What could be better than a well-kept stylish garden? Only a garden that does not require much time and effort to maintain the conceived design. Conifers are best suited for this: they are decorative at any time of the year, grow slowly and are not capricious. The mountain pine Dwarf (pinus mugo) is one of the most sought-after plants by landscape designers. This variety was obtained in 1890 by a breeder from the Netherlands Ouden. He gave her the name Gnom, which in the Scandinavian epic means a fairy-tale hero of small stature, a dwarf. The variety began to be propagated in 1920, and since 1927 it has been cultivated.
Mountain Pine Gnome
Brief information about the variety
- Colour: needles are dark green;
- Height: up to 2.5 m;
- Crown width: 1.5 m;
- In which regions is it growing: everywhere, except for the most northern;
- Landing features: in sunny places, with limited shading, the distance between the bushes is at least 1.5 m;
- Immunity: plants need preventive treatments for fungal diseases;
- Life span: 150-200 years.
Growing regions
In the wild, mountain pine is a multi-stemmed coniferous tree. More than 100 varieties of this ephedra are known. They differ in size - from 20 m to 0.5 m in height, appearance and color of needles, but all have unpretentiousness to environmental conditions.
The shrub grows in the alpine belt of Central and Southern Europe at an altitude of 2500 m, on the most scarce soils. It can withstand severe frosts and winds, and is drought-resistant.
It can be cultivated in all regions of Russia, except for the Far North.
Description of the plant
The Gnome Pine is an evergreen dwarf shrub, one of the most compact species. Its height reaches 2.5 m, diameter is up to 1.5 m, annual growth is 7-10 cm. The plant has a spherical crown, which with age, if not formed, becomes dome-like.
The needles are dark green, 4-5 cm long. Brown cones are rounded, up to 4 cm long. They grow both singly and in bunches, 2-3 pieces each. In the first year they have a green color: they mature by the fall of the second year, acquiring a brown color.
Cones are male and female. The latter have seeds.
The mountain pine has a developed root system that keeps the plant on the rocks. In gardens and parks with loose soil, roots can grow deep. On rocky or heavy ground, they are located close to the surface.
Landing
The optimal planting time for mountain pine is early May or the first decade of September, no less than a month before stable frosts.
Rooting of seedlings from containers can be carried out at any time, from late April to mid-September, without disturbing the earthy coma.
Sapling selection
The tree should be planted in a sunny area
The seedlings should be 3-5 years old at the time of planting. The younger ones need painstaking care, otherwise they may not take root.
Site preparation
The mountain pine did not climb so high for nothing. She loves the sun, although she can withstand even partial shade. But only in good lighting it demonstrates all its decorative qualities.
Sour sandy and sandy loam soils are best suited for planting, without waterlogging. If the substrate is heavy or the groundwater rises high, drainage should be made from a layer of sand or gravel up to 20 cm thick.
Landing technology
The planting hole should be larger than the earthen clod of the seedling. For backfilling the pit, a substrate is used, consisting of:
- 1 part humus or compost;
- 1 part sand;
- 2 pieces of garden land.
A tablespoon of the complete mineral complex (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) is added to this mixture during spring planting.
It is important that the root collar is at ground level, even after soil subsidence. When the pit is filled up, the soil is compacted and spilled with water.
Care
Mountain pine requires a lot of attention during the first and second year of growth, while it forms a full-fledged root system.
When planting in spring, the seedlings are shaded in the daytime. In the future, work with ephedra is reduced to one-time procedures.
Watering
After planting, the plant is watered for a month every 3-4 days; in summer, crown sprinkling is used. Mature pines do not require watering. Exceptions are long periods of dryness and hot weather.
Top dressing
In addition to the mineral fat introduced during planting, the next feeding is carried out in the second or third year.
Pine does not tolerate excess organic matter and nitrogen: its appearance and resistance to negative weather conditions suffer.
To eliminate errors, it is recommended to use a complex mineral fertilizer for conifers, diluted in water. The solution is introduced into the trunk circle after abundant watering.
Mulching and loosening the soil
Pine does not need crown formation
Loosening the soil serves several purposes.
- The access of oxygen to the roots improves and more favorable conditions appear for the microflora, in symbiosis with which the plant lives.
- An opportunity is created for moisture to penetrate into the deep layers of the soil, and at the same time its evaporation is hampered.
- Weeds are being removed.
Mulching the trunk circle saves time and effort on weeding, loosening and watering. Coniferous litter is ideal as mulch.
Haircut and trim
Mountain Pine Dwarf is a gift for the owner. It does not require a regular shaping haircut. Trunks - semi-lying and ascending - up to 10-15 years old grow in the same way, as a result of which a spherical crown is formed.
With age, the speed of ascending shoots becomes higher, the pine becomes domed.
After winter, sanitary pruning is carried out, removing dry and damaged branches. To give the plant the desired shape and crown density, pinching is performed.
It is produced at the beginning of the summer season, when the growth of young shoots (candles) is completed. They are shortened with pruning shears by 2-7 cm. After such a procedure, several shoots begin to grow at the base of the candles. As a result, the crown becomes lush and thicker.
Gradual pruning of branches allows you to get a plant of a given shape.
Preparing for winter
The young shoots of the Dwarf have time to ripen and woody during the warm season. In addition, pine has a unique feature - thickened bark at the butt of the trunk. Due to this, it can withstand temperatures down to -35 ° C.
Only plants with undeveloped root systems close to the soil surface can suffer from frost. For the winter, they are covered with non-woven material, burlap or spruce branches and tied with twine.
In winter, snow is a danger for conifers, under the weight of which branches break.
Reproduction
There are three ways:
- seeds;
- cuttings;
- vaccinations.
Vegetative propagation methods (cuttings and grafts) allow you to preserve all the varietal qualities of the mother plant. But due to their complexity, they are rarely used and only for growing highly decorative varieties.
Rooting of cuttings is difficult, long and often unsuccessful (the survival rate is low).
Seed propagation is the easiest way. The seeds ripen by the fall of the second year. They are sown in the spring of next year. It is better to sow through seedlings.
Previously, both the planting material and the soil are treated with a fungicide (phytosporin). The seeds are soaked in water for two days, then they are buried in 200 ml containers.
Seedlings appear in a month, after which containers with seedlings are exposed to light. All this time, the soil must be kept moist. Landing in open ground is carried out a year later next spring.
Diseases and pests
You need to monitor the health of the tree
Pines, like all conifers, have few enemies in nature. The three main diseases of mountain pine are fungal in nature:
- blistering rust;
- Schütte fungal disease;
- necrosis of the cortex.
The main drugs for fighting infections are fungicides and drugs containing copper. Intermediate plants such as currants, gooseberries and weeds can be carriers.
Insect pests (aphids, conifers, sawflies, silkworms, spider mites) can be fought with folk remedies:
- soap solution;
- infusion of tobacco;
- tincture of insecticidal plants;
- mechanical collection of pests.
However, the use of modern insecticides is more effective:
- acarin;
- lepidocide;
- decis;
- karbofos;
- actellic.
Use in landscape design
Every year the number of dwarf mountain pine varieties is increasing: this happens at the request of landscape designers, who include these plants in a wide variety of compositions.
The dark green Gnome pine needles look great in rocky Japanese-style gardens.
Several bumps of different sizes attract attention against the background of an evenly mowed lawn.
To give the garden with conifers brightness and expressiveness, it is recommended to plant ground cover perennials around the tree:
- saxifrage;
- aubretia;
- soap dish;
- splinter.
Compositions of mountain pine with mosses and succulents are beautiful.
Plant reviews
Novice gardeners are attracted to dwarf mountain pines by their unpretentiousness and minimal maintenance. Designers note that the Gnome variety can be planted on loggias and verandas in special containers.
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Autumn planting of pine mountain gnome.
Landscapers like that using this culture it is impossible to spoil the composition: it is combined with many plants.
The only thing that does not always suit the owners is the tree's relevance to the sun.