The horizontal, creeping juniper Prince of Wales has a high decorative effect, densely covers the soil, creating a dense evergreen carpet. This variety has good winter hardiness, therefore it is suitable for planting in different regions of our country.
Juniper Prince of Wales
Brief information about the variety
- Colour: needles are green, scaly.
- Height: 15-20 cm.
- Crown diameter: 2.5 m.
- Growing regions: Ephedra is cultivated in all regions.
- Landing features: scheme - 50x50 cm. It can grow in a sunny and shaded place.
- Immunity: good winter hardiness and high disease resistance.
- Life span: no information available.
Description of the plant
Juniper horizontal Prince of Wales is markedly different from other ground cover varieties.
External parameters:
- height varies from 15 to 20 cm;
- by the age of 10, the crown reaches 2.5 m in circumference;
- grows slowly - within a year it becomes 1-2 cm higher and 6-8 cm wider.
- the needles are green, scaly, close to the shoots, short - 0.5-1 cm;
- in adulthood, the plant forms globular, gray-blue cones with a bluish bloom.
Due to its high winter hardiness (tolerates a decrease to -30 ° C), this ephedra is cultivated everywhere. In the North, the Urals, in the Central and Central Russia, it requires good insulation.
Growing features
The Prince of Wales creeping juniper grows well on all types of soil, so even a novice gardener can cope with it.
The optimal time for planting this crop is late April or early May. By this time, the last frosts will have passed, the earth will warm up to 10-12 ° C, so the risk of freezing young bushes is minimal.
Selection of seedlings
If you want to get a beautiful and healthy plant with all varietal characteristics, you should buy a seedling in a specialized nursery.
You need to choose taking into account some criteria.
- It is better to take young specimens, 1-2 years old, with a closed root system. Junipers have very delicate roots that dry out quickly and die off as a result of injury. The earth lump will preserve their integrity until transplanted into the ground. Alternatively, you can purchase shrubs planted in pots or containers.
- When buying, carefully inspect the aerial part - it should be alive, without breaks, cracks on the branches.
- In healthy specimens, the needles are deep green in color, adhere tightly to the shoots, and do not contain red, yellow or black spots.
Site and soil preparation
Unlike other varieties, Welsh Juniper can grow anywhere in your garden - in full sun or partial shade. It tolerates the lack of lighting well without losing its decorative qualities.
The site for planting should be flat in order to avoid stagnation of moisture and further death of the ephedra.
If you do not have such a place, you need to provide good drainage of vermiculite or sand - 20 kg per 1 m².
When planting on sandy loam soil, you will need to add a couple of buckets of clay. Additionally, two more components are introduced - peat and humus (3 buckets of each substance per 1 m²). They increase its nutritional value.
Ephedra does not grow well on acidic soil, so 350 g of calcite, dolomite flour or slaked lime are added for digging. It is not necessary to fertilize the soil with organic and mineral preparations, because this variety fully develops on poor soil.
Landing technique
Juniper can be grown in shaded areas
When planting this ephedra, it is important to adhere to the scheme - 50x50 cm. No more than two seedlings are used per 1 m² - this is how they fully develop, do not get sick and retain their decorative effect all year round.
Pits are dug a little larger than the roots, about 60x70 cm. Half a bucket of gravel or brick chips are poured to the bottom, a nutritious composition of turf, peat and sand (2: 1: 1) is poured up.
The plant is lowered along with an earthen clod, sprinkled with soil mixture, tamped, watered - 5 liters of water per plant. Each seedling is mulched with peat or coniferous sawdust to avoid rapid drying of the soil.
When planting, it is important to observe one rule - the root collar must remain above the surface of the soil, otherwise the bush will quickly rot and die.
Care requirements
Caring for the Prince of Wales juniper is easy and can be done by every gardener.
When planted in a sunny location, the plants should be sheltered from the sun at midday. This will protect them from burns, drying out and yellowing.
For shading, agrofibre or burlap is suitable. As soon as they get stronger and start growing, the shelter can be removed.
Watering
Regular and frequent watering in the first two weeks is especially important - it speeds up the process of rooting and plant survival. In the dry period, moisten every other day at the rate of 5 liters per copy.
The grown bushes can be watered less often - up to 3 times for the whole season.
The needles respond positively to sprinkling with warm water in the evening. The aboveground part is irrigated no more than once a week. If the summer is too hot and dry, the frequency of irrigation is increased to three times every 7 days.
Loosening and mulching
Surface loosening of the soil after irrigation maintains its moisture and air permeability, improves the access of oxygen, nutrients and water to the roots.
During this procedure, weeds are removed, weeded between the rows.
Then add mulch from peat or coniferous sawdust. This layer protects the root system and soil from drying out, prevents the growth of weeds.
Fertilizer
For this plant, nutrition is not as essential as for other varieties. The rule here is that it is better to underfeed than overfeed.
The first time fertilizer is applied one year after planting. A ready-made mineral composition for conifers is used at the rate of 120 g per 1 m². To improve the absorption of nutrients, fertilizing is carried out together with watering.
They are fed at the initial stage of growth in spring - at the end of April or in May.
Pruning
The ephedra does not require crown formation, because shoots grow in a chaotic manner and over time create a thick carpet of soil.
Every spring - before the beginning of the blooming of vegetative buds, a sanitary haircut is carried out - all branches frozen over the winter, as well as shoots damaged by diseases, dry and yellowed parts, are removed.
At the age of 10, it is worth rejuvenating the bush - to carry out a stimulating pruning. This manipulation is best done in autumn (in the middle or at the end of September). Cut out a third of the total increase in the current year. The clipping is carried out evenly so that the plant can more easily endure stress.
Prune with a sterile knife, scissors, or pruning shears to prevent infection. The cut off places are irrigated with a solution of copper sulfate, and the remains are burned.
Preparing for winter
The variety is frost-resistant
An adult plant tolerates sharp temperature changes, persistent severe frosts, and therefore does not need shelter, regardless of the growing zone.
The only thing you can do is to spill the near-trunk zone with peat (it will serve as a protection against drying out and nourish the root system with useful components).
Young specimens from 1 to 3 years old need good insulation. First, the bushes are mulched with earth or peat, then the above-ground part is covered with spruce branches, a cardboard box or burlap.
They remove the shelter in the spring, when the snow thaws and the threat of return frosts has passed.
Reproduction methods
Junipers can be propagated in two ways, each with advantages and disadvantages.
Layers
In early autumn, on an adult bush from the age of 5 years, a strong and long branch is chosen, freed from processes and needles, and lowered horizontally into a trench.
Pinned with staples, sprinkled with light and fertile soil (peat with sand and turf, mixed in the same amount).
Closer to the onset of stable cold weather, the earth is filled up to protect the escape from freezing. The next year, in the spring, as soon as the plant starts to grow, they dig out the layers, divide it into segments with several roots and one bud. They are seated separately on the site.
Cuttings
For this propagation method, you will need shoots cut from a healthy and adult bush (5-6 years old). Harvesting is carried out during spring pruning.
Cuttings 1-2 years old, 15-20 cm long with a piece of old wood are used.
All shoots and needles in the lower part are removed, then sprayed with one of the root formation stimulants (Epin, Kornevin or Heteroauxin), planted in a moist substrate of peat and sand (1: 1).
For convenience, take seedling boxes or plastic containers with drainage holes. They are planted at an angle of 45 ° to a depth of 3-4 cm, watered, covered with a transparent film and placed in a warm place with diffused daylight.
The optimum temperature is 20-23 ° С, after rooting it is lowered to 18-19 ° С. All care consists in regular airing, watering, weeding and loosening.
Germination can be considered successful if new buds appear on the cuttings. Then the shelter is removed, they continue to water and loosen the soil. It can take 2 to 3 months for rooting.
Transplanting to the site is carried out a year after germination in early autumn, so that the seedlings have time to take root in a new place before the onset of stable cold weather.
Pests
Juniper has one unique property - it releases natural insecticides that repel many pests. However, unkempt and growing in weed thickets, ephedra can be attacked by parasites or infected with various infections.
The most inveterate is aphid. This insect reproduces very quickly, settles in colonies on young shoots, sucking out all the juices from them. As a result, the needles turn yellow and the plant gradually dries out.
You can get rid of this parasite at an early stage of infection with folk remedies - infusion of hot pepper, wormwood, garlic, tobacco or onion. At an advanced stage, three times treatment with Aktellik, Aktara or Fundazol is required.
The Prince of Wales suffers from an invasion of scale insects, spider mites, shoot moths and mealybugs. Systemic insecticides - Fundazol, Engio will help to cope with these insects.
Diseases
Diseased branches must be removed
Often the needles get sick with rust - a fungal disease that manifests itself in the form of red or yellow growths on the surface of the shoots. Over time, they turn black and the affected organs die off.
The main reasons for the appearance of the fungus are frequent waterlogging, thickening of the crown and plantings, growing next to other conifers.
In order to prevent the disease, it is necessary to carry out treatment with copper chloride. The same drug is used for medicinal purposes - they irrigate the aboveground part and the soil under it. Alternatively, a Bordeaux mixture or a solution of copper sulfate can be used for treatment.
Sometimes the juniper is damaged by powdery mildew - a whitish coating on the surface of needles and shoots becomes wet, then rots. The infected parts die off. To fight, take Bordeaux liquid 2% concentration.
Application in garden design
The Prince of Wales variety is one of the most valuable in landscape design, thanks to its dense branching, the juniper creates unusual decorations in the garden:
- used in single and group plantings with low-growing decorative flowering and deciduous flowers;
- planted in flower beds, used as an additional element on rocky and rocky areas;
- looks beautiful in rockeries, rabatkas, rock gardens, next to the gazebo or near the terrace;
- creates a lively and ever-green carpet on any lawn;
- harmoniously combined with small deciduous species, shrubs.
Juniper horizontal "Prince of Wales" | Plante.md
Juniper horizontal Prince of Wales. Overview, description of characteristics
JUNIPER horizontal in my garden. I plant.
Reviews
According to the description of the gardeners growing needles, the Prince of Wales leaves only positive reviews:
- one of the most unpretentious varieties - it does not need a shaping haircut, easily tolerates wintering, which facilitates care;
- juicy and dense greenery adorns the garden all year round, and does not freeze over the winter;
- with good care, juniper is practically not damaged by harmful insects and diseases.