Mountain ash spiraea is better known as mountain ash. This plant belongs to the group of deciduous shrubs that grow comfortably in the natural environment inherent in the Siberian Territory (Far East). As a cultivated plant, gardeners are grown by amateurs from Arkhangelsk and up to the southern border of the Russian Federation.
origin of name
In fact, if you delve into the history, then the mountain ash and spirea are not the same plants. They belong to the same family of Rosaceae, but belong to the genera Spiraea i Sorbaria. The confusion between them arises due to the fact that once someone called spirea a mountain ash leaf, and this name has taken root in the representation of people. Although among the spires there is a species resembling a mountain ash, this name does not come from the origin of the plant, but from the people. Although the search engine shows information and photos for Spirea Sorbifolium (rowan leaf spirea), such a formulation is incorrect.
Botanical certificate of the plant
The crown is formed from unpaired leaves 10-13 cm long, resembling leaves of mountain ash. The stems of the plant are thickened, straight, covered with gray-brown bark.
The life expectancy of a healthy specimen is 25 years. In young trees, the foliage is colored pink, as the bush grows older, it darkens and turns to a saturated green shade. In the spring, when the plants are just beginning the growing season, the mountain ash spiraea is already pleasing with its beauty. She will throw foliage closer to mid-October.
In summer, the flowering period begins and the bush is covered with white fragrant inflorescences, forming panicles of a pyramidal shape up to 25 cm long. At this time, the bush is unusually beautiful, for which it was attributed by gardeners to ornamental plants.
If the flowers are dizzy with their appearance, then this can not be said about the fruits. Decorative, they do not differ.
In the autumn season, the foliage of the bushes acquires yellowish and purple hues.
For the first 4-5 years of life, mountain ash spiraea (photo is in the article) reaches 3 meters in height and the same figure in volume.
The plant is used in horticulture and landscape design to create hedges, group plantings, strengthen slopes and slopes. Spiraea has a well-developed root system, which makes it possible to land on the slopes in order to strengthen the soil. The bushes lend themselves well to transplanting, therefore they are suitable for growing not only in the country, but also in urban conditions.
Growing Features
Like other representatives of the flora, mountain ash spiraea has its own requirements for both care and landing. The cultivation of such plants is as follows:
- Plant bushes in leafy or soddy soils. 1/3 of sand, 1/3 of peat and 2/3 of the land are suitable for the planting mixture.
- Do not forget about the drainage layer, use crushed brick.
- Plant the plants in the holes 1/3 more than the Komli seedlings.
- Depth of planting is 50 cm. Make sure that the root neck is at ground level.
- The best time to land is September, the weather is cloudy or rainy.
- Mountain ash spiraea (photo can be seen below) feels best in the neighborhood with juniper, spruce, thuja.
How to ensure proper care
It is amazing that such a beautiful plant is actually unpretentious. The bushes grow well and delight with abundant flowering under ordinary conditions. Enough for this:
- plant spirea in a fertile area;
- systematically loosen the earth;
- provide illumination;
- prevent stagnation of water;
- apply fertilizing three times a season using a mineral complex;
- to cover young specimens for the winter in order to prevent freezing of shoots.
As you can see, it’s enough to simply follow the mountain ash spirea. Landing and care are no different in complexity. Although such features are not characteristic of all representatives of this species.
The subtleties of growing: pruning
This is the only feature that is important to keep in mind when growing spirea. Spring-flowering plants almost do not require pruning, except for sanitary. With this procedure, old shoots older than 5 years old, damaged and shriveled branches that have not survived the winter branches of the spiraea ashberry are removed. Pruning is carried out almost immediately after flowering. At the same time, faded processes do not touch. Summer-flowering species are pruned from the fourth year of life, at an altitude of 22-30 cm from the ground. Having missed the right moment in order to rid the bush of excess, you will deprive the plant of decorativeness: the spirea will lose the correct shape of the crown, and the central branches can succumb to deformation and eventually sink to the ground. If you cut only the tops, the plant will give sophisticated shoots, and flowering will be sparse.
The place of spirea in landscape design
Shrubs are referred to as multifunctional elements of landscape decoration. This is the best option for landscape planting. Such popularity is due not only to the attractive appearance of the plant, but also to its extensive varietal variety. Some of the subspecies due to their miniature shape (60 cm) look attractive in rockeries. There are group plantings composed of bushes with different flowering periods. It is appropriate to use this plant in mixborders and as hedges.
An excellent neighborhood for the pinnacleifolia is deuterium, derain, weigel, scoopia and most conifers.
As you already understood from the description, mountain ash spiraea is an unpretentious, outwardly attractive and plastic in use spectacularly flowering ornamental plant. These features allow him to take pride of place among gardeners and designers. With spirea, the garden will instantly be transformed and filled with aroma.