Astra groundcover heather belongs to the family of Asteraceae plants. This type of flower in the natural environment can be found in the southern and eastern regions of the North American continent. A herbaceous plant is used to decorate landscape gardening landscapes. Features of this culture in its many advantages.
Plant description
Heather Astra (photo above) is a beautiful perennial plant. It has straight branched stems that are lowered to the ground. The height of the aster reaches no more than 1 meter. The leaves are linear in shape, located along the stem and are colored green. Small inflorescences in the form of baskets are the decoration of this plant. Their diameter does not exceed 1-1.5 cm.
Perennial heather aster can have one of the shades:
The middle of the inflorescence is red-brown or yellow-brown.
The leaves, arranged in three rows near the basket, are lanceolate and have a spiky shape. Active flowering of aster begins in the autumn period and lasts from September to November. The plant bears fruit in the form of small flat seeds.
View characteristic
Heather creeping astra is used to create landscape designs, since it is easy to form thick bushes of a pyramidal and oval-pyramidal shape from it. A huge number of flower baskets as if woven into a single carpet. This type of asters is characterized by special properties, ideally suited for the decorative design of landscape gardening landscapes. Note the main qualities of asters:
Heather aster (perennial groundcover) has abundant and long flowering, which allows you to use it for decorating garden plots.
The plant is frost-resistant, able to withstand temperature changes and its decrease, up to -35 degrees.
In Russia, this species is not in great demand, but in the United States and Europe, almost no garden design is complete without heather aster.
Features of growing plants
Heather Astra does not belong to capricious cultures, it is unpretentious in leaving and is able to grow in almost any conditions. However, there are requirements that it is desirable to fulfill in order for the plant to fully develop and please the eye:
Asters like to grow in open sunny areas or where there is a small partial shade.
In order for the heather aster to bloom abundantly and develop well, it is necessary to create conditions that are as similar as possible to natural ones.
You can not plant a flower in highly shaded areas. In this case, the plant will be painful and parasites will attack it.
Almost any type of soil is suitable for growing a wild plant variety, except for marshy, saline and heavy soils.
If cultivated heather aster is grown, planting and caring for it should be more thorough. For this variety, you need to choose the right soil. Ideally, it should be loamy, fertilized, moderately moist, it is equally important to provide good drainage.
If the soil on the site does not contain the necessary trace elements for normal growth, organic fertilizers must be applied before planting. It can be humus or compost.
During spring planting, it is advisable to add nitrogen fertilizers (20 g) to the soil, this will accelerate the growth of the plant.
- The most common way to propagate flowers is by dividing. It is best to plant a plant in the spring. Dividens quickly take root and already in the fall begin to bloom. The disadvantage of autumn planting is that not all seedlings have time to take root. The onset of early frosts can lead to the death of immature plants.
These colors do not require complicated care. Astra groundcover heather is not picky, but nevertheless, in order for the plant to be healthy and beautiful, efforts should be made. Regular watering is important to her, but it must be carried out exclusively with settled warm water. Periodically, it is necessary to introduce mineral and organic fertilizers into the soil, they stimulate plant growth. Weeding and loosening should be done as necessary. Although heather aster is not very susceptible to diseases and various pests, prevention will not harm it.
It is important to remember that poor soil moisture and lack of fertilizers cause the leaves of the flower to quickly turn yellow and fade. This reduces the frost-resistant and decorative properties of the plant.
Where to plant an aster?
Heather Astra is an unpretentious flower, but it looks spectacular in a landscape design. From September to November, its blooms adorn home gardens, lining entire carpets of small inflorescences. The plant for a long time retains its decorative functions, which is why asters are very appreciated by gardeners. The flower has high frost resistance, is characterized by abundant flowering and does not require special care. Florists know a lot of tricks to grow this plant. First of all, the choice of a place for planting an aster is important.
The plant is very fond of sunlight, so for its cultivation it is better to select open, unshaded areas. The most suitable soil is loamy and loamy soil. It is difficult to grow heather aster, if the groundwater in the ground is located close to the surface, the plant does not tolerate excessive moisture.
Within 4-5 years, a flower transplantation to another place is not required, at the end of this period, you need to change the site. This is a kind of prevention to prevent possible diseases.
It is best to choose a site where marigolds or calendula grew before asters. It is undesirable to transplant a flower to places where carnation, gladiolus or tulip was grown, as these plants are susceptible to the disease furaziosis, which is caused by fungi.
Preparing the soil for planting asters
Soil preparation for planting asters must be dealt with in the fall. Before digging the ground, humus or compost is introduced into it. Digging should be deep. If the soil is characterized by low fertility, in early spring it is necessary to fertilize it with mineral components, which are combined with deep harrowing. For these purposes, fit:
- potassium salt;
- superphosphates;
- ammonium sulfate.
Lime and wood ash are added to the soil with high acidity and weakly soils. If groundwater is located nearby, a drainage layer should be arranged for growing aster, fine crushed stone is suitable for this. To improve the structure of the soil, it is recommended to add a little river sand to it.
Before planting, you need to remove weeds, loosen and level the surface of the soil.
How to plant an aster?
To get early flowering, it is recommended to plant an aster in the form of seedlings. Seedlings are planted in open soil in early May. Before this, the soil must be properly shed with water. The distance between the seedlings should be at least 25 cm. The row spacing is made within 50 cm. Since the aster is planted in moist soil, watering the plant immediately after planting should not be. The first watering is carried out 2-3 days after the drying of the soil.
Within 7 days, the plant will take root, and then you can do fertilizing by introducing a weak solution of mullein under the bush. Before carrying out such a procedure, a flowering bush should be abundantly watered.
Plants are planted in the evening or in cloudy weather. If the planting has fallen on sunny days, it is important for young seedlings to provide a slight shadow.
Plant care
Heather Astra does not require special care, but still, for the plant to grow strong and healthy and large inflorescences to form on it, it is worth paying some attention to it.
In a hot period, flowers require abundant, but not frequent watering, after which you need to loosen the soil. Asters have a root system that is superficial, so they need to be loosened carefully, not deeper than 5-6 cm. Excessive moisture is contraindicated for the plant, but also the drying out of the soil leads to rapid wilting. Everything should be in moderation.
To reduce the risk of furaziosis, it is recommended to weed regularly near the flower. With proper care, the plant develops without disease and pests.
To prolong flowering, it is necessary to periodically remove inflorescences that have withered, leaving only a few pieces, so that the seeds ripen.
Perennial varieties are resistant to low temperatures, therefore, do not require shelter in the winter.
Seed propagation
Planting plant seeds in open ground gives a good result. It can be carried out in spring, late autumn and even at the beginning of winter:
- Spring planting is carried out in the first half of May. Seeds are placed in the soil to a depth of not more than 2 cm and watered with warm water. The soil is mulched using peat and compost. Fresh seeds have good germination, after a week sprouts will break out of the ground. A little later, plants should be thinned, leaving a distance of less than 15 cm between them.
- In late autumn (mid-November), seeds are planted in frozen ground. Furrows are prepared in advance before the onset of cold weather. Pits with seeds sprinkled with dry warm compost.
- Winter sowing is carried out from December to January, but this is only if the snow cover is at least 10 cm thick. You need to prepare the furrows in the fall. Planting seeds occurs directly in the snow. On top of the beds are covered with dry mixtures of humus or compost. As soon as the thaw sets in, the seeds will be in a favorable environment and will sprout quickly.
Division propagation
Perennial asters can be planted by dividing the bush. In this case, the plant must be at least 5 years old. They plant in the fall, immediately after flowering. The division should be carried out very carefully, since the root system of the aster is very delicate. After planting, the plant does not have time to fully strengthen to frost, so it is recommended to cover it with dry foliage or spruce branches.
Using asters for landscape design
A variety of varieties and different colors made the aster one of the most commonly used plants for creating landscape designs. There are flowers of dwarf sizes (about 25 cm) and simply gigantic forms (up to 1 meter in height).
Asters adorn flowerbeds, borders and rock gardens. High and medium asters go well with yarrow, rudbeckia and decorative grains . Cloves, marigold, gypsophila and marigolds are planted together with dwarf forms.
Popular types of perennial asters in Russia
Recently, gardeners have preferred planting perennial asters. Their flowering of purple, blue and lilac hue begins in late August - early September and lasts until late autumn. Plants are unpretentious and do not need careful care. Heather Astra is very popular in the USA and European countries, while in Russia the most famous varieties of perennial asters are:
- New Belgian.
- Shrubbery.
- New English.
- Alpine.
If you want to create a paradise in your garden that will delight you with its flowering until late autumn, you should pay your attention to such a flower as a heather groundcover. Planting and caring for the plant does not cause any special difficulties, and even an amateur gardener can cope with them.