Styling your garden is not an easy task. After all, it is necessary to design it in such a way that it is not only beautiful, but also cozy. Today, it is important to replace heavy stone hedges with living plants that divide the space into zones. One of the crops that are suitable for creating hedges is thuja Brabant.
Thuja variety - Brabant
In a wide range of thujas of the Cypress family, there is also such a variety as thuja Brabant. It is a western variety, characterized by its conical crown. A plant native to North America, it also occurs naturally in East Asia. However, gardeners from many countries deservedly love thuja Brabant for its excellent frost resistance, as well as for the fact that it takes root well. Therefore, this type of thuja can often be found in northern gardens.
Brabant is the largest thuja of their entire family. An adult specimen of a tree can reach a height of 20 meters or more. At the same time, the thuja has a very lush and beautiful crown of a conical shape with light green needles. Another characteristic feature is that the needles go up, and this adds to the attractiveness of the tree. His bark is also very interesting, easily peeling, the cones are small, light brown.
Thuja Brabant lives on average 150 years, but in northern latitudes it does not grow up to 20 meters, usually these trees are 5-6 meters in height. And the diameter of the crown is smaller than in the homeland of the tree. But thuja still looks great. She grows quickly, unless, of course, the tree suffers from a long drought or very severe cold. Thuja blooms in spring, in April and May.
Benefits of the variety
Conifers of different varieties can be found quite often in gardens, but it is thuja Brabant that is perhaps best planted to decorate the site. After all, it has a number of advantages:
- this type of thuja is very unpretentious, it is not harmed by the hot sun, cold and other unfavorable factors
- the tree has beautiful needles that look decorative and perfectly tolerate a haircut
- thuja releases many phytoncides into the air, which kill microbes and decontaminate the environment
How to plant
In order for thuja Brabant to delight you for many years, a number of conditions must be met. But first of all, the tree should be properly planted. Take note of a few rules:
- Although thuja Brabant can be planted from spring to late autumn, it thrives best in April and early May.
- If planting is done in spring, thuja will not only grow faster, but will also give much more greenery.
- Thuja is not very demanding on the soil, but most of all "loves" moist and loose soil such as loam.
- Thuja feels most comfortable not in the constant sun or in the shade, but in partial shade, in a place protected from strong winds.
Thuyu Brabant can be propagated in three different ways: plant with seedlings, cuttings or seeds. Consider all three landing options.
Saplings
When planting thuja seedlings, it is important to observe the correct distance between them - this is about one meter when forming a hedge or up to 3 meters when planting for simple landscape gardening.
You need to dig in the plants 60-75 centimeters deep into the soil. It is better to prepare the pits in advance and spill them with water. At the same time, a drainage layer equal to 20 centimeters should be placed on the bottom of the planting pit. When you bury, carefully spread the roots, the root system of the thuja is tender. In no case do not deepen the root collar, it should be level with the ground, not lower. Next - cover with soil, tamp, pour.
Cuttings
Propagation by cuttings is good because in this case, time is saved, and the characteristics of the variety are preserved. A stalk is either a lignified thuja shoot, or an increase cut this year. Cut and plant the cuttings as follows:
- First, cut off so that a small part of the old tree remains at the very base of the cutting.
- Treat the stalk with heteroauxin, then place it in the greenhouse, sticking it into the prepared soil.
- Then disinfect it by dipping it into a potassium solution and plant it in open soil to a depth of 1-2 centimeters.
- In the fall, rooted cuttings must be insulated, sprinkled with sawdust so that they normally endure the winter.
Seeds
Propagating thuja by seeds is not the best way, since in this case special decorative and varietal properties are not preserved. But if it cannot be done in another way, such a method of reproduction is still possible. The seeds must be collected, and when autumn comes, they must be left on the ground. Snow will fall, they will lie under it, and this will accelerate germination. When spring comes, the seeds should be sown in the soil, buried ½ centimeter, and sprinkled with sawdust. The earth will have to be regularly loosened, moistened, protected from bright sunlight. When shoots appear, young thuja must be fed with fertilizers.
Care
As already mentioned, one of the advantages of thuja Brabant is its unpretentiousness. And yet this does not mean that the tree does not need care at all. If it is correct, thuja will grow better. So it is important to observe the required level of humidity, maintain the optimal composition of the soil, the desired temperature, give the thuja enough light, systematically cut off the shoots, giving the crown a shape, and so on. If you neglect these rules, the plant will either lose its such attractive decorative effect, or even dry out altogether.
The soil
As noted above, Thuja Brabant "loves" moist and at the same time not heavy soil, for example, loam. Therefore, if your land is clayey, you can prepare a mixture for planting by mixing earth, sand and peat in proportions 1-2-2. If planting in spring or summer, put some fertilizer (200-250 grams of superphosphate) in the hole. Then the seedling must be watered, the trunk circle must be mulched with peat, compost or bark. A layer of mulch is at least 10 centimeters, this will not allow moisture to evaporate, plus it will additionally protect the young tree from germination of weeds, and will warm it in winter.
Watering
Thuja should be watered most abundantly in the first couple of weeks after planting. Do not spare water, water the plant daily, otherwise the shoots may wither, and the crown will thin out. However, then the thuja should also be watered regularly - as the soil dries up. Usually watering is carried out every 7 days, but plentiful. If the tree lacks water, it will turn yellow, the needles will crumble, and decorativeness will be lost. Make sure that the roots of the thuja are moist, but not flooded with water. The soil around the trunk must be constantly loosened, but carefully so as not to damage the root system.
Top dressing
Fertilizers for thuja Brabant are the same as for other varieties. If Brabant was planted in spring or summer, potash-phosphorus fertilizers must be applied in the fall. And next year, feed in the spring by dissolving water¸, for example, "Kemiru Lux". This solution must be watered once, then again after 14 days. In the fall, add mixtures with potassium and phosphorus again.
Pruning
A very important point is the formation of the thuja crown. For a tree to be beautiful, you need to constantly prune it. It is best to cut Brabant either in early spring or very late in summer, when new shoots are no longer growing. The formation of the crown should be carried out in cloudy weather in order to protect it from burns. The principle is simple - the crown should be much narrower at the top than at the bottom, visually forming a cone. But do not overdo it: you should not cut the shoots to the very wood.
Hedge
Since the growth rate of Thuja Brabant is record-breaking, the variety is excellent for the formation of a hedge. In a short time, the tree forms dense thickets. Planting rules are the same as for simple landscaping. You just need to place the seedlings closer to each other - no further than one meter. If you then prune the trees every spring and in August, they will intertwine with branches and form a thick, impassable wall.
