excellent addition to the garden in the climatic conditions of the Moscow region. The only serious obstacle to growing this plant in this region is that the tree must be thoroughly insulated in the fall. Otherwise, caring for a catalpa is no different from growing in warmer areas.
You can learn more about planting and caring for the crop from the video:
