Juniper rocky Skyrocket is a beautiful evergreen tree with the ability to decorate any territory with its presence. The plant is often used by landscape designers as a vertical that creates a contrast to other ground cover plants. Juniper perfectly copes with the task of decorating parks, squares and private plots. In addition, the plant releases phytoncides, which improves the composition of the air.
Description
Juniper Rocky Skyrocket was bred at the end of the 19th century. Related plants grow in the wild, occupying the mountain slopes of the United States and Mexico. It is from nature that juniper has such advantages as high winter hardiness and unpretentiousness to the soil composition.
In cultural conditions, the Skyrocket reaches a height of 8 meters in 20 years. In nature, his brethren can grow up to 20 meters.
Juniper rocky Skyrocket has an attractive appearance, a beautiful bluish color. Its branches begin to grow from the very bottom, so the tree has a columnar shape. The annual increase in growth is up to 20 cm in height and up to 5 cm in width.
The root system of the tree is well developed, so it is firmly held on light soil. The plant loves the sun, grows well in sandy and rocky areas.
Seat selection and landing
Juniper rocky Skyrocket does not impose special requirements on the soil, but it will like loamy soils with low acidity more than other soil compositions. For landing, choose a sunny place without strong blowing by the wind.
For planting take seedlings one meter high. Such material is easier to adapt to environmental conditions. A plant older than 2-3 years is planted along with a lump of land. This measure is necessary so that the seedling can take root in the new conditions.
Pit requirements
The planting of the rocky juniper begins by digging a hole. It should have dimensions twice the size of an earthen coma of a seedling.
If the soil is dense, then when preparing the pit, gravel or cracked brick, as well as sand, is placed on its bottom. This will provide good drainage, which is important for conifers that cannot tolerate moisture stagnation. If the composition of the soil is sandy or sandy loam, additional drainage is not necessary.
The depth of the pit also depends on the composition of the soil. For clay and chernozem soils, the depth is 100 cm, for sandy and sandy loam soils - 80 cm. Digging deeper holes does not make sense, since the juniper has a surface root structure and nutrient soil from deeper levels will not be involved.
Planting process
A seedling with an earthen lump is placed in a pit without removing the wrapping layer, which can decompose on its own in a few years. If the seedling is placed in a container, then the latter is removed.
The juniper tree is turned beautiful side to a prominent place. The trunk is leveled and held until the end of the landing. The hole is covered with earth gradually, in parts, while tamping. It is important to ensure that there are no empty spaces on the sides and below.
The root neck does not go deep during planting, otherwise the bark will lose its vitality and nutrition will not come to the plant. When the root neck is deepened, the seedling will die.
Care Activities
After planting, it is important to water the juniper rocky Skyrocket abundantly. Further watering is carried out weekly in spring and autumn, twice a week in the summer. For every meter of tree height, 10 liters of water are needed.
In the first days after planting, juniper can be treated with a growth stimulant. It is also useful to spray needles with the Epin or Zircon preparation. Processing is performed abundantly.
The young seedling is covered with a net to prevent the needles from drying out in the sun. In conifers, evaporation from needles occurs throughout the year. And in the spring, the root structures have not yet thawed due to frozen ground. Needles are easy to dry. To help the plant, you should water the tree on March 15 with heated water, and remove snow from it. So the soil is more likely to warm up.
Juniper should be fertilized with special compounds intended for conifers. Urea, manure or humus should not be used; such fertilizers are dangerous for juniper and can lead to its death.
For winter, the branches of the plant must be tied up so that they do not sag and spoil the attractive appearance of juniper.
Breeding
Juniper propagation is carried out using cuttings. Cuttings are carried out in the spring, before the awakening of the kidneys. In summer, roots will appear, and the plant will be able to successfully winter.
You can cuttings in the middle of summer, but then the cuttings do not have time to grow roots. In this case, they are sheltered for the winter or brought into a cool room with lots of light.
For the formation of the cuttings, the lateral branches of the plant are separated. The procedure is carried out in the morning or on a cloudy day.
To prepare the substrate, a mixture of sand and perlite is taken, it is poured into boxes where the cuttings are planted at an angle. Boxes must not be exposed to the open sun. The temperature in the first days is necessary at the level of 15-18 degrees, then 20-23.
To improve the growth and development of juniper, “Kornevin” and other root development stimulants can be used. It is important to maintain the moisture of the substrate, but not to allow excess moisture, which can lead to rotting of the roots.
In spring, plants are planted in a permanent place. This completes the process of juniper reproduction, and then the usual care of the plant is performed.
Application
Rock junipers in landscape design are used quite often. These evergreen trees adorn any garden plots. They perfectly green open areas.
Rocky juniper Skyrocket is especially often planted in the southern regions of Russia. In such regions there is less rainfall, so the appearance of the plant does not deteriorate under their influence.
Juniper has a neat crown, so master designers often create hedges from it . With the help of this tree also formalize the front porches. It makes charming alleys.
Juniper of this variety is resistant to urban gas pollution, does not require frequent watering. These qualities make it popular with gardeners and design masters. Rose bushes and cereal crops can be planted next to juniper.