In 1857, Serbian botanist and doctor Josif Pancic discovered and described a rare species of coniferous culture. It was named after him - Panchicheva omorika. Another name for the plant is Serbian spruce. What are the features of her planting, growing and care? How to protect ephedra from diseases and pests, and where is the best place to plant?
Serbian spruce - variety of varieties and their features
Brief information about the species
- Colour: from dark green to gray-silver.
- Height: up to 35 m.
- Crown width: up to 5 m.
- In which regions is it growing: valley along the middle course of the Drina River, slopes of Mount Tara in the Balkan Peninsula (territory of eastern Bosnia and western Serbia).
- Landing conditions: it is better to choose semi-shaded places, there should be at least 2-3 m between the holes.
- Immunity: resistant to most diseases.
- Life span: up to 300 years.
Growing regions
In the wild, the plant is endemic to a limited range - a valley located on the Balkan Peninsula, along the middle course of the Drina River. This is a section of eastern Bosnia and western Serbia.
The distribution area does not exceed 60 hectares. It prefers to grow on the northern slopes of Mount Tara, at an altitude of 0.8 km - 1 km 600 m.
On the territory of Russia and European countries, the cultivation process takes place without any particular difficulties, it is easier than when planting North American varieties: Canadian, Koluchaya.
Description of the plant
It blooms in May and reaches maturity at the age of 12 to 15 years. Frost-resistant, wind-resistant, shade-loving. Adapts well to urban areas with heavily gassed or smoky air.
Info: in the natural environment, various varieties of Serbian spruce can live up to 300 years.
Consider the general biological description of the tree in the table.
Trunk | Straight, covered with yellow-brown bark. Depending on the variety, it can grow up to 35 m in height and reach 1-1.5 m in diameter. |
Crown | Tapering upwards and expanding downwards, it has the shape of a column or a narrow cone. |
Branches | Short, arched, with raised edges, infrequent. Growth begins almost at the surface of the earth, young branches are pubescent and hanging down, covered with brown bark, on adults the bark is reddish-gray, scaly. |
Needles | Keel-shaped, hard, covered with a bloom resembling wax, the needles grow 0.8-1.8 cm in length, up to 0.2 cm in width. The color of the needles is from dark green above to gray-silver below. |
Cone | Ovate, oblong, 3 to 7 cm long. Covered with tightly fitting rounded scales |
Seeds | Small (from 2 to 3 mm), with a thin transparent wing of a slightly larger size (from 5 to 8 mm). |
Varieties of varieties
Spruce will decorate your site
According to scientists, about 30 varieties of Serbian spruce grow in the wild, differing from each other in size, color, shape, etc. Breeders based on them have developed decorative varieties to decorate the landscape.
Consider the characteristics of each.
Nana (Nana)
One of the most popular and well-known varieties. It is characterized by increased frost resistance - it can withstand frosts down to -40 ° C, it can grow in highly shaded places.
The crown is dense, round, ovoid; in adult spruces it becomes conical. The color of the needles is blue-green. By the age of 30, the plant grows to 3-4 m, annually stretching 7-10 cm.
Pendula Bruns (Pendula Bruns)
The original variety of spruce with a weeping, narrow (no more than 60 cm) crown shape and hanging branches growing on a central conductor arched in the middle part.
For its appearance, the plant received a second name - "snake tree".
The needles are two-colored: the needles are blue on top, the bottom is decorated with 2 white stripes, due to which the needles acquire a silvery hue.
Photophilous, frost-resistant tree (resists frosts below -30 ° C) can grow on depleted soil. By the age of 3, it reaches a height of 3 m, the annual growth is up to 20 cm.
By the age of 30, the height of the leader can reach 15 m. Propagated by grafting.
Wodan
Dwarf herringbone, a hybrid resulting from the crossing of the Serbian spruce with the Brever spruce. For the first 10 years it grows very slowly - up to 8 cm per year, reaching about 70 cm. Further growth proceeds at a faster pace - from 15 to 20 cm per year.
The crown is about 50 cm wide. Loves sunny areas, is quite resistant to city conditions, frost-resistant (withstands temperatures up to -40 ° C).
The color of the needles is greenish-blue, with silvery stripes. Young needles have a lighter shade.
Linda
Not often found in Russia, but very popular in European countries, a variety of Serbian spruce. The shape of the crown is pyramidal, with serpentine flowing branches, the lower ones lie on the ground in the form of a "skirt".
The unusual color of the needles gives the plant an unusual color - from dark green at the top to bluish at the bottom.
At the age of 10 years, it reaches a height of 1 m 50 cm, the annual growth is 15 cm.
Karel (Karel)
A dwarf evergreen tree of a shrub shape, reaching a height of no more than 80 cm. The crown is hemispherical, dense.
A distinctive feature is the absence of the need for formative pruning. The crown keeps its shape quite well.
The needles have a very beautiful color: from light green in young needles, to blue-green in adult needles. Resistant to variable climates (withstands temperatures down to -30 ° C), but does not have strong wind resistance.
Pimoko (Pimoko)
A dwarf variety that resembles the Nana variety, but has a much smaller size - at the age of 10 it reaches a height of 0.3 m, by the age of 30 it grows to a maximum of 0.9 m.
The needles are very beautiful, two-colored, gray-blue at the bottom and dark green at the top, sticking out in different directions.
The crown is nest-like, formed from short reddish branches closely adjacent to each other. Needs frequent cleaning. It is frost-resistant, well tolerated in shaded areas.
Aurea (Aurea)
The presence of sufficient lighting increases the decorative effect of the Aurea variety.
Differs in the golden color of the needles, which eventually becomes gray-green.
The more illuminated the planting site, the longer the needles retain their original shade.
By the age of 30, it reaches a height of about 12 m, with a crown diameter of 5 m. It tolerates severe frosts and air pollution well.
Zuckerhut (Zuckerhut)
The name translates as "sugarloaf" because of the correct, conical shape of the crown, more rounded at a young age, and more strict in an adult tree.
The plant is a dwarf, reaching a maximum height of 2.5 m and a crown diameter of 1.5 m by about 30 years. The branches are directed upwards, the needles are slightly twisted. In late winter and early spring it needs protection from direct sunlight.
Medusa
One of the most unusual and rare varieties. Long branches grow unevenly, rarely enough, stick out in different directions, twist and bend. The needles cling to the shoots.
Young needles have a light blue hue, later they acquire a blue-green color. An adult plant grows up to 3 m.
White Tops
A dwarf species, reaching 1 m 20 cm in height by the 10-year-old milestone. The crown is uneven, with vertically growing upper shoots, narrow bluish-green needles.
Young growths are white or creamy white. Planting in open places is contraindicated due to the threat of burning in direct sunlight. It is resistant to frost.
Peve Tijn
A dwarf variety of Serbian spruce, reaching a height of 600 m at 10 years old, up to 1 m 80 cm by the age of 30. The crown of a young plant has a spherical shape, with age it acquires the shape of a cone.
Possesses needles of 3 colors: golden in youth, yellow-green in the upper part and silvery-green in the lower part.
Poorly tolerates stagnant water, dense soil. It is advisable to plant in the sunny part of the site, in loamy soil that has an acidic reaction, to drain.
De Ruyter
The tree has a very unusual, irregular crown shape. By the age of 30, its size is about 5-6 m.
Frost-resistant (withstands temperatures up to -29 ° C), light-loving plant with 3-colored needles: dark green, silvery blue, with white flashes.
Landing
Competently selected planting material, a place for planting, strict adherence to planting technology will ensure a good adaptation of the plant to new conditions, its health and longevity.
Sapling selection
In order to choose the right seedling, you must follow some rules:
- make a purchase in the spring, shortly before planting time;
- carefully examine the condition of the needles - it should be elastic, fresh, without brownish tips;
- to acquire trees not from hands, but in a special nursery - under the conditions of the nursery, Serbian spruces are grown in open ground, and this greatly facilitates and shortens their adaptation period.
Choose a healthy plant for planting
There are 2 options for purchasing seedlings:
- with an open root (the tree must be planted as soon as possible in a pre-moistened soil in order to avoid drying out of the roots);
- with a closed root: in local plants, an earthen lump is often sheathed with burlap, in imported plants, the root system can be in a container or be wrapped in film.
Site preparation
Before planting a Serbian Christmas tree, you need to find a suitable place for it. The site should be in the sun or be semi-shaded.
Landing in swampy ground is not recommended. Due to the plant's sensitivity to water stagnation in soils prone to this, a drainage procedure is performed. Wood ash or pure river sand is added to heavy soil with a high clay content.
Landing technology
Works are performed with the arrival of spring or early autumn. First, dig holes with dimensions:
- depth - 0.6 m;
- the width of the upper part is 0.6 m, and the lower part is 0.4 m.
Recommendation: if several fir trees are planted, then the distance between them should be at least 2 m 50 cm - 3 m.
Sand, peat, humus are added to the dug hole in a ratio of 2: 2: 1. If water appears in it, drainage is done by laying a layer of rubble with sand on the bottom.
Carefully, trying not to damage the roots, place the seedlings so that the root collars are located at ground level. The trunk is leveled, covered with soil dug and mixed with sand, peat and humus. Tamp down a little. 5 liters of water are poured into the hole.
Tip: when planting Serbian spruce, fertilize the soil with nitrophobic (about 150 g) for the fastest growth of the plant.
Care
Although the plant is quite unpretentious, care for it must be constant. Otherwise, it begins to hurt, wither, and loses its decorative effect.
Watering
The first 4 weeks after planting, young trees are often watered. The need for watering is judged by the condition of the soil:
- if a clod of earth squeezed in the hand crumbles, watering is necessary;
- if it is viscous, there is still enough moisture.
Then watering becomes more rare, but plentiful: about 1 time in 2 weeks, in hot weather - weekly, at least 10 liters of water for each tree.
Water is poured in several steps, this allows the roots located closer to the surface of the earth to drink. Adult plants are watered at the rate of 1 bucket of water per 1 linear meter of growth.
At the end of watering, the soil in the hole is loosened to a depth of about 5 cm. In warm weather, it is useful to spray the crown from a small watering can. This will moisten the needles, remove dirt and dust from it.
Information: young seedlings of Serbian spruce are watered throughout the growing season, which lasts from April to October.
Top dressing
Serbian spruce does not need special feeding. They are needed only in a plot with depleted soil. But you should not completely abandon fertilization, as this will lead to a slowdown in growth.
It is optimal to periodically use special root and foliar dressings created for coniferous ornamental plants.
Mulching and loosening the soil
To maintain plant health and soil nutrition, it is best to mulch the tree trunk circle. The best mulch for them are:
- sour peat;
- pine bark;
- humus.
Various varieties of Serbian spruce require soil drainage to prevent moisture stagnation. In this regard, they need to be loosened. It is carried out no deeper than 6-7 cm.
This is done only within 2 years after planting, because then there is a risk of injury to the roots located close to the ground surface.
In the subsequent period, they only manage with mulching.
Haircut and trim
Sanitary pruning of dry, frozen, broken, diseased branches is performed regularly, as these lesions appear. Large spruces or trees with a thin crown do not require much effort.
The situation is more complicated with dwarf varieties with a dense, dense crown. Dust accumulates inside it, there is not enough light and air ventilation. This leads to drying of the branches, the appearance of a spider mite. Therefore, it is necessary to inspect and cut such trees with great care.
A shaping haircut is carried out once a year. It is advisable to do this not in too warm weather: sap flow increases in the cut branches, which can cause various diseases. The maximum cut length is from 3 to 4 cm.
Tip: After cutting and trimming, treat the Serbian tree and the soil under it with a copper fungicide.
Preparing for winter
The decorative ephedra is frost-resistant. However, young Christmas trees under 5 years old still need protection from the effects of low temperatures, they must be prepared for winter:
- wrap the crown with a light breathable material, for example, burlap;
- increase the layer of mulch around the trunk to at least 7 cm;
- in winter, spud the Christmas tree with snow;
- gently shake off the snow from the branches left uncovered.
To prepare adult trees for winter, only mulching is carried out.
Reproduction
- Cuttings. The most common and reliable way. For cuttings, one- or two-year-old shoots are used, which in spring, after the end of frost (usually April), are planted in a place protected from direct sunlight in open ground or in a container filled with sand, humus and peat. Shoot shelter is not required. The cuttings are watered like regular adults.
- Vaccinations. Reproduction in a vegetative way occurs by grafting Serbian spruce onto ordinary. Weeping varieties are propagated by this method, it requires certain professional skills.
- Seeds. Used for cultivars that produce buds. To get a strong and beautiful plant, seedlings that differ in appearance from their parents are discarded. Only 20-50% of the original amount remains. Landing in a permanent place is carried out 5 years after the emergence of seedlings.
The last method is the most difficult and time consuming, therefore it is practically not used by gardeners.
Diseases and pests
Picea omorika is a fairly strong plant with good health. But with excessive moisture with difficult drainage, it can become infected with rot and shute. The latter most often affects the branches that descend to the ground. From one tree to another, an infection can be transferred with unwashed hands.
Christmas trees with a neglected form are destroyed due to the threat of the rapid spread of the virus and infection of healthy conifers.
At the first signs of the disease, the roots and soil in the hole are spilled with fungicidal preparations. In the spring, it is useful to spray the crown with products containing copper, or sprinkle with wood ash.
Recommendation: do not plant Serbian spruces next to tomatoes, potatoes, and various berries.
Most often, ornamental culture is affected by the following pests:
- spider mite;
- mealybug;
- aphids.
They are fought with insecticides. Already existing pests are destroyed with a solution of colloidal sulfur. As a preventive measure, the crown is treated with garlic infusion, soapy water, and onion peel decoction.
Use in landscape design
Due to its resistance to air pollution, smoke, unfavorable environmental factors, the plant is widely used in urban landscape design. They are used to decorate alleys, parks, squares, lawns, alpine slides, to be planted as a hedge along roads.
Fir trees with weeping needles (for example, Bruns variety) look great in the frame of a garden arch. Dwarf varieties of ephedra are planted in flower beds, in rock gardens, with a shortage of free land, they can be grown in a pot, placed in a slightly darkened place, on a terrace, an open balcony.
The trees are wonderfully combined with any deciduous and coniferous species, flowers, with crops that prefer abundant, but rare watering and acidic soil.
Growing errors
The main mistakes gardeners make when growing Serbian spruce are:
- acquisition from the hands of the weak, with damaged needles or root system;
- wrong choice of location, planting seedlings in swampy ground;
- insufficient distance between the holes when planting several plants;
- excessive fertilizing with fertilizers;
- untimely processing of Christmas trees from diseases and pests.
Taking care of spruces is not at all difficult; it is important to follow all the recommendations for growing them.
Good notes. How is the Serbian spruce different from the Crimean pine?
Serbian spruce. At a glance: Serbian spruce description of characteristics, where to buy picea omorica seedlings
Generalized review of gardeners
Gardeners and gardeners appreciate the experience of growing Serbian spruce. They like her frost resistance, ease of care.
A wide variety of varieties allows you to choose the size of the herringbone, suitable for the site. Many are attracted by the quite reasonable price of seedlings sold in specialized nurseries. Of the minuses, the difficulty of growing a plant from seeds is noted.