Today, there are more than a hundred varieties of such conifers as thuja. They all differ in the color of the needles and the structure of the crown. It should be noted that thuja does not require special care, it can grow on absolutely any soil, but its growth rate depends on the landing site. So, this tree will grow faster on moist, fertile soil, in a place where there are no winds. It can grow both on the sunny side and in partial shade, but the shadow of the thuja does not tolerate, from which its crown often thins and loses its decorative properties.
This plant tolerates pruning well, so without any difficulty you can form a crown. Usually they give it the shape of a pyramid or ball, as well as a spiral or column.
Thuja care requires an elementary. It must be remembered that the needles of a tree evaporate a large amount of moisture, therefore it is necessary to constantly maintain soil moisture. Depending on the size of the seedlings, for the first time up to fifty buckets of water may be required for irrigation, while watering the plant once a week, also irrigating the crown. This helps to open the stomata of the leaves, so the plant breathes better.
Thus, in garden chernozem and with good moisture, in a semi-shaded or sunny place, the thuja forms an elegant crown. Dry black soil and its location in the shade contribute to the loss of decorativeness of the plant: its color changes, the needles become faded, the crown thins, a large number of cones appear. On heavy soils, it is necessary to do drainage with a layer of twenty centimeters, and on swamps - to lay pipes in trenches. At the same time, when transplanting, you need to ensure that there is an earthen lump around the roots.
In the period of active life, thuja care requires the following: the soil must necessarily be loosened to a depth of ten centimeters without damaging the roots of the plant. And so that they do not freeze in the winter and do not dry out in the summer, you need to cover the trunk circles with straw, peat, bark or manure. And so that the plant does not receive sunburn, it is covered in the first three years. And if the tree is tall enough, its branches are pulled together with twine for the winter so that the crown does not break under the pressure of snow. In spring, thuja is fed with a nitroammophos or complex fertilizer. In this case, in the case of fertilizing during planting, the first feeding should be carried out only after a few years.
Thuja care requires its annual trimming. In this case, dried shoots are removed and a crown is formed. Pruning is done in autumn or spring. Cropped shoots can serve as cuttings for subsequent planting in the ground. But branches that are sharply torn from a tree are best suited for this.
This coniferous plant propagates both by seeds and vegetatively. In this case, the seeds are used in the case when the decorative properties of the thuja are not needed. Young cuttings take root easily. At the same time, holes are dug up to eighty centimeters deep, covered with a mixture of earth, peat and sand, adding nitroammophoska. Trees are planted at a distance of up to five meters from each other.
Each spring, thuja care requires the following: dry branches are cut and burned, and the tree is treated with a fungicide in order to prevent the development of a fungal disease. When cracks appear on the trunk, it is necessary to cover them with garden varieties and tighten the cracked bark well so that the wounds heal.
Thus, plants of the genus Thuja include six species of conifers (shrubs) with flat shoots and scaly needles. These plants live up to one hundred and fifty years, and some instances and more. They are planted in parks, in the alleys, used to create gardens and hedges and, so-called, living borders.
Knowing how thuja grows, planting and caring for which is not difficult, you can create a beautiful hedge or garden.