Seeing him once, you will forever be subdued by the eastern beauty and fragility of this evergreen shrub. The magnificent Japanese pieris with bright shoots and snow-white clusters of flowers will become an adornment of any garden. However, in order to grow it, it is necessary to know some features of the plant, the rules for planting and caring for it.
Botanical Description
This species belongs to the genus Pieris, belonging to the Heather family. The homeland of the plant is the mountainous regions of Japan, East China and Taiwan. The shrub is evergreen, grows slowly and in natural conditions reaches 3.5 m, in the crop is slightly lower (depending on the variety and conditions) - 0.5-2 m. The leaves are lanceolate, rounded, up to 10 cm long, dense and shiny. A characteristic decorative feature is their color. At an early stage of development, young shoots and leaves of Japanese pieris have a rich copper-red, white or pink hue, but turn green over time. The flowers are bell-shaped and remind everyone of the familiar lilies of the valley, but with a denser planting on large hands. In nature, they are white; in cultivated cultivars, they may also have a different color. Japanese pieris is especially beautiful during flowering, which can be long (from March to April) and plentiful. The fruit is a five-membered woody box.
Due to its high decorativeness, the shrub is popular in culture, including indoor (low-growing varieties). Especially often you can find three species: Japanese, flowering and beautiful. Reproduction by shifts is rather difficult due to slow growth, therefore, most often piers are acquired in the form of a seedling. Preference should be given to a plant with a closed root system.
Varieties of Japanese Pieris
Breeders bred a lot of varieties, we focus on the most popular and decorative. Most of them have young leaves painted copper-red.
- Mountain Fire (photo above) - one of the most famous varieties, the bush is compact - up to 1.5 m in height, dense structure, grows slowly. Young leaves have a color from red-bronze to light brown, dark red.
- Debutane is a dwarf variety that does not grow more than 1 m.
- Pieris Japanese Flaming Silver (in the sixth photo) - a sort of controversial selection, which in some literary sources is referred to as beautiful pieris. A characteristic feature is the presence of a silver-white bordering strip on the leaves.
- Valley Valentine is a shrub with young shoots of pink color, large bell-shaped flowers of a saturated red hue.
- Red Mill - a shrub up to 2 m high. Young leaves are painted red, later turn green, dense and shiny, collected in a whorl. The flowers are white, bell-shaped.
- Variegata (in the third photo) - medium-sized shrub (1.8-2 m), green leaves with a silver stripe along the edge. Young shoots of pink.
- Scarlet O'Hara is the fastest growing cultivar among all the rest.
Shrub soil
Japanese Pieris, like other plants from the Heather family, prefers acidic soils with a reaction medium of 3.5-4.5 pH, a loose structure and good permeability to moisture and air. To provide these conditions for comfortable growth, peat mixed with sawdust, sand and needles is introduced into the soil. In the future, to maintain the acidity of the soil, sulfur is regularly added to it at a rate of 40 g per square meter. The parabolic circle must be mulched with sand or organic components. For example, pine bark, sawdust or husk from pine nuts. As it decomposes, all this material will additionally acidify the soil.
Landing
Allocate a place for this bright shrub protected from the cold and winds on the site, calculate the light regime for it (the sun's rays should fall in the afternoon). However, it is also not necessary to overshadow, since variegated forms will lose all their originality. High humidity is welcomed, at which Japanese pyeris will develop more harmoniously.
The dimensions of the planting pit are determined depending on the type of soil: heavy clay - 1 * 1 m, light and loose enough 0.7 * 0.7 m, depth - 0.3-0.4 m. Experts recommend buying seedlings with closed root system, their survival rate is higher. Before planting, spill the plant with water to properly soak the soil. Place the plant in the center of the pit and gently sprinkle it with earth, slightly compacting it. The root neck should remain at ground level. Around the seedling for the first time, you can make an earthen roller to hold water during irrigation.
Pieris Japanese: care
The shrub does not belong to the category of capricious plants, but it requires compliance with certain rules when leaving. In addition to maintaining the acidity of the soil, it needs regular watering, the soil should not dry out. In hot summers, as a rule, 3 liters and buckets of water, respectively, with a frequency of 2-3 times a week, are enough for young and adult plants. Water with soft rain water, you can slightly acidify it with citric, acetic or oxalic acid.
Pieris Japanese has a superficial root system, so you do not need to loosen the surface of the earth around it so as not to damage it. The best option is mulching with organic materials. Special decorative pruning is not required, however, in order to increase the flowering intensity and activate young shoots, it can be carried out in the second half of February.
Pieris wintering
In this species, most often the flowers are white and not as decorative as the beautiful pieris. However, it has higher resistance to frost and can withstand winter cooling to -30 ° C, therefore it is popular in central Russia. If winters are too cold, then when choosing a plant, it makes sense to give preference to dwarf forms. Shelter for the winter is recommended. For roots, use coniferous spruce branches, and for branches, use any breathable materials that are pulled onto a pre-prepared frame. Pieris Japanese in the suburbs easily tolerates winter without shelter.
Garden use
Beautiful shrubs are widely used by landscape designers to decorate space. He is equally good at singles or groups. It is possible to land dwarf and stunted forms along borders, on alpine hills. The plant looks very harmonious, surrounded by related heather near artificial ponds, in Japanese gardens. As neighbors, choose lush hydrangeas, azaleas, and trillium for it.
For a small garden in the middle strip, one of the most striking plants will certainly be Japanese pieris. Reviews of gardeners about him are mostly positive. The shrub has established itself as a frost-resistant plant, well developed and undemanding in care. Pleased with the abundance of varieties and forms with a wide variety of leaves and flowers.