Juniper mulch. Juniper horizontal. Formation of juniper, cutting

Juniper belongs to the cypress genus of evergreen plants. They are quite unpretentious to the soil and do not require careful care. But in order for the juniper to grow healthy and please the eye, it is still necessary to perform a number of procedures.

Plant care

To provide favorable conditions For the growth and development of juniper, it is necessary to follow special rules for caring for it. Required:

• Watering. Juniper does not require much water. Even in hot weather, one watering per month is enough. It is recommended to give the plant a “shower” once a week by spraying water on it. It is best to do this in the early morning or late evening to prevent damage to wet needles by active sunlight;
• Trimming. Apart from the systematic removal of dried branches, the plant does not need pruning. If desired, you can add individual uniform bush, but this should be done carefully, without cutting off many branches at a time, as the plant may get sick;
• Care in winter and spring period s. In order to prevent freezing (if the juniper grows in cold areas), the juniper is covered with a cloth, and the young seedlings are sprinkled with sawdust or straw. If the plant is winter period was not covered, then this must be done with the beginning of spring, when the intensity of solar activity intensifies. This will help prevent the risk of burns due to exposure. sun rays, after which it is difficult for him to recover. After the snow melts, the plant is freed from the covering material, then it is carefully inspected, protective mulch is removed around the trunk - this will help protect the basal trunk and roots from rotting.

Note! Another important component of juniper care is feeding. This - necessary procedure, especially for transplanted, young plants, since they are still weak and susceptible to all kinds of diseases.

It is also necessary to fertilize if the soil at the planting site is poor. This process must be performed throughout the season. Feeding should begin a month after planting, adding nutrients in small quantities.

Soil requirements

Before planting juniper, you need to carefully study the composition of the soil on the site. This is due to the fact that each type of plant has an individual need for soil. For example, Cossack, Central Asian and common juniper For favorable life activity, soil with an alkaline composition is required. For other species, an acidic environment is more suitable. To create it, add peat, sand or mulch using sawdust or wood shavings. To create an alkaline environment, dolomite flour or slaked lime is used.

It is also important to create natural air exchange (aeration) for the root system. To do this, drainage must be introduced: broken brick, river pebbles, large expanded clay.

There is a recipe for making universal composition soil suitable for all species. It is necessary to mix peat, river sand and soil from coniferous forest in proportions 1:1:1. Be sure to mulch with wood shavings or peat, adding them near the base of the trunk.

Important! After planting any type of juniper, it is watered with a large volume of water. Then, for protection purposes, mulching is done around the trunk of the plant. The material used is the shell pine nuts, peat, sawdust, pine bark, crushed cones. The thickness of the pillow varies from 5 to 10 cm.

Fertilizers and fertilizers

While the juniper bush is still young, it requires annual fertilization. It is allowed to start fertilizing the plant only in the second year after planting. If this is an adult representative of the cypress family, then it is necessary to feed it once every 2-3 years. The fertilizer material can be superphosphate, rotted manure, ammonium nitrate and other mineral fertilizers.

The most optimal time to apply nutrients is the period from late April to early June (the period of bud swelling). Fertilizers should be applied to the ground around the plant, retreating 15 cm from the trunk, to a depth of 10 cm. After fertilizing, water the plant with water.

IN summer period It is necessary to feed the juniper with special compounds and substances that are useful for coniferous representatives. They must contain the following elements:

• copper;
• manganese;
• iron;
• potassium;
• phosphorus;
• zinc.

Such elements enrich juniper with essential substances that have a beneficial effect on the richness of the color of the needles, strengthen the plant’s immunity and increase resistance to weather conditions.

When choosing fertilizer for feeding shrubs in autumn period preference should be given to mixtures in which nitrogen is present in minimum quantities. This is due to the fact that this component reduces the ability of juniper to tolerate low temperatures. This occurs due to the active growth of shoots that do not have time to harden before the onset of cold weather, as a result of which they freeze out. The plant also needs magnesium at this time of year to prevent yellowing of the top.

Organic, liquid fertilizers based on vermicompost dissolved in water are favorably accepted by juniper. This fertilizing can stimulate root growth and also activate photosynthesis.

Conclusion

Proper care of juniper will help not only extend the life of the plant, but also preserve its natural beauty, which will delight the owner long years. An integral part of caring for this shrub is the application of fertilizers to the soil, which strengthen the plant’s immunity and its root system, ensure his healthy appearance.

We were planning to build our own alpine slide or decorate a garden plot in an original way? Create comfortable conditions for the juniper, which gives its owner not only good mood, but also healing phytoncides that strengthen the nerves and help overcome the everyday anxiety of our hectic times.

Juniper, fragrant evergreen centenarian(500-2500 years old) of the Cypress family, has recently become a decoration personal plots, a bright element of landscape decor. There are more than 70 species of this unpretentious winter-hardy plant, which has a powerful root system, a height of up to 10 m and a growing area from northern latitudes to the tropics. Juniper leaves, depending on the type, are scaly or coniferous different shapes, and their color is blue, gray, yellowish and all shades of green, which allows you to create picturesque, multi-level, multi-colored compositions on the site.

Here are some juniper species with a “fashionable” exterior:

• Red cedar (pencil tree)- slender, upright growing shrub/small tree 7-12 m tall and 4-6 m wide. In the first years the plant is compact and conical, then it becomes wide, asymmetrical and openwork. The branches are bent upward. The needles are scaly, needle-shaped in the shade, dark or gray-green, dark red in winter. It grows only in the sun, tolerates large temperature changes, is winter-hardy and wind-resistant. Suitable for topiary haircut.
• Juniper horizontal (prostrate ) - prostrate dwarf shrub 0.2-0.3 m tall and 1.5-2 m wide with creeping shoots. The needles are scaly, the color ranges from green to metallic blue, becoming crimson or dark red in winter. Grows in sun and partial shade, tolerates large temperature changes, is winter-hardy and wind-resistant.
• Juniper medium - vertically growing, asymmetrical shrub 2-5 m high and 3-6 m wide. The branches form layers, the side shoots are often raised. The needles are scaly, the color ranges from dull gray to blue-green; in the shade or after pruning, the needles become needle-shaped. Grows quickly in sun and partial shade, tolerates large temperature changes, is wind-resistant, and winter-hardy. It tolerates simple and topiary haircuts well.
• Juniper durum - a columnar tree native to Japan up to 8 m tall with hard, sharp, yellow-green needles. Very light-loving, undemanding to soil fertility. Males are especially beautiful as tapeworms.
• Chinese juniper - large shrub/tree. The branches have both scaly and needle-shaped needles of green, bluish or gray color, becoming needle-shaped in the shade or when heavily pruned. It grows only in the sun, even in light shade it thins out. Frost-resistant, takes root well, but does not tolerate dry air. IN Middle lane Russia is replaced by cypress trees.
• Juniperus daurica - creeping shrub with ascending branches. The needles are needle-shaped, sharp, scaly in good lighting, and become brownish after frost. Light-loving, tolerates light shading, drought-resistant. Suitable for slopes, slopes and rock gardens.

Juniper varieties most commonly used for garden design and home decor:

“anna maria”, “bruns”, “depressa aurea”, “horstmann”, “hibernica”, “Compressa”, “green carpet”, “old gold”, “gold star”, “mint julep”, “skyrocket”, “andorra compacta”, “blue star”, “blue arrow”, “blue chip”.

Selection of seedlings

It is best to purchase a seedling from a nursery, where you can choose the variety and specimen you like, and also get advice on caring for juniper and its neighbors. When buying a juniper, pay attention that its root system is developed and occupies the entire volume of the planting container (it is advisable that the seedling is in a solid “dishes” and not in bags, where the root system is easily damaged). Ask the seller to remove the plant from the pot and show you its roots - they should be white, fresh and smell good. The needles of a healthy candidate for planting are lush, without yellowness, rich green in color, the branches are not dry, and the optimal age is 3-4 years.

Place

Juniper - light-loving plant, loving space, so it is advisable that its crown be in the sun most of the day, otherwise the plant will lose its splendor. Loose, breathable soil for juniper (pH = 4.5-7) can be “constructed” yourself by mixing turf soil and sand in a ratio of 2:1:1. Or don’t bother and buy ready soil PETER PEAT “Garden soil” from the HOBBY line, which will reduce the number of weeds and the percentage of possible plant diseases.

Choose places to plant junipers with low level groundwater occurrence to avoid root rotting.

Planting juniper seedlings

Planting of horizontal juniper is carried out from April to the second ten days of May (if autumn is dry, then in late August - early September) and includes a number of simple rules:

• The depth of the planting hole should be twice the height of the seedling and be at least 70-80 cm, and its width should be 2.5 times larger than the root ball of the seedling. A 10 cm drainage layer of crushed stone, gravel or large expanded clay PETER PEAT line VITA is placed at the bottom of the pit. Then there is a sand layer 20 cm thick, and from above to ground level there is a soil mixture of turf land, sand and soil PETER PEAT “Garden soil” of the HOBBY line (1:1:2). If the soil on your site is heavy, liming it dolomite flour at the rate of 500-600 g/sq.m.
• Before planting, to prevent diseases, immerse the root part of the seedling for 2 hours in a 3% aqueous solution of potassium permanganate.
• When the planting hole is half filled with the required “ingredients”, pour a bucket of water into it; After planting a seedling/adult plant, water it with two more, this will protect you from the risk of underwatering and drying out of the roots.
• Plant the plant together with a lump of earth, after thoroughly spilling the pot with water. Try not to damage the roots and root ball of soil. When planting, the root collar of young seedlings is level with the ground, for young seedlings - 2-3 cm, and for adult junipers - 10 cm above ground level.
• Between neighboring young junipers there should be a distance of 0.6-1 m, between large ones - 1.5-2.5 m. It is necessary to calculate so that the distance between already adult individuals is 1.5-4 m, taking into account the overgrown crowns.
• Mulch your plantings with a 5-8 cm layer of sawdust, dead leaves, pine bark PETER PEAT line DECO or special artificial material.

Replanting juniper

This is an extremely undesirable and painful procedure for the juniper, so it is better not to make mistakes with the place of its initial planting. But once you’ve decided, take care of landscaping “ the right pit"(see Planting) and creating a comfortable soil by mixing coniferous soil, peat, sand in equal parts with snitroammophos (30-40 g/sq.m). Fill the half-filled hole with a bucket of water and pour it again with 2 more buckets after the juniper has finally settled in the new place. 2 days after transplantation, feed the plant with liquid humic fertilizer PETER PEAT “Living Force: Stress Resistance”.

Replanting juniper from the forest

You can dig up a juniper tree in a coniferous forest, guided by the following parameters: height no more than 50 cm, straight trunk, all needles are green, no dry twigs. Dig up the ground 0.5 m around the trunk and pull out the plant along with the lump, carefully cutting off the roots and trying to leave them as long as possible. Place the seedling in a bag and, without destroying the lump under any circumstances, take it to the site, to the prepared hole. You need to plant juniper, clearly repeating its forest orientation to the cardinal directions: to do this, while still in the forest, mark the “notched” side of the earthen clod with a stick or simply tie a thread.

Feeding juniper

Feed your juniper in April mineral fertilizer PETER PEAT “NPK 15-15-15” from the MINERAL line. In the future, water it monthly with liquid humic fertilizer PETER PEAT “Living force: for coniferous crops”, combining the fertilizer with watering and first lightly loosening the tree trunk circle. But if the plant is already growing well, fertilize it every other month. Alternative fertilizers:

• nitroammophoska (30 - 40 g per 1 m²);
• “Kemira Universal” (20 g per 10 liters of water).

Juniper propagation

Seeds. Not all varieties of juniper can be grown from seeds - hybrid varieties(labeled f1) do not produce offspring in this way. Natural pollination of a plant provides too little planting material, and it can be collected from two-year-old and older junipers strictly during the darkening of the berries, but not later. Next, stratify the collected seeds: put a layer of sand and moss in a box 20x30x30 cm; on him thin layer juniper seeds; on top is a layer similar to the first. The box should stay outside all winter and the first half of spring. This will speed up seed germination, because... seeds that have not undergone this procedure will be able to sprout only after a year. In May, soak juniper seeds for 30 minutes in a 3% solution of potassium permanganate, then 2 hours in liquid humic fertilizer PETER PEAT and plant in prepared beds (see section Planting) according to a 50x80 cm pattern, followed by watering, weeding, and loosening the rows.

Cuttings with a “heel”. In early spring, early in the morning in cloudy weather, cut branches 12 cm long from an adult juniper so that they have “heels” - 2-3 cm pieces of the trunk. Remove the needles from them and place them for a day in a solution of liquid humic fertilizer PETER PEAT “Living Force: for soaking seeds”, which stimulates root formation. Next, immerse the juniper cuttings 3 cm into pots with a diameter of 15 cm with a sand substrate, garden soil and peat (1:1:1), water and cover with film. Rooting temperature +22-28°C, humidity of the upper part of the cuttings 90%. Place the pots on the windowsill, towards the light. Remember, the soil should always be moist, but overwatering can cause root rot. Every 5 hours, remove the film to allow the cuttings to breathe and check the moisture content of the substrate. After 30-50 days, the plantings will have roots; after another 2 months they can be transplanted into pots, and permanent place- in 2-3 years.

In a greenhouse. Prepare a hole 25 cm deep in the garden bed, lay drainage made of expanded clay or small crushed stone 5 cm thick on the bottom, and on top - a soil mixture of sand and peat (1:1). Above the resulting bed, install arcs 25-30 cm high and cover them with thick film. Sprinkle thoroughly with water and bury the cuttings 3 cm into it in increments of 40-50 cm. Do not forget to ventilate every 5 hours, and in sunny weather, remove the film.

Juniper care

In the first year after planting, the soil under the juniper must be carefully loosened so as not to damage its root system. You can add a little peat or pine nut shells from the PETER PEAT line DECO to the soil. The top of the tree trunk circle can be mulched with sawdust or dry leaves.

Watering juniper

Juniper can go without water for a long time, but it still needs to be watered once a month: one plant should have 15-25 liters of water. In hot summers, he loves a weekly water shower from a watering can or spray bottle - this procedure is best done in the early morning or evening. If the summer is rainy, a shower once every 3 weeks is enough. Water the young seedlings along the edge of the hole once a week.

Trimming. Juniper “for life” does not need pruning, you just need to remove the dry branches that appear. But when forming the crown, you can also cut off “unnecessary” healthy branches, only a little, because the plant may get sick.

Shelter. To protect the juniper from fractures due to heavy snowfall, tie its branches with twine and periodically shake off the snow from them. It is a good idea to cover young specimens with spruce branches or aspargan. Before winter, be sure to mulch the tree trunks of plants with peat or sawdust to a thickness of 8-10 cm.

In spring, the sun mercilessly burns the juniper needles, so do not immediately remove the covering material “forever” - let the juniper gradually get used to the light, increasing the daily time it is exposed by 15-20 minutes. As soon as the snow clears from the tree trunk, remove old layer mulch, dig up the soil 5-8 cm, level it and make a new layer of mulch.

Diseases and pests

Happy juniper plantings to you!

We planted junipers, they took root, now we need to learn how to preserve and increase their beauty. Care so that the needles remain thick and fluffy, do not fade from the sun, maintaining a rich green or blue color, and the crown pleases the eye with its perfect shape.

How to fertilize and moisturize juniper

Junipers do not need frequent and abundant fertilizing, especially with organic matter. Young plants are fertilized once a year, in April-May, with Kemira-universal (15-20 g per bucket of water) or nitroammophoska. It is scattered in a circle near the trunk (but not near the trunk!) at the rate of 30-40 g per 1 m2 and the soil is watered abundantly. Adult plants can generally do without fertilizing. They don't need either frequent watering, even in hot summers, only two or three are enough, with a consumption of 10-30 liters of water per plant.

But spraying or sprinkling is very useful for all junipers and at any age: many of them do not tolerate dry air well. Moisture washes the needles, which helps clean the stomata - breathing holes. It is advisable to spray weekly, in the evening or on a cloudy day. You will immediately notice the result - after man-made rain, the needles begin to smell fragrant.

Preparing juniper for winter

Most junipers tolerate our winters well, and their frost resistance increases with age. Only heat-loving European varieties, young plants in the first year after planting and those that are weakened after a dry summer need to be covered for the winter. In the first half of November, the tree trunk circle should be sprinkled with peat with a layer of 10-12 cm and covered with spruce branches. In early spring, the cover is removed and the peat is raked away from the trunk to prevent rotting of the root collar.

We have already mentioned that the crown of pillar junipers can be damaged during heavy snowfalls. Therefore, you need to regularly shake off snow from them, and also better in autumn tie tightly with a wide ribbon, in a spiral from bottom to top. But the most dangerous thing for the decorative appearance of junipers is sunburn. When the bright sun begins to warm up, the stomata of the needles open, the plant begins to breathe and evaporate the moisture present in the cells. At the same time, the roots in the frozen ground are not yet working, the plant cannot replenish its moisture reserves, and dehydration begins.

An additional blow is dealt ultra-violet rays. Reflecting from the surface of the snow, they fall on the underside of the needles. As a result, the needles turn brown and dry out, which is often discovered only in May, when nothing can be done. You need to protect yourself from this trouble in the fall: water the plant well, saturating the soil with moisture, and at the beginning of winter, wrap the crown with non-woven material.

Formation of juniper, cutting

Nature has given junipers a beautiful crown, so there is no need to cut them. An exception is made for those plants that have decided to be shaped in some special way. For example, branches of spreading and creeping junipers are cut out if they want to make them compact or restrain their growth. Basically, pruning involves removing diseased, broken, old or dried branches.

Only plants in a trimmed hedge are pruned 2-3 times per season, removing side branches: the first time - at the end of April, the second - in mid-summer, the last - as needed, for example, if green wall loses its shape.

Protecting juniper from diseases and pests

Rust brings the most trouble to junipers. The disease is signaled by the appearance of swellings with yellowish gelatinous or mucous secretions of fungi. Diseased branches are removed, and the bush is sprayed with a solution of the drug Abiga-Pik (50 g per 10 l of water), 4 times with an interval of 10 days.

Of the pests, they are especially annoying different types aphids. Fitoverm is used against it (20 g per 10 liters of water): double treatment with an interval of 10-14 days. Double spraying with Decis pro (0.5 g per 10 liters of water) is effective against juniper leaf miner moths, after 10-14 days. WITH spider mite fight using the drug fufanon (15 ml per 10 liters of water). It is also used to treat a bush that has been badly damaged by the sawfly. You can find out about the appearance of this pest by discovering that the branches have become fragile and hollow inside.

Unfortunately, Cossack juniper is a carrier of rust, so it should not be planted close to fruit trees and berry bushes.

Junipers are a fairly large group of evergreen conifers of the cypress family. For landscaping gardening areas and summer cottages juniper trees and shrubs with a height of 150 cm to 20 m are planted, various forms- creeping, bushy, spherical or erect. But, despite all its beauty and unpretentiousness, improper care and diseases can cause severe harm to the plant. The article will discuss how to properly care for juniper and means of pest control.

Young junipers have needle-shaped foliage, which changes with age, depending on the variety, and takes on the appearance of small scales. Junipers have a powerful root system, but grow extremely slowly; thanks to this feature, the growth period of some representatives can last up to 1000 years.

Juniper care

• Conifers are crops that do not require special care. Basic care consists of watering, spraying, loosening the soil and removing weeds.
• It is important to protect the plant in early spring from sunburn, and in winter time protect the crown from snowball pressure.
• And if it was chosen right place for planting - a sunny, bright clearing, with light, nutritious soil - then the juniper will delight you with healthy dense foliage and an attractive appearance for many years.

Fertilizer

• Young juniper needs annual fertilization, starting from the second year after planting. Older representatives need to be fed once every 2-3 years. Rotted manure, superphosphate, ammonium nitrate and other mineral fertilizers are used as fertilizer.

• The nutrient mixture is applied during the period of bud swelling (late April - early June) into the ground around the plant, to a depth of 10 cm, and then watered. At the same time, you should not pour fertilizer directly to the trunk or branches of plants (retreat 15 cm).
• Also during summer season, it is allowed to “feed” the juniper with a special complex fertilizer for conifers. The composition includes such elements as:
  1. magnesium;
  2. potassium;
  3. iron;
  4. copper;
  5. manganese;
  6. zinc;
  7. phosphorus.
• Thanks to this combination, the juniper receives complete nutrition, which has a positive effect on the color and brightness of the needles, resistance to adverse weather factors, as well as strengthening the immune system.
• When buying fertilizer, you should give preference to one in which the nitrogen content is minimal, especially if you plan to apply it in the autumn. Since this negatively affects the frost resistance of juniper: active growth of shoots occurs, which do not have time to become woody in winter and freeze out. At the same time, juniper needs a large amount of magnesium, a deficiency of which causes yellowing of the apical shoots.
• Junipers respond well to the addition of liquids to the soil. organic fertilizers based on vermicompost diluted with water. This feeding stimulates the growth of the root system and activates photosynthesis processes.
• The use of any fertilizer must comply with the recommendations on the package, since junipers are plants that are better to underfeed than to overfeed.

Watering and spraying

• Juniper belongs to drought-resistant plants, but if the summer is too dry and hot, then you should water the plantings abundantly 2-3 times per season. Up to 30 liters of water are poured onto one bush. Mostly young and recently transplanted plants need watering. This is due to the fact that their roots have not yet gone deep into the soil and are located close to the surface. Watering is carried out in the morning or in the evening.
• In the autumn, before finally preparing the plant for hibernation, it is watered abundantly (up to 10 liters of water per 1 sq.m.), this measure will help the juniper to overwinter better.

• It settles on the branches and needles of plants a large number of dust, which spoils the appearance and clogs pores, interfering with the process of photosynthesis. As it gets dirty (about 1-2 times a month), it is necessary to spray the crown. The procedure is carried out in the morning or evening to prevent sunburn on the foliage, since the water acts like a lens, attracting the sun's rays.
• The stream of water should not be directed directly at the juniper, otherwise the fragile shoots may break due to the strong pressure. This has a particularly bad effect on the shape of columnar representatives. Newly transplanted juniper can be sprayed with stress-relieving drugs added to the water: Zircon, Epin-Extra, Ribav and others.

Loosening and mulching

• Junipers need to loosen the soil and mulch it after each watering and weeding. Young plants have small roots located close to the surface, so the soil should be loosened carefully and shallowly.
• Mulching is necessary to prevent the formation of a dense earth crust, rapid drying of the soil, and also to inhibit the growth of weeds. In addition, thanks to mulching, you can avoid burns to the root system from bright sun or its freezing during return frosts. Moreover, this excellent remedy for the development of special soil microflora and mycorrhiza, with the help of which plants receive more nutrients and water from the soil.

• A variety of crushed material is used as mulch: peat, sawdust, conifer bark, wood chips or nutshells, sprinkled in a layer of 5-10 cm. Mulch also has a decorative function, giving the juniper composition a complete look.

Pruning

• Juniper is used in many gardening compositions; it can be planted in small groups or single representatives. Most of its species do not need pruning, but when forming a hedge, it is necessary. The plant tolerates pruning well, so it is quite easy to shape its crown in different shapes - pyramidal, spherical, creeping or columnar. Below are photos of juniper of various forms.

Advice: do not forget that most of these are slow-growing plants, so they should be pruned very carefully.

• Forming garden composition of several juniper plants, it is important to maintain a distance between plantings so that nearby plants do not shade each other:

1. fast-growing species are planted at a distance of 3-4 m;
2. slow-growing ones can be planted at a distance of 1-3 m from each other;
3. creeping species are planted in groups of 2-4 pieces. per 1 sq.m.

• If the conditions have not been met and neighboring branches interfere with the full development of plants, then pruning must be done.
• It is important to remove dried, damaged branches and broken shoots throughout the season. The best time For the formation of the crown, the spring period is considered, before the buds open. Junipers used as hedges are pruned in mid-summer. It is not recommended to have a haircut in autumn time, as this has a bad effect on the wintering of plants.

Preparing for winter

• Conifers most often belong to frost-resistant crops, but some varieties do not tolerate harsh climates well, so for the winter they should be covered with spruce branches, and the ground around should be mulched with a layer of sawdust or peat (up to 10 cm), which is raked in the spring so that the roots do not rot out.
• Young plants (up to 3-4 years old) also need to be covered for the winter. In addition, if the juniper has a spreading crown or pyramidal and columnar shapes, then the branches for the winter should not be tied too tightly with twine or twine, so as not to damage them with a snow cap.

• Mature juniper that tolerates well low temperatures, it is better not to cover, as this can lead to undesirable consequences - during winter thaws, they begin to develop under the covering material fungal diseases. However, they need to be shaded for the winter using a net placed on the sunny side.
• Abundant autumn watering helps junipers to successfully overwinter. If the crown was formed (trimmed) at the end of September-October, then the plant should be covered.
• The following materials are used for shelter:
  1. sackcloth;
  2. kraft paper or regular newspapers;
  3. nonwoven materials (spunbond, lutrasil, agrospan and others).
• A material that does not allow air to pass through will not work. The plant must breathe, so when wrapping the shelter around the juniper, you should leave open place, preferably with shadow side to prevent exposure to bright sunlight and the possibility of crown burns.
• The cover must be removed carefully so as not to damage the fragile hibernation, juniper. It is best to do this at the end of April, when the earth has already warmed up slightly and the root system begins to receive nutrition. A cloudy, windless day is chosen so that the plant gradually adapts to changing conditions.

Diseases and pests

Junipers have fairly durable wood that is resistant to rot and the harmful effects of insects. But despite this, plants have common diseases and pests that need to be controlled.

Juniper pests

Conifers suffer from insect attacks, perhaps even more than deciduous trees. After all, the needles grow for many years and if they are damaged, the plant takes on an unkempt, painful appearance. Therefore, it is so important to promptly detect and prevent the spread of pests.

Sawfly

• A small herbivorous insect with complete metamorphosis. Sawfly larvae cause great harm to juniper. It's quite easy to recognize them. They are green in color, similar to caterpillars, but endowed with eight pairs of legs, three dark stripes along the body, a brown head with two simple eyes.

• Female pests begin to fly in late summer or early autumn. They lay eggs inside twigs and needles. In places where such oviposition occurs, slight yellowing and tiny cuts can be seen. The larvae appear in May-June, live in nests, and spread by migration. They damage the internal tissues of shoots and needles, completely destroying one branch and moving to the next. Life cycle The larvae last 20-30 days, after which they crawl to the ground under the plant and pupate, and in the fall the females reappear and lay eggs.
• As control measures, the crowns are treated in May-June with biological products, for example “Lepidotsid”, chemical contact insecticides, for example “Korbofos” and drugs such as “Decis”, “Kinmiks” or “Benzophosphate”. Spray should be done twice, with a break of 2-4 weeks.
• In addition, it is necessary to shake off damaged branches from time to time and loosen the tree trunk circles; also in June-July you can water the juniper with a weak solution of ash.

• These are small insects, green or Brown living in colonies. They appear in early spring from eggs laid in autumn.

• They settle mainly on young shoots and feed on the sap of the plant, depriving it vitality. Peak aphid activity occurs in June. If one plant is severely damaged, the aphid colony moves to nearby growing species. It is necessary to regularly inspect juniper plantings and take active control measures at the first signs of aphids.
• You can fight aphids with various methods. For example, collect aphids with your hands or spray infected plants with ordinary water under pressure. Or spray the juniper with preparations such as Fitoverm or Karbofos twice, every 10-15 days. Folk remedies will also help - infusions of garlic, hot pepper, wormwood or tomato leaves.
• There are plants that repel aphids. For example, under juniper you can plant perennial flowers from the aster family - pyrethrum. They will not only help get rid of the pest, but also decorate the garden.

Mining moth

• A type of pest butterfly that damages plant needles. It received this name because of the feeding method of caterpillars that mine needles - they eat them out inner part, leaving the skin intact.

• Control measures include the use of a solution of the drug "Decisa", which is sprayed on juniper 2 times, with an interval of 15-20 days. It is also necessary late autumn dig up row spacing and till the soil in tree trunk circles, such a measure leads to the death of most moth pupae in winter. In addition, the trunks should be cleared of old bark, and any damage found should be repaired with soda water.

Needle mite

• A small insect of yellow, red, green or white. Mite infestation manifests itself as an increase in the tips of the needles. For destruction, the drugs “Karate”, “Akarin” or “Neoron” are used. Processing should be done in early May.
• Also effective measure can be watering the juniper crown warm water, with addition laundry soap, several times a season. You can also use folk remedies, such as infusions of tobacco, horseradish leaves or garlic - spray the plant after 5-7 days, for a month.

Juniper scale insect

• A small insect, pale yellow in color, oblong or round shape. They nest in cones or on pine needles and feed on the sap of the plant, which leads to slow growth and sometimes even death of the juniper. Harm is caused by both larvae and female insects.
• It is necessary to regularly inspect plants and carry out immediate control at the first signs of damage. Measures to destroy the pest include the use of various insecticidal preparations: Karbofos, Aktara, Fosbecid or Actellik.
• You should also wash the plants for a week with a weak solution of laundry soap, remembering to rinse the juniper afterwards clean water. Severely damaged branches should be cut out and burned.

Juniper diseases

All diseases to which juniper is exposed are curable only if measures are taken in time. Fungal spores cause the greatest harm to conifers. Experts have identified more than 40 various types pathogenic fungi that are causative agents of juniper diseases.

Fusarium (tracheomycosis wilt)

• The causative agent of the disease is Fusarium mushroom. The disease manifests itself in yellowing or redness of the needles, a thinning crown and subsequent drying out of the plant. The disease begins from the root system, fungal spores penetrate the internal tissues and block the access of nutrients. Juniper roots turn brown and then die. The fungus causes the greatest harm to young plants.

• As soon as the first signs appear, all diseased specimens should be promptly removed. As a preventive measure, before planting, treat the root system of plants with one of the following fungicidal preparations: Vitaros, Baktofit, Fitosporin-M or Maxim. The soil under the plants is shed with a solution of the drug “Alirin-B” or “Gamair”, and the plant itself can be sprayed with a solution of “Fundazol”.

Alternaria blight

• The cause of the disease is the Alternaria fungus, which attacks the root system of young plants. As a result, the needles acquire a brown tint, and a dark coating appears on the branches.
• As a rule, the disease is caused by dense planting of seedlings. To combat the fungus, it is necessary to destroy all affected branches, disinfect the wounds with a solution of copper sulfate and cover them with garden varnish. Spray in spring Bordeaux mixture or the drug "Abiga-Peak".

Juniper rust

• The most common plant disease is considered to be “rust”; the causative agent of the disease is the fungus Gymnosporangium and several of its species.

• Its peculiarity is that for full development it requires a change of place of residence. Initially, in May-June, the mushrooms settle on fruit and berry trees, and only by mid-summer are the ripened spores carried by the wind to the juniper.
• As a control measure, the Arcerida solution is used, which needs to be sprayed on the diseased plant every 10 days until complete recovery. Spraying with a solution of Bordeaux mixture and disinfecting the resulting wounds will also help. copper sulfate. In addition, you should not combine planting juniper with fruit and berry crops. All diseased plants must be destroyed. If the juniper is partially damaged, then in the spring the infected branches are cut out and burned.
• Recognizing rust is quite simple - orange spots, slightly convex, on the needles or petioles of the plant. When cracking, powder appears from the stain - spores of the rust fungus. The disease must be treated immediately as soon as it is detected, otherwise it can lead to the death of shoots, weakening general condition juniper and its death. Spores appear in May-July; prolonged rains and low temperature air.

Schutte

With proper care, even an old juniper will become a wonderful decoration for a garden or personal plot Moreover, this is an excellent disinfectant - 1 hectare of juniper per day can clear the atmosphere of pathogens in a large city.