Palm Sunday happens every year. And even people who are weak believers (or even consider themselves unbelievers) give each other “seals”. Even if the religious significance of such a gift is indifferent to them, tradition marks for everyone the final and victorious offensive of spring. And when the holidays end, people often notice that the gift gave the roots, and begin to wonder how to plant a willow from a twig. Not everyone will raise a hand to throw a stalk capable of surviving. In addition, the idea itself is attractive: the willow grows on your site. How to plant her so that she survives and makes you happy with cats every spring is the topic of this article.
The sacred meaning of willow
Willow and before the adoption of Christianity by Russia was considered a miracle tree. She did not change her status even after baptism. In Orthodoxy, she took the place of the palm branches with which the Jews met Christ at the entrance to Jerusalem. It was used in drugs for infertility and fever; it was used to treat wounds with a powder, including those that did not heal for a long time. Livestock were driven out in a pasture in order to remain healthy and prolific. It was believed that she was able to stop the storm by throwing a branch against the wind. There were ceremonies associated with the recognition of the witch - and in them the willow was again the main “protagonist”. In those days, everyone knew how to plant a tree, and they necessarily planted it in the yard of the newlyweds in order to prevent distrust and jealousy in the family.
However, there is a disturbing sign: the old people answer the question whether it will be possible to plant a willow, they answer with an almost categorical ban. There is an opinion that the man who planted this tree shortens the eyelids he has been given and will die that year when the willow trunk becomes thick with a spade holder.
Will the branch be accepted?
Church rules prescribe to burn "cats" at the end of the holidays or to dry them, since you can’t plant a willow from a branch consecrated in the church - it won’t be accepted. However, those who did not know about this, successfully grown quite lush plants in their plots. True, it will not work to grow a tree from a branch, but the bush is quite. People who can boast of success in this matter give such advice:
- The most reliable way to first plant a branch in a pot and a year, with abundant watering, grow at home. Planting "on the street" it should be next spring - then the tree will definitely be accepted.
- If you immediately plant a twig “in the wild”, you need to choose a very humid place, preferably on the shore of a reservoir. Then there is a good chance that not a bush will grow, but a willow tree. How to plant, there are no special secrets: just dig in, without damaging the roots, and cover with a greenhouse from a cut plastic bottle.
However, all successful experimenters note: if you do not care for the branch, then in most cases it is not accepted.
Choose a place
So, do you have a seedling or you yourself have prepared a stalk, and you are interested in a full, lush willow. How to plant material so as not to lose it? First of all, choose a suitable site. It should not be brightly lit: a willow likes a shadow. So it can take a place near the north wall of the house, usually unclaimed due to the poverty of the sun. As already mentioned, the plant is hygrophilous. And far from every site there is a reservoir. But often in the country there are lowlands - and for willow this is the best place. No less successful for her will be the proximity of a compost or cesspool - there is always high humidity. In any case, it will be necessary to water the tree often, unless the summer comes out rainy. But the composition of the soil for him is indifferent, it does not have to be fertile and rich. But acidity is important: alkaline soils will have to be acidified.
Willow: how to plant a stalk correctly
You can do this in the autumn, when the leaves fall from the trees, and in the spring, when the weather is stable and stable, but the vegetation has not yet begun actively. Before planting a willow, a deepening is done; it should be no closer than half a meter from another row of trees and from neighbors in a row. The “pit” is pierced by a rod to the length of the handle, the earth around is trampled down or rammed. A seedling is inserted into it and densely sprinkled with soil.
Somewhat different have to act in the fall. First, a simple hole cannot be dispensed with. The landing site is dug up three meters in diameter and freed from weeds (this is especially true for perennials with powerful roots - nettles, dreams, and thistle). Digging a hole somewhere in a cubic meter. The bottom is laid out with sawdust or bark, spilled with fungicide from pests and seasoned with potassium nitrate - to increase survival in the winter. Compost is laid on top, a seedling is placed, sprinkled with soil and mulched.
For the tree to survive
When the willow has settled down a little in a new place, water it (if there are no showers and a natural source of water) at least twice a week. In the first year, regularly, twice a month, the tree is fed with mineral nitrogen and liquid organics. A couple of times a season it is worth pollinating both him and the ground around with a repeller for insect pests. If you want to form a bush, but more magnificent - bend the lower branches to the ground, fasten them with flyers and sprinkle with fertile soil with compote. The branches take root and form additional trunks.