General description of thuja

Thuja has excellent decorative properties. Looking at the photo of the western thuja, you can get a certain idea of ​​\u200b\u200bhow it will look in the landscape.

This tree is very durable. Many gardeners are engaged in its cultivation, it is quite popular with landscape designers. The wood is used for carving and furniture making.

The crown of the tree has a pyramidal or oval shape, the roots are compact in size. The tree is characterized by slow growth, reaches a height of 12-20 meters.

The young plant has a smooth bark, its color is red-brown, with age the bark acquires a gray-brown hue. At an old tree, it peels off, narrow strips are separated from the trunk.

The needles of the thuja are scaly green, have a size of 0.2-0.4 cm, fit snugly to the branches. In winter, it acquires a brownish color. The life of the needles is 2-3 years, after this period it falls off along with small branches.

The fruits are small scaly cones (8-12 mm in diameter). The wood of almost all varieties of this plant is reddish in color, has a pleasant coniferous smell, and is resistant to decay.

Tree varieties

In nature, there are a sufficient number of varieties of thuja. Special species have also been bred for planting in parks, gardens and squares. In Russia, there are 10-14 frost-resistant species adapted to the local climatic conditions.

Thuja western Brabant

Columnar crown with a diameter of 1.5 meters, reaches a height of five meters. The green shade of the needles changes to brown in winter. During the year, it increases in height by 30-35 cm, in width — by 15 cm.

Frost-resistant, easy to care for. You can plant both in well-lit and shaded areas. However, the plant must be covered from strong winds.

Haircut allows him to form a beautiful crown. It has brown buds about 1 cm in size. The variety is great for use in hedges and alleys.

Thuja western Smaragd

Characterized by a cone-shaped, fairly dense crown. In height, the thuja reaches 4.5 meters. In the cold season, it retains its dark green color of the needles.

This variety grows very slowly, which avoids frequent haircuts and simplifies care. Smaragd is a frost-resistant and light-loving variety, but needs protection from too low temperatures and winds.

Columna

The narrow, columnar crown is about 7 meters in height and 1.5 meters in diameter. The shoots are arranged horizontally, the color of the needles does not change in the cold season. For the year adds to the height of about twenty centimeters.

Needs abundant watering, does not tolerate dry soil.

Holmstrup

The tree is not higher than 3.5 meters in height, has a columnar crown with a diameter of about a meter. The needles do not change their green hue all year round. Slow growth is characteristic — approximately 12 cm per year. A haircut is rarely required.

It grows well in any soil, calmly survives temperature changes, prefers well-lit or slightly shaded places, and is generally unpretentious in care.

Fastigiata

Frost-resistant, the crown has branches tightly pressed to the trunk. It has soft needles, the color of which remains unchanged throughout the year. Characterized by a strong aroma.

Reaches six meters in height, and the growth per year is 30 cm. Frequent haircuts are needed, and needs a moist loamy substrate.

Sunkist

The tree is about 3-5 meters in height, the crown is conical. Frost-resistant, has needles of lemon-yellow color. In the cold season, it acquires a bronze hue. Growth is slow, within 10 years it reaches two meters.

He does not like dry soil; from a lack of light, its color fades. Both a single planting and a combination with other trees or shrubs are possible.

Wagneri

Winter-hardy plant, has an ovoid crown, reaches a height of 3.5 meters, a width of one and a half meters. It changes its gray-green color for the winter to copper. The crown keeps its shape perfectly, it does not need frequent pruning. Likes sun-drenched spacious areas.

Claude of Gold

It is a shrub of two meters in height, a cone-shaped crown has a diameter of 1.2 meters. The needles are most often lemon-colored, there are also yellowish-orange species. In winter, it changes color to copper.

It is easy to care for, it requires a bright place with protection from the wind. In low light, the color may fade. It tolerates drought well, badly — too plentiful watering. Looks great in compositions with other plants.

Care and landing

Thuja is unpretentious and not too demanding in terms of care. It can grow in any soil and conditions. But she also has her own characteristics. Prefers well-lit areas most of all. However, planting in the shade will help preserve the decorative qualities for a longer period.

Grows fairly well in dry soil. It is very photophilous — for the qualitative formation of the crown, 6-7 hours of sun per day are needed, otherwise the plant will stretch.

Reproduction is carried out both by seeds and seedlings, cuttings. Considering that her growth is very slow, the best option is to buy ready-made seedlings. But they are quite expensive, and the seeds rarely retain the characteristics of the variety. For these reasons, the plant is best propagated by cuttings.

Seeds for subsequent planting must be collected in the fall. The cones are cut off, dried in a cool room (the temperature should not exceed 7 degrees). After the scales have dried, the seeds are removed and stored until spring in fabric bags.

After the first snow appears, the seeds are placed directly in the bag on the ground, sprinkled with a layer of snow about 30 cm thick — they need stratification.

Western thuja is planted with the help of these seeds in the spring. They are laid in grooves, previously filled with water, with a distance between them of 10-15 cm. Planting is carried out at a shallow depth, only 0.5 cm. After planting, they must be sprinkled with dry earth, mulched with needles (sawdust is also suitable).

Watering seedlings is carried out regularly, but not too abundantly, at first protection from too intense sunlight is provided. The tree grows very slowly — during the first year it adds only 4-5 cm.

The soil around the seedling is mulched with sawdust and peat. After three years from the moment of landing, a dive is made, and landing in a permanent place is permissible only after 4-5 years.

For propagation by cuttings, they are cut in spring, preferably during cloudy hours. The cutting is taken from a young annual shoot, it must be at least 10 cm long, and the tree itself must be 4-8 years old. Cut cuttings are immersed in a weak manganese solution for a day. Then they are planted in the ground to a depth of 5-6 cm at an angle of 20-30 degrees.

Planting in containers or pots is acceptable. It can also be planted in open ground, necessarily covered with a film, with a distance between them of 10-15 cm.

Cuttings carried out in the spring help the plants take root as well as possible and grow quickly. Cuttings in the summer do not give such results, rooting has to wait until next year.

Photo of thuja western