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Do you need conifers in the garden? The answer is obvious to me. Yes, yes and yes again. It is only worth discussing which species and varieties to plant and in what quantity. Conifers are unusually good in the gardens of the Baltic States and the Czech Republic, there the climate is milder and, accordingly, the assortment is richer, but we also have plenty to choose from. You just need to not be lazy and try to keep abreast of the modern assortment of plants.
Soon the weather will remind us again that we have snow for six months in Russia. Of course, the garden is mainly used in the summer, in winter it is most often admired from home or during a short walk. And yet, plants must be chosen not only for their appearance during the period of maximum decorativeness, but also taking into account how they will look at other times of the year. What will delight you in the winter garden besides white snow and icicles? There are no evergreen trees in our climatic zone, and without conifers, the winter garden would be completely empty, and in summer they create a pleasant contrast with deciduous trees. You should not go to the other extreme, planting only conifers in the garden. Deciduous trees have many decorative qualities: they can have interestingly colored leaves, they can bloom wonderfully in spring, in autumn they can have interesting and tasty fruits and beautiful autumn color of leaves, trunk and branches, although conifers are unusually good during the formation of cones. and some of them, for example, microbiota, change the color of the needles in autumn and spring. Now in many gardens a Christmas tree is planted, which you can dress up and lead the whole company around it in round dances for New Year and Christmas. Thuja, pines, junipers, firs delight us with bright greenery all year round.
Why spring, if there are no blossoming leaves and exuberant flowering, as well as pure green conifers? And what is autumn without bright colors of leaves and fruits? But the conifers in the autumn garden are unusually good. There must be a balance here too.
Often, conifers have a strict but varied crown. Many conifers cut well. Despite the high frost resistance, some of them require protection for the winter from heavy snow: pyramidal plants are tied for the winter, frames of poles are installed over the spherical ones with a "hut" around the plants so that heavy snow does not deform the crown. It is necessary to try so that the supports not only do not spoil, but even improve the appearance of conifers.
Nowadays, many people are concerned about creating a garden of minimal care, some because of their employment, some because of their age. Conifers of various habits, sizes and colors are perhaps the first candidates for the implementation of this idea. You don't need to rake the foliage, take care of it too. Pour and fertilize - they will say thank you, but no - and so it will cost.
Can you bring plants from the forest to the garden? I think if you carefully, according to the rules, dig up a few fir trees, pines or junipers from the forest, you will not cause irreparable harm to the surrounding nature. Going into the forest "on business", you should take with you not only a shovel and a wheelbarrow, but also a rag in which you will wrap the root ball, and water, which you will pour on the ground before digging and wet a rag, and also know exactly the type of root system of those plants that are going to be dug up. You should not dig up plants taller than human growth, the smaller the plant, the easier it will undergo transplanting and will grow faster. On the site, it is better to orient the plants to the cardinal points in the same way as they grew in the forest, this will also help them to take root. And conifers need to be transplanted in the spring or in the first half of summer.
Species plants (plants from nature) are most often large plants, but almost all have more graceful varieties that "fit" in the smallest garden, or you will learn to control the size of trees and shrubs by pruning (spruce, junipers) or pinching (pine ).
I will try to make a brief overview of conifers suitable for growing in the Moscow region, in the order of the Russian alphabet.
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| Norway spruce Inversa | Spruce gray Conica |
Everyone knows the common spruce (Picea abies)... You can bring it from the forest, but you need to take it only from the edge of the forest, where the plants are fluffy. A very unpretentious plant with a shallow root system. It is well-cut, that is, it can be shaped and limited in growth, if necessary, wonderful hedges are obtained from it. Many varieties of different heights and shapes have been created. The most popular dwarf cone-shaped spruce is gray spruce (Picea glauca) «Conica " with very dense needles 1 m high. A Christmas tree is good for everyone, but it has a significant drawback - in February - March it burns in the sun, a cover from the sun often does not help. Serbian spruce (Picea omorica) - a fast growing species of spruce with a very narrow slender silhouette up to 15 m high. (Picea pungens) - remember the huge blue Christmas trees near the Kremlin wall. There are many wonderful varieties of all shapes with blue or silver needles. These spruce trees also cut well, including in hedges.
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| Serbian spruce | Colorado spruce Glauca |
Pea cypress (Chamaecyparis picifera). Of the cypress trees, varieties of only this species can be safely purchased for a garden near Moscow, and even then it is worth choosing a protected quiet place in the garden for him. These are slow growing shrubs with graceful green, blue or yellow needles.
Microbiota (Microbiota decussata) - a wonderful, unfortunately, little-known ground cover coniferous plant for shade and partial shade 0.5 m high, creeping, by 10 years old it will take 1.5-2 m.The needles are very beautiful in summer, dark green, in spring and autumn - reddish-brown ... Not demanding either on moisture or soil, does not break with snow. Poorly transplanted.
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| Pea cypress | Cross-pair microbiota |
European larch (Larix decidua) - a huge tree, reaching a height of 15 m with age, but, firstly, larch perfectly tolerates pruning and shaping, and secondly, pay attention to the grafted, standard weeping forms. These are exquisite plants suitable for the tiniest garden. Larch tolerates soil locking, a very undemanding plant, but needs a sunny position, and is also suitable for hedges.
Common juniper (Juniperus communis)... Unlike cypress trees, be sure to "register" junipers in the garden. You will find common juniper in the nearby forest if there is a good ecological situation near your summer cottage. Can I take him to my garden? Firstly, this should be done in the first half of summer - a coniferous plant transplanted in autumn will most likely not take root. Secondly, it is necessary to dig out a juniper from the forest very carefully, remembering that it has a superficial, but very ramified root system. Thirdly, the carefully dug root ball must be wrapped in a damp cloth to prevent it from drying out. And, fourthly, orient it in the garden to the cardinal points in the same way as it grew in the forest. The common juniper has many varieties, in my opinion, they are all good. Before planting a plant, you must figure out its shape and dimensions. Juniper is a very shade-tolerant plant, but in the sun it will be thick and fluffy, and in dense shade it will become "liquid", the skeleton (trunk and branches) will be visible, this is ugly.
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| Sheared larch | Common juniper |
Juniper horizontal (Juniperus horisontalis)... The varieties of this juniper are ground cover plants with a height of 20-30 cm, rapidly growing in breadth (up to 1.5-2 m), do not forget to take enough space for them when planning plantings. Juniper Cossack (Juniperus sabina) - an excellent shrub, rapidly growing in breadth (at the age of 10 years, its varieties reach a diameter of 1.5-2 m).
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| Juniper horizontal | Juniper Cossack |
By the rocky juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) there are two great varieties «Blue Arrow " and «Skyrocket "... These are very necessary "verticals" in the garden, slender narrow columns, reaching a height of 3 m by the age of 10. They do not need to be tied in winter - straight shoots adjoin the trunk. Blue Arrow has blue needles, Skyrocket has bluish green needles.
Korean fir (Abies koreana) - conical tree, growing well in shade and partial shade, 2-3 m high.A distinctive feature of this fir is the early appearance, starting from the age of 5, of numerous bright purple cones.
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| Rocky juniper Blue Arrow | Korean fir |
Mountain pine (Pinus mugo) - coniferous shrub up to 2 m in height, not very demanding on the soil, there are dwarf forms and varieties. Scots pine (Pinus silvestris) - a large tree with a deep tap root system. Well formed by pinching. Many beautiful varieties have been created for a small garden. All pines are light-requiring.
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| Mountain pine | Scots pine Watereri |
Thuja western (Thuja occidentalis) is a very suitable plant for the garden, unpretentious and shade-tolerant. Tui makes a beautiful hedge, the best varieties of tui for her «Brabant " (light green), «Columna " (dark green) and «Smaragd " (emerald). They are all 2.5-3 m high and grow rapidly. In a hedge, they are planted every 0.5-0.7 m.Thuja also has beautiful spherical varieties - these are «Danica " 0.5 m high and «Globosa " 1 m high. There are also shirokokonicheskie.
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| Thuja western Danica | Thuja western Smaragd |
