Cypress

Cypress (Chamaecyparis) is an evergreen coniferous perennial plant from the Cypress family that can be found in the garden as a tree and on the windowsill as a houseplant. North American countries are considered the homeland of such species as Tuevidny, Lavson and Nutkansky, and the cypress trees Mourning, Pea, Dull and Formosa come from the East Asian states. In its natural environment, the height of the tree sometimes reaches 60-75 meters.

In appearance, the culture is very similar to thuja and cypress. Its individual species are very winter-hardy, they do not need additional shelter for the winter period, but the plant is difficult to tolerate the sultry and dry summer period. The cypress consists of a straight trunk, the brown surface of which is covered with numerous small scales, a conical crown and needle-shaped or scaly leaves of green, yellow or gray shades. On the outstretched or drooping branches, fruit-cones with a diameter of more than 10 mm appear with seeds inside.

Planting a cypress

Seat selection

Depending on the variety, the location should be chosen with varying degrees of illumination throughout the day. For example, a cypress tree with needles of yellow-green shades needs bright and long-term illumination, and trees with foliage of green-blue shades can grow well in the penumbra areas of the garden. It is desirable that the landing site is not in a lowland with an accumulation of cold air masses and high humidity. The soil should be fertile, with all the necessary nutrients, good drainage and not limestone. The most favorable soil is loamy.

Preparation of the soil on the site and the planting pit begins in the autumn. A twenty-centimeter drainage layer is poured at the bottom of the pit, consisting of river sand and broken red brick, and then half of it is filled with a special soil mixture. Its composition: soddy soil of humus (3 parts each), peat (2 parts) and fine-grained sand (1 part). Until spring, the substrate will settle, and at the end of April it will warm up well and will be ready for planting the culture. Directly on the day of planting, the pit is watered abundantly with water in the amount of 2-3 buckets.

The depth of the planting pit is about 1 meter, the width is 50-60 cm. The distance between plantings is at least 1 meter.

Most often, a cypress is grown from a seedling purchased in a specialized store or garden nursery, the root part of which, when purchased, should be in a moistened earthen coma. Before planting, the root part must be watered with a special preparation "Kornevin" (1 package is required for 5 liters of water), which promotes the formation of the root system and protects it from harmful climatic and weather influences.

How to plant a cypress

The prepared seedling is placed in the center of the planting pit and gradually filled with an earthen mixture consisting of three parts of humus and sod land, two parts of peat, one part of sand and three hundred grams of nitroammophoska. The root collar should remain 10-20 cm above the ground surface, as the substrate will settle after a while. The first watering is carried out immediately. After the soil has settled, it is recommended to add the required amount of soil mixture, apply a mulch layer and install a support and a sling of a young tree to it.

Cypress care

Caring for an evergreen perennial includes procedures that are important for it and simple for a gardener, during which the plant will fully grow and develop and retain its decorative qualities.

Watering and spraying

One of the most important procedures for caring for a coniferous tree is regular hydration in the form of watering and spraying. At moderate summer temperatures, watering is carried out once every 7-10 days. Each instance requires 8-10 liters of irrigation water. During a long absence of rain and at elevated air temperatures, watering a perennial can be done more often and in large quantities. Water spraying of an adult plant is recommended at least once a week, and seedlings require such a procedure every day.

Mulching, loosening and weeding

The mulching layer, consisting of peat or wood chips, retains moisture for a long time and reduces the amount of watering. With mulch, watering should be carried out only after the topsoil has dried. Another advantage of the mulch layer is the absence of weeds and the uselessness of loosening and weeding the soil.

Fertilization

Additional nutrient dressings are applied to the soil only during June and July. The first time the plants are fed only in the third month after planting the seedlings. Complex mineral fertilizers are recommended to be diluted in 2 times lower concentration than indicated in the instructions.

Adult crops are fertilized regularly with a break of fifteen days, but no longer than until the end of July. You can use complex dressings containing nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. The drug "Kemira", recommended for coniferous crops, has earned good reviews. The preparation in the form of a powder is applied to the soil surface in the near-trunk circle (approximately 100-150 g per plant) and embedded in the ground by loosening or digging.

In order for the cypress to prepare for the winter period, it is recommended to stop feeding at the end of July.

Transfer

Transplanting a coniferous perennial is not an easy task, since it has a branched horizontal root part, and it will be very troublesome to remove it from the ground. The transplanting rules are exactly the same as when planting a seedling. A favorable time for this is March-April.

Pruning

Regular pruning (sanitary and shaping) is another must-have in cypress care. With the arrival of early spring, the tree is being prepared for the new season and all dried, frozen and damaged branches are pruned. Do not leave bare branches on the tree, as they will no longer grow foliage and will dry out over time.

No earlier than a year after planting the crop or when transferring it to another place of cultivation, you can start forming the crown. Regular pruning helps keep it in a cone or pyramid shape. It is not recommended to remove more than thirty percent of the green mass with each haircut.

The last haircut of the season is from September to November. It is necessary to cut off a third of the young growth.

Preparing for winter and hibernation

Cypress belongs to frost-resistant crops, but in the first 3-4 years of life it is still recommended to shelter it for the winter from bright sunlight and from severe frosts. The covering material can be burlap, kraft paper or acrylic.

In regions with a cold climate, cypress is often kept in a large wooden barrel (tub), which is brought into a room with an average temperature of 18-20 degrees for the winter months. In Ukrainian, Moldavian and Crimean gardens, winters are much milder and warmer, so crops do not need additional shelter. Coniferous culture winters calmly in the open air.

Cypress propagation

For the propagation of wild species, seeds are more suitable, for reliability it is better to use cuttings, and for simplicity and ease - layering.

Seed propagation

This method is recommended to be used as a selection experiment. A feature of cypress seeds is their durability. For 15 years, they retain high germination and quality characteristics. It is advisable to carry out stratification before sowing. After sowing seeds in planting boxes with a light and loose substrate, you need to transfer them to the open air, cover with a layer of snow and leave until early spring. In the spring, the containers are placed in a bright, warm room and moistened regularly. After the massive appearance of seedlings, a pick is carried out, if necessary. As the seedlings grow and the weather warms, it is recommended to start hardening young plants (for several hours daily). The seedlings are transferred to open ground in the established warm weather. For the winter, you will need a reliable shelter that will save young specimens from severe cold weather.

Propagation by cuttings

The tops of the shoots are used for cuttings. The length of the cuttings is from 5 to 15 cm.From the lower half of the cuttings, you need to cut off all the needles and plant them in a special substrate consisting of perlite (1 part), fine-grained river sand (1 part) and chopped pine or spruce bark (1-2 handfuls) ... For each cutting, a separate flower container is needed, which, together with the cutting, must be covered with a bag of dense transparent polyethylene. In such greenhouse conditions, increased air humidity is created, which will allow the cuttings to form their own root part in 40-60 days.

Rooted cuttings are planted in open garden areas, covered with a cut plastic bottle and left for wintering without additional insulation.

Reproduction by layering

It is most convenient to propagate by layering those varieties of cypress, in which the shoots grow low to the soil surface and even spread along it. For propagation, you must use the lowest branches. A transverse incision is made on them, bent to the ground and secured with a staple or wire. Sprinkle the middle part with earth, and the top should remain above it. It is important to moisten the soil in a timely manner, and after the formation of the root part on the layers, they can be separated from the adult plant and transplanted. Transplantation of cuttings can be carried out in spring or autumn, depending on the timing of root formation.

A cypress on a garden plot is not only a worthy decoration, but also a great pride of the owner.

Diseases and pests

Cypress is highly resistant to diseases and pests, but sometimes such problems arise due to improper watering, temperature violations or poor conditions. Possible pests - scale insects and spider mites, diseases - root rot.

The mite infestation can be detected by the emerging negative signs on the plant, namely by the large number of yellow leaves and the massive loss of the leaf part in the future. Special chemical preparations - "Apollo", "Neoron" and "Nissoran" will help to destroy these pests. Processing is carried out several times, once a week, until the insects are completely destroyed.

The appearance on the cypress of a harmful scale insect leads to the drying out and falling off of a large amount of the leafy part, since it feeds exclusively on the juice of a coniferous plant. At the initial stage, you can get rid of the pest by spraying with Nuprid, which must be repeated at least 3-4 times.In case of a more serious defeat of a coniferous culture, you need to use the same means as for the destruction of a spider mite.

In the absence of a drainage layer in the planting pit, when a cypress is planted or when it is insufficient, the irrigation water stagnates in the root part, which leads to root rot. This fungal disease, if diagnosed late, can completely destroy the plant. In the early stages of the disease, the tree must be removed from the ground, rotten roots must be completely cut off, it is recommended to treat the cuts and healthy parts with a fungicide and plant in another place with suitable soil and drainage. A plant with completely rotten roots must be destroyed.

Types and varieties of cypress

Cypress consists of 7 main types and several hundred varieties. They all differ in height, color and shape of leaves and crown size, growth rate, adaptability to climatic and weather conditions, and many other qualities. Among their large number, there are the most popular and demanded varieties for amateur and professional gardeners.

Blunt cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa)

This species has Japanese roots. Features: height - 40-50 meters, trunk diameter - 2 meters, bark with a smooth light surface, dense shoots, needles color - yellow-green. Varieties - Sanderi, Contorta, Albopikta.

Thuate cypress (Chamaecyparis thyoides)

This species is native to the North American states. Features: specific aroma of needles when rubbed, red-brown shade of bark, needles of green-blue shade, trunk diameter - 90-100 cm, average tree height - 25 meters. Varieties - Konica, Endelainensis.

Formosian cypress (Chamaecyparis formosensis)

Not a winter-hardy species, most often grown in greenhouses, Taiwan is its homeland. Features: average height in the wild - 50-60 meters, trunk - up to 6 meters in diameter, dark needles of a green-blue hue.

Pea cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera)

This species is of Japanese origin, the average height in its natural environment is 25-30 meters. Features: cone-shaped openwork crown with open shoots, gray-blue needles, red-brown bark of the trunk and small yellow-brown cones. Popular varieties are Boulevard, Nana, Filifera.

Funeral cypress (Chamaecyparis funebris)

A low-growing species with a height of no more than 20 meters, common in the mountainous regions of China and Japan. The wide, dense cone-shaped crown consists of hanging shoots with dark brown rounded cones about ten millimeters in diameter, located on short cuttings. The tree is a weeping species. Recommended for potting.

Lawson's cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)

American tall species (up to 70 meters) with a narrow conical crown and a sloping top. The lower branches touch the soil surface, the needles are shiny bright green. Varieties - Seprise, Lavson Flatchery, Lavson Elwoody.

Nutkan cypress, or yellow (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis)

In natural conditions, this species is often found on the Pacific coast. The average height is about 40 meters, a dense crown with dark green needles, bark with shades of gray and brown, and spherical cones. Varieties - Glauka, Pendula.

Cypress - care, reproduction, planting. Flower bed decoration (video)