Surprising by its lifespan, power, strength and beauty, the Himalayan cedar, or deodar, as biologists call it, represents the flora of East Asia, meeting in the Himalayas and decorating the mountainous landscapes of Nepal, Afghanistan and India.
This interesting conifer survives up to 1000 years without losing its attractive decorativeness and demonstrating the amazing possibilities of nature. This tree with the Latin name Cedrus deodara will be discussed in this article.
View description
The Himalayan cedar is one of the species of the cedar family in the Pine family. Like many of his brethren, he is distinguished by an amazing article, growing up to 50-60 meters in height, forming at a young age a wide crown cone with a characteristic slightly dulled top and drooping shoots. As a rule, in the structure of the crown there is no stratification inherent in other representatives of this genus. By age, the top of the tree becomes even more rounded, the skeletal branches are straightened horizontally, and the crown loses its conical shape.
This coniferous tree belongs to fast-growing species. Cedar is unpretentious and, combining with other close relatives (fir, pine and spruce), forms coniferous forests.
Himalayan cedar: plant features
The diameter of the trunk of this giant reaches 3 meters. Strong roots allow the tree to stay on sparse mountain soils, because the deodar can grow even at an altitude of 3500 m above sea level.
Himalayas on the world map extend to the territories of several states where soil fertility is low. Probably, this circumstance influenced the development of such a root system. Himalayan cedar is also cultivated in European countries - in the south of Germany, Poland, etc. Here it grows up to 12-18 m with a crown diameter of 6-8 m. Under cultivated conditions, deodar is grown in the southern regions of Russia, the Caucasus, and Crimea.
The tree is famous for its excellent wood - fragrant, at the same time soft and strong, always in demand.
Bark and needles
The cedar bark is remarkably decorative - dark brown, smooth, even shiny at a young age, and gray-brown, cut into rectangular tiles, in more mature cedars. Young shoots are short, thin and matte, reddish and drooping at the ends.
Spiral needles located on the branches can be single, thin, sharp and long (up to 50 mm) or collected in small bundles. The needles are dense, glossy, with distinct edges of green, silver-gray, bluish or gray shades, completely non-spineless, blunt-pointed.
Himalayan cedar: cones and seeds
In October or November, pollen matures and spreads. Cones appearing on top of the crown are located singly, rarely two together. Turned upward, they are oblong and plump in shape, like barrels; reach 7-13 cm in length and 5-7 cm in diameter. Firmly sitting on short petioles, they mature 1.5 years. Gradually changing color (from bluish at first to terracotta-brown tones), cone-repetitives after ripening crumble, releasing many seeds.
Solid flat wedge-shaped seed scales taper to the base with an almost rectangular top edge. Seeds of light beige color obovate in width of 6-7 mm, narrowed at the base, reach a length of 12-17 mm. They are equipped with a large shiny wing, allowing seeds to fly away over fairly long distances.
Unlike
cedar pine nuts
, the seeds of the Himalayan cedar are inedible, but this in no way reduces the excellent decorativeness of such a culture as the Himalayan cedar. Cones, directed upward and tightly seated on branches, are an interesting feature of the tree and serve as a wonderful decoration.
Deodar Preferences
Growing in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan and in the north of the Himalayas, the Himalayan cedar feels great in the wild, untouched by civilization. This is probably why the gas contamination of cities affects it with a noticeable loss of decorativeness. Longevity and ascetic, deodar is characterized by rapid development in youth and moderate - in adulthood. It perfectly tolerates shading, relatively frost-resistant - withstands short-term temperature drops to -25 ° C in windless places.
Like many conifers, cedar is undemanding to soil fertility, successfully grows on loams and quietly tolerates the presence of lime in the soil, however, its high content can cause chlorosis - a very serious disease, which manifests itself in staining of needles in yellow-orange shades and a significant growth lag. Plants in culture are almost as picky as their wild-growing counterparts, but grow noticeably better in areas with poorly known, water- and breathable soils without a close approach to groundwater.
High humidity, generous watering and a warm climate are the best conditions for the successful development of a tree. These mighty giants often suffer from strong winds, so they choose a protected place for their landing.
Growing cedar
The heat-loving deodar does not survive in the harsh conditions of temperate Russian latitudes. Its distribution does not extend beyond the Black Sea coast, Crimea and the Caucasus foothills. It is in these places that the mother liquors of the Himalayan cedar are broken. Despite the fact that the birthplace of the deodar is the Himalayas, located on a warm continental belt on the world map, mid-latitude gardeners today are increasingly mistaken for growing Himalayan cedar, and often such experiments are successful. One should only be guided by the advice of experienced gardeners, since cultivars in the middle climatic zones are not harder to take root than in the southern regions. Especially vulnerable are young trees whose height does not exceed 3 meters. They need shelters for the winter, which are used when setting minus temperatures.
Covering material is chosen depending on your own preferences. The most practical are breathable materials - spruce spruce branches, burlap. With the predicted severe winter, peculiar houses from roofing felt are arranged on top of the spruce branches.
Fertilizers
Top dressing is necessary for a culture such as Himalayan cedar. Growing it will be most successful with the use of fertilizers made in Germany by Greenworld or the Russian brand Green Needle. They feed the plant three times a season - in April, in June and July. Fertilizing with a nitrogen component is introduced until August, since the growth of shoots at the end of summer will complicate the wintering. Therefore, since July, nitrogen fertilizers have not been given, but cedar is fed with phosphorus-potassium preparations.
Application in park and garden interiors
Deodar is one of the most popular decorative park cultures in the Crimea and on the Black Sea coast. The experience of agricultural technology of cultivation of culture dates back to the middle of the 20th century. Today the Himalayan cedar is a familiar park tree in the south of Russia. Individuality, charm and monumental beauty are the features of this conifer.
The most attractive are old trees, mighty, with a wide spreading crown, shrouded in a silvery-greenish haze of soft needles.
The Himalayan cedar is used in massifs, ensemble groups, in malls or singly in various landscape compositions. Young trees tolerate pruning well and quickly regenerate. Such plantings often turn into hedges of the most intricate forms.