The evergreen Andorra Compact juniper forms dense green needles, which pleases with their decorativeness throughout the year. The plant, bred by American breeders, has a compact shape and good frost resistance, therefore it is suitable for growing throughout Russia.
Juniper Andorra Compact - planting and care rules
Brief information about the variety
- Colour: gray-green, in winter - with a purple tint.
- Height: 40 cm.
- Width: 2 m.
- Immunity: cold-resistant culture, disease-resistant, subject to all care rules.
- Landing features: bushes at a distance of 1 m, with a distance in a row of 1-1.2 m. Likes a sunny place with a little shade.
- Regions: the plant is suitable for growing throughout Ukraine, in the south, as well as in the central, central and northern part of Russia, provided that it is well insulated for the winter.
Growing regions
The main advantages of Andorra juniper include increased resistance to drought, cold weather and sudden changes in temperature.
It is suitable for growing throughout Ukraine, in the south, as well as in the central, central and northern part of Russia, provided it is well insulated for the winter.
The plant tolerates gas pollution well, therefore it can grow in any part of the garden area.
Description of the plant
This coniferous culture grows slowly - the annual growth is 10-15 cm. The maximum height is no more than 40 cm, the circumference is 2 m. The shape is flat-round, rosette-like. Shoots are thin, horizontal, slightly raised to the top, light brown, densely covered with needles.
In young specimens, stems with smooth bark, in adults, contain numerous cracks.
The needles are not prickly in summer, gray-green, closer to winter they acquire a purple hue. The root system is branched, close to the surface.
Landing rules
For the successful cultivation of this culture, some knowledge and skills will be required - you need to prepare a good place, soil, choose high-quality planting material.
The optimal time for planting is late April or early May. By this time, the spring heat has stabilized and the threat of the last frosts has passed.
Sapling selection
High-quality and correctly selected material is the key to the longevity and high decorativeness of this culture.
When choosing an ephedra, several rules should be followed.
- Take seedlings at least 3 years old, always with closed roots, because plants with an open root system can dry out quickly and die after planting. Usually they buy bushes in flowerpots, containers or together with an earthen lump wrapped in burlap.
- Before buying, the aboveground part of the juniper must be carefully inspected - it should be a uniform green color, without signs of mold, black, yellow spots, cracks and cracks.
- The optimal dimensions are 20x40 cm.
Location and ground
Choose healthy seedlings for planting
Andora Compact is a sun-loving culture and requires little shading at lunchtime.
It is better to plant a bush near tall bushes, which will create the necessary shade for the needles. At the same time, it is important to maintain a distance so that plants do not compete with each other for space, moisture and nutrients.
The optimal distance is at least 0.9-1 m.
This ephedra loves loose, light and well-drained soil. The site is cleared of last year's vegetation and weeds.
For an area of 1 m², it is recommended to add a couple of buckets of sand, which will increase aeration, and the same amount of black soil (meadow land) to increase fertility.
Landing technique
The first step is to prepare a planting pit - its dimensions should exceed the dimensions of the earthen clod of the seedling by 2-3 times. Half a bucket of broken brick, pebbles or rubble is laid at the bottom.
Then the composition is poured up to half - from turf, peat, sand, mixed in equal amounts. Additionally, put one handful of superphosphate, nitroammophoska and potassium nitrate.
An earthen lump with roots is lowered, all voids are filled with the remaining nutrient mixture. The near-trunk zone is trampled down, watered abundantly with water at the rate of 5 liters per plant.
When deepening the seedling, the root collar must be left above the surface of the soil, otherwise it will quickly rot and the ephedra will die.
Junipers love to grow on acidified soil, so after watering they mulch with a thick layer of peat. This shelter will provide the roots with all nutrients, protect them from drying out and weed growth.
When planting in groups, it is necessary to strictly follow the scheme so that with age the plants do not drown out each other, and there is no competition for the area. Bushes are planted at a distance of 1 m, with a distance in a row of 1-1.2 m.
The same scheme is maintained when grown together in a complex with other decorative flowering or deciduous plantings.
Care requirements
Watering
The first watering is carried out immediately after the soil dries up to a depth of 5-6 cm. Regular moistening ensures rapid growth of the root system, so the seedlings are watered at least twice a week during the first months.
In the future, they moisten less often, taking into account the amount of precipitation, and only when the earth dries out.
Loosening and mulch
For this plant, light loosening of the soil is allowed so as not to damage the delicate root system located close to the surface.
They loosen the soil a day after each watering, also remove weeds, weed between rows. Then mulch with pine chips or bark of coniferous trees - 5 cm. Such a layer of mulch will protect the soil and roots from drying out.
Top dressing
Top dressing will increase the tree's immunity
The first nutrition is carried out at planting, when the nutrients are laid in the pit. These substances will last until next year. In the spring, during the active growing season, nitrogenous preparations (nitroammofosk or urea) are introduced. These trace elements contribute to the growth of green mass. Prepare a solution of 20 g per bucket of water. 5 liters of nutrient fluid are consumed per plant.
Additionally, the juniper is fertilized in the fall - at the end of September or at the beginning of October. A mineral complex is used: superphosphate with potassium salt - 15 g per 10 liters of water.
You can replace them with ready-made preparations - Kaf or Granfoskaya.
Phosphate-potassium fertilizers increase immunity against diseases, strengthen the root system before the onset of the first persistent cold weather.
Pruning
This variety does not require formative pruning - its shoots form a dense and beautiful rosette without assistance.
But every spring he needs a sanitary haircut - it consists in removing all branches damaged by winds, diseases and parasites. Yellowed and dried parts are also removed.
The tips of the frozen branches are slightly trimmed, then sprayed with one of the etching agents (copper sulfate solution, Bordeaux liquid). Such an operation will stimulate the growth of a young growth, and treatment with a fungicide will protect against infection.
During pruning, you must use a sharp and sterile object - pruning shears or scissors.
Preparation for wintering
Basic care for this crop includes high-quality wintering preparation. Adult specimens tolerate severe winters well without shelter.
The only thing that needs to be done is to sprinkle the near-trunk zone with fallen leaves, peat or sawdust of coniferous trees.
Young plants have weak immunity, and can suffer at the first strong drops in temperature. Therefore, a month before the start of frost, the bushes are mulched, then the branches are covered with spruce branches, and after the snow falls, they are covered with a snowdrift.
Breeding methods
This plant can be propagated in two ways - by seed and using cuttings.
Most gardeners prefer the second method, since it is very difficult to get bushes with all varietal characteristics from seeds.
Material preparation
To obtain good material, it is necessary to use adult plants aged 8 to 10 years. Shoots are cut from April to May.
Cut off the apical cuttings 15-20 cm long with a piece of bark, then clean it and remove all needles and processes in the lower part 2-2.5 cm.
Planting and germination
For the convenience of growing and monitoring the growth, planting material is planted in flowerpots or pots one at a time. A prerequisite for the container is a height of at least 10 cm, the presence of several holes for the outflow of excess liquid.
Immediately after harvesting, the shoots are planted in light, loose soil - sand and peat, mixed in equal proportions. Embedding depth 3-4 cm. Planted at an angle of 45-50 ° C.
After planting, the cuttings are irrigated with warm water, covered with a half of a transparent bottle or plastic wrap, and placed in a warm place with diffused daylight.
The approximate rooting time will take 2 to 3 months. During this period, the juniper must be periodically sprayed, loosened the soil, remove weed shoots and ventilated.
Plants need to be well looked after
The optimum temperature for germination is 21-23 ° C, and with the appearance of young buds, it is lowered to 18-19 ° C.
A transplant to an open area is carried out no earlier than two years later.
If you do this immediately after root formation, the plant may not take root. The main reason for poor adaptation is a weak root system and low immunity.
Diseases
Junipers of Andorra rarely get sick, with the exception of plants that are poorly looked after, kept in thickets and thickened.
- Rust. Signs - the appearance of round, oval or shapeless orange growths on the surface of the shoots and in the near-stem zone. The peak of development occurs in the summer in wet and rainy weather.
- Schütte. The plant is covered with small rounded black spots. Such shrubs quickly weaken, in conditions of high humidity they rot and die.
- Biotorella cancer. This sore leads to blackening and drying of the bark on the shoots and the central conductor. Affected wood dies off over time, bare stems become a bait for various parasites and infections, so such a plant has no chance of survival.
- Alternaria. The needles take on a dark brown or black hue, the branches are covered with a velvety bloom.
Heavily infected specimens must be removed from the site, and the place of their growth must be disinfected with a solution of copper sulfate or Bordeaux liquid. With a slight infection, all damaged organs are removed, the aerial part and the near-stem zone are irrigated with fungicides - Ordan, Skor, Horus or Ridomil Gold.
The same funds are used for prophylaxis in early spring and late autumn.
Pests
- Aphid. This insect sucks the juices from the needles, young juniper buds, leads to their drying out.
- Shield. Parasites eat into young shoots and needles, after which the affected parts crumble. In case of a mass invasion, they can completely destroy the plant in a short time.
- Spider mite. A sucking insect can be identified by a small cobweb on the needles. The microscopic parasite first braids with nets, then sucks juices from young organs, after which they turn yellow and crumble.
- Juniper sawfly. Eats out needles, buds and bumps.
- Caterpillar of the shoot juniper moth. It bites into shoots and gnaws them from the inside.
To protect against the pests described above, it is necessary to use insecticides - Actellic, Aktaru or Angio. These drugs carry out two-fold preventive treatment in early spring and autumn - a month before the first frost.
Application in landscape
The evergreen horizontal Andorra Compact juniper is a great element in any garden composition:
- it is planted both in single and group plantings;
- combined with other conifers, deciduous bushes, trees;
- with the help of this culture, many gardeners manage to create impressive combinations in a rock garden, a flower garden, by a pond, in a flower bed.
The plant purifies and saturates the air with useful components, it is used to strengthen the slopes, protect tall shrubs from lodging.
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Gardeners reviews
Many gardeners prefer only this variety of juniper:
According to their description, the plant does not need formative pruning, takes root well on any type of soil, and lives for a long time.
An ornamental horizontal shrub perfectly conceals all imperfections on the ground surface. Even with a change in color, this ephedra retains its decorative effect and pleases the eye throughout the year.