For lovers and admirers of roses, autumn is the time to replenish your flower beds with new varieties of the queen of flowers. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, in the fall, all rose nurseries tidy up their fields and send plants with an open root system to winter in cool rooms. If you order bare-root rose seedlings now, you will receive them fresh, straight from the field. Overwintering roses with an open root system in a cool room does not have any effect positive influence on their quality.
The second significant argument in favor is the presence of plants. As a rule, rose seedlings are quickly sold out and by spring nurseries are left with a small selection of both new varieties and favorite varieties.
Thirdly, roses planted in the fall take root much more successfully than specimens planted in the spring. But what about the first autumn frosts, which can damage young plants? - You ask. If planting is done professionally, then there will be no frost on your flowering bushes not scary. Read on to learn how this is done.
Soaking rose seedlings before planting
Bare-rooted seedlings are soaked in water for several hours before planting to ensure they are saturated with moisture. The plant must be completely immersed in water, including the grafting site. The place is the thickened part of the bush, located between the stem and the root.
Basically, the following rule applies: the later you plant rose seedlings, the longer you should keep them in water, that is, in the spring - for 24 hours, in the fall, eight hours is enough. It is also recommended to keep container and potted roses in water - these are seedlings with a closed root system - so that the substrate is completely saturated. To do this, they, together with the container, are lowered into a bucket of water and kept there until bubbles stop appearing.
Pruning roots and shoots
After the rose seedlings have soaked, they must be trimmed, leaving stems 20 cm long. This is done to reduce the area of evaporation after the leaves open. The main thing is that there are at least five buds left on each shoot. Damaged and dead parts of the roots are also removed, and it is recommended to shorten the old roots a little to stimulate the growth of new roots. The remaining fine roots are not removed.
Container roses do not have their roots trimmed. But it happens that roses with a closed root system in containers have a lot of damaged, bent roots, which need to be removed. In addition, remove any broken, diseased or too long shoots.
Determining planting depth
When choosing a site for planting, you should make sure that roses have not grown there before. Otherwise, the soil may become depleted and the rose bushes will not grow properly.
Rose bushes have long and strong roots. Therefore, a planting hole with a diameter of approximately 40 cm is made so deep that the roots in it do not bend, but are located freely. The grafting site should be buried five centimeters. This will help protect the most vulnerable area from rips caused by the winter sun. Before filling the planting hole, the excavated soil is mixed with mature compost or a handful of horn shavings. Having filled the hole, the earth around the seedling is lightly compacted and trampled down to fill all the voids.
Abundant watering of planted roses
After planting the seedling and compacting the soil around it, it is necessary to pour an earthen edge, the task of which is to keep water from spreading into different sides during watering. Abundant watering provides the roots with the necessary contact with the soil. With the onset of spring, make sure that the soil around the bush does not dry out. Roses don't like this. In early summer, the earthen side can already be leveled.
Hilling roses
The last stage of planting roses is their hilling. This is important for both autumn and spring planting to protect the plant from upcoming frosts and winds. To do this, the bushes are covered with earth to a height of approximately 15 cm. When planting in autumn, the earthen mound is left until spring and then it is leveled. If you plant roses in the spring, it will be enough to leave a mound of soil at the base of the bush for a couple of weeks, namely until the buds of the rose begin to open.
Ideal combinations
When planting roses, you need to think through composition options in advance. Many gardeners believe that the rose itself is beautiful and does not need companion plants. Nevertheless, mixed plantings roses with other plants look quite impressive. Properly selected annuals and perennials can favorably emphasize the beauty and individuality of the queen of flowers. An indispensable condition successful growth and the development of rose compositions is the selection of plants with similar requirements for soil, moisture and lighting as companions. In addition, companion plants should not be too bright. After all, what queen would tolerate competition? This also applies to the royal family of the plant world.
Yellow coreopsis makes a bright contrast to the dark pink lush flowers of the bush rose "Rosarium Uetersen"
Thus, there are clear requirements for rose companions: they should prefer a sunny, but not hot and well-ventilated location. The soil should be rich in humus and nutrients. True “gentlemen” of a rose should not exceed the height of their “queen”. Therefore, tall shrubs (spirea) are planted at a respectful distance from roses. Contrasting growth forms of perennials emphasize the splendor of rose flowers and hide its less attractive shoots at the base.
An excellent combination of ground cover rose “The Fairy” of raspberry color and sedum with bright pink flower caps.
A composition in which the colors of the leaves and flowers of perennials are in harmony with roses looks impressive. Blue-blue plants go well with roses in color. Since in color palette This range of roses is not available, it is good with almost any color of roses.
Red roses and blue sage are a stunning sight!
A touch of originality is added by the contrast of vertical inflorescences of perennials and rounded rose flowers. The combination of roses and lavender is considered classic. This Mediterranean perennial is credited with the ability to repel grass lice from roses thanks to its essential oils.
Floribunda roses and short shrub roses pair well with many hardy, fast-growing perennials. For example, catnip, mantle, plantarium, low peonies or decorative onions, located at the “feet” of the queen, complement and highlight her beauty. All these plants bloom at the same time as roses, are winter-hardy and do not lose their abundance of flowering for many years. The main thing is to provide each plant with enough space to develop.
If you are a fan of contrasts, create a composition of roses with cereal herbs that retain their decorative effect even in winter period. A beautiful background for roses will be created by acuminate flowers (Calamagrostis x acutiflora) with gracefully curved leaves of a dark green color or diamond grass (Achnatherum brachytrichum) with delicate openwork inflorescences, in which dew drops shimmer like diamonds in the morning.
Spectacular retinue for blooming roses V autumn period form miscanthus, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) or foxtail pennisetum.
Translation: Lesya V.
especially for the Internet portal
garden center "Your Garden"
APPLE TREE SEEDLINGS
Purchasing apple tree seedlings.
When planting trees, it is very important point is the purchase of seedlings. In order to make the right choice, you must follow some rules.
Do not purchase apple tree seedlings dug before October 10, especially with leaves.
From the end of summer, when the growth of trees stops, their preparation for overwintering begins. Nutrients accumulate and move from leaves to wood and root system. This process continues until late autumn. Apple tree seedlings dug up at the end of August - beginning of September did not go through all the stages of preparation for winter. Moreover, such seedlings are sold with leaves that continue to intensively evaporate moisture. Sometimes sellers show roots carefully wrapped in a bag, but in hot weather this does not help much. The chances of such a seedling surviving are minimal.
Buy apple tree seedlings of zoned varieties.
Taste and yield fruit tree largely depend on the compliance of specific agroclimatic conditions with the needs of the variety, breed, species. If there is a strong discrepancy, the trees may not bear fruit at all. To obtain stable yields of high-quality fruits, lists of zoned varieties were created. They should be used as a guide when choosing a variety.
When choosing a seedling for the garden, you should take into account the mutual pollination of varieties.
Fruit trees are cross-pollinated plants and require other varieties or trees to bear fruit normally.
The size of apple tree seedlings should be close to the standards and with completely lignified branches.
The height of annual pome trees must be at least 120 - 130 cm. If the plants are below the specified sizes, this is evidence of improper care (lack of watering, fertilizing, the presence of weeds, exhaustion by diseases, pests, etc.). If the seedlings are too tall and the shoots are immature , then this indicates a delayed application of irrigation and (or) nitrogen fertilizers. The concentration of cell sap in the tissues of such plants is very low; they are too watered and freeze strongly even with slight frosts.
When purchasing, carefully inspect the entire apple tree seedling.
Throughout the entire time - from acquisition to planting - the root system of seedlings must be in wet. When transporting, it is advisable to place apple tree seedlings in plastic bags, wrapping the root in a damp cloth. The roots should be juicy and light when cut. There should be no traces of diseases or pests on the shoots, and the trunk of the apple tree should not have damaged bark. Each seedling should have a label with the name of the species and variety.
PLANTING APPLE TREES
When to plant apple trees?
The apple tree can be planted both in the fall (after the leaves fall) and in the spring (before the buds open). Each of these options has its own advantages. It must be remembered that when landing, delay is unacceptable.
It is still preferable to plant apple trees in the fall. In this case, the root system of apple tree seedlings, damaged during digging, has time to recover after planting during the autumn-winter period, and with the beginning of the growing season, it better supplies the ground organs of the seedling with the necessary nutrients.
Optimal timing autumn planting- mid-October. In regions where the probability of severe frosts (-30...-20°) is quite high, it is better to plant a garden in the spring.
Planting apple trees in spring.
It is better to plant apple tree seedlings in spring in early spring. The earlier in the spring a tree is planted, the better seedlings Apple trees take root and develop further. The tree planted at this time must be constantly and regularly watered. Lack of moisture can lead to slower seedling growth and increases the likelihood of it being affected by various diseases.
Selection and preparation of a landing site.
The depth of groundwater should be no higher than 1 m, preferably 1.5 m. If groundwater is high or shallow or periodic flooding, plants should be placed on embankments - elevations with a height of 0.6 - 1.2 m and a diameter in the lower part of up to 2 .5m.
It is recommended to plant seedlings, if possible, in a place where they have not grown before fruit plants. After uprooting the garden, the area is sown with meadow or legume grasses for at least one to two years, or the soil in the planting pits is completely changed.
Pruning seedlings during planting.
It should be remembered that even with the most careful digging from the nursery, some of the roots are lost, which upsets the existing balance between the root and above-ground parts of the plant.
When planting at any time of the year, pruning is done only in the spring. Annual necrowned seedlings are pruned to form a crown to a height of 60–90 cm from the soil surface, or all branches of crowned plants are shortened by one to two thirds.
Planting apple trees. How to plant an apple tree?
Planting apple tree seedlings.
Planting holes are dug about a week and a half before planting the seedlings. On good soils The size of the pits can be minimal: depth 50 - 60 cm, approximately the same diameter. On waste land, the planting hole should be at least 60 - 70 cm deep and 80 - 100 cm in diameter.
When digging planting holes, the top layer of soil is folded in one direction, the lower (less fertile) layer in the other.
How to plant an apple tree correctly?
Before planting, it is advisable to soak apple tree seedlings for several (4 to 24) hours in a container of water until lost moisture is restored.
Torn and broken ends of the roots of apple tree seedlings should be trimmed before planting. sharp knife or pruning shears to a healthy place.
Upper layer soils are mixed with organic (1 - 2 buckets of humus or peat) and mineral (200 - 300 g of superphosphate and 40 - 60 g of potassium chloride or 300 - 400 g wood ash) fertilizers. Lime and nitrogen fertilizers do not apply to avoid burns to the roots.
The planting hole is filled 2/3 with the prepared mixture, the seedling is placed against the stake so that the root collar (the place where the roots enter the trunk of the apple tree) is 5 - 6 cm above the soil level. The roots are evenly distributed in different directions and covered with the remaining fertile soil, compacting it with your feet. The trunk of the apple tree is tied to a peg.
Then you should make a hole, water well (3-4 buckets) and mulch with a layer of 3-6 cm. To do this, use humus, straw, peat, leaves, etc. Mulching prevents the formation of a surface crust, helps retain moisture and better penetration air oxygen.
Scatter the soil from the lower horizon along the rows.
Planting depth is important. In grafted plants, only the rootstock part is buried. Burying the scion can cause the tree to enter fruiting season late.
It is clear that it is harmful and shallow landing. Trees after such planting are frail and low-yielding, and suffer greatly from overheating and drying out of the upper soil horizon.
What apple trees should I plant?
When selecting varieties of apple trees for the garden Special attention attention should be paid to their resistance to unfavorable environmental conditions (winter hardiness, drought resistance, resistance to the most dangerous diseases), precocity (time of fruiting), yield and quality of fruits.
It is advisable to have a set of apple tree varieties on the site different terms ripening and harvesting - from early to late.
In a middle-class home garden for an average family, you need to plant 10 - 12 apple trees. When selecting an apple tree assortment, the main part should be winter, then autumn and summer varieties (2 - 3 varieties summer apple trees, 3 - 4 autumn varieties, and 5 - 6 winter varieties).
Planting new shrubs and trees, including selection correct timing is one of the most important responsibilities of gardeners. Planting seedlings can be done not only in autumn, but also in spring, giving sufficient time for preparation and reducing the risk of unsuccessful wintering. Planting is a very responsible process, regardless of the type of plant, because the viability of a tree or shrub depends on the correct execution.
Timing for planting seedlings
The timing of planting seedlings is limited by the physiological characteristics of their development, because both shrubs and trees can be replanted only during the dormant period, which lasts from the end of active growth in the fall until the opening of new buds in the spring. For regions with harsh winters, in particular for central Russia, it is considered optimal early boarding seedlings in the spring, which guarantees a higher chance of plant survival. You can start planting only after the soil has thawed. Winter planting is considered less painful for the root system, but such technologies are very complex and should only be entrusted to specialists.
Selection of seedlings
Whatever the time of planting of seedlings you choose, they will take root and delight you long years Only high-quality, healthy seedlings can. When choosing them, take into account the maximum crown diameter of an adult plant, the required distances, carefully study all the conditions at the intended planting site and use them to select plants that are completely suitable for them. Buy seedlings from reliable, certified specialized nurseries and authorized garden centers, and inspect each plant personally. Saplings fruit crops must have an intact strong root system, a well-grown grafting site, the thickness of the trunk should not be less than 2 cm, at least three skeletal branches must be formed on the plant (extending almost horizontally and at least 40 cm in length). Look for traces of mechanical damage on the branches and roots, check whether the rhizome sits tightly in the earthen coma. For open seedlings, the roots should bend freely and not be dry. Pay attention to the presence of rotten spots, the tips of the branches, the integrity and color of the bark.
How to preserve seedlings before planting
An important aspect of planting trees and shrubs is the need to preserve seedlings before planting and transport them to the site. Immediately after you acquire young plants, wrap the exposed rhizomes with cloth, and if the branches are fragile and splayed, tie the plant to avoid injury. Transport seedlings only in the car or wrapped in protective materials. If several days must pass before planting, keep the plants in a cool place, regularly adding soil to the container or wrapping the rhizome in a damp cloth and not allowing it to dry out. A seedling can be placed in water only immediately before planting.
Preparing seedlings for planting
Immediately before planting, they begin to prepare the seedlings for planting. To do this, all damaged root tips are cut off to healthy tissue and dry, thinned roots are removed. A few hours before planting, seedlings are soaked in a bucket of water, and container seedlings are watered generously so that the rhizome is saturated with moisture and the plant tolerates planting more easily. Typically, trees and shrubs growing in containers are planted together with a ball of earth or by removing only the surface layer. But the need to preserve the soil around the rhizome must be clarified when purchasing. In fruit and fast-growing ornamental trees and shrubs, before planting, you need to trim the shoots, shortening them by a third.
Planting seedlings
Proper planting of seedlings begins with planting holes, which need to be prepared in advance: for the preferred spring planting, in the fall, and for autumn planting, several weeks in advance. Shrubs are planted in planting holes about half a meter deep and at least 60 cm in diameter, trees - about 80 cm deep and a meter in diameter. The large size of the planting holes necessitates the creation of optimally loose soil around the plant for the free development of the rhizome in the first years of cultivation. Digging landing hole, leave and subsequently use for preparing the substrate only the top fertile layer of soil on maximum depth no more than a spade's bayonet. Fertilizers mixed with half of the removed top soil are placed at the bottom of the hole. long acting. For fruit crops - this is about 70 g. potassium sulfate, up to 1 kg of wood ash, a bucket of compost or mature manure, at least 1 kg of double superphosphate. Leftovers garden soil mixed with turf, peat soil, compost and sand, depending on the requirements of a particular plant type, and left for subsequent backfilling.
Planting seedlings of fruit and ornamental crops is a simple process, but requires care and responsibility. If a tree or shrub needs support, it is advisable to install it before planting; installing supports later can lead to unwanted injuries to the roots.
A mound is made at the bottom of the planting hole, and the seedling is placed on it, spreading the roots evenly. Usually fruit trees the root collar should be located 3, maximum 5 cm above the ground level, at ornamental shrubs- be on the same level with it without deepening. Determine the location of the root collar by placing a flat yard or board on top of the planting hole. The planting depth for each plant must be determined individually. Making sure that the central shoot is located as evenly as possible, the soil is poured into the planting hole, gradually and carefully filling the voids between the roots. After backfilling, the soil is carefully compacted, a water-retaining soil roller is made along the contour of the entire planting hole, and the seedling is watered abundantly, completing the planting by mulching the soil surface to retain moisture.
The first few days of the week after planting, monitor soil subsidence and the position of the tree or shrub, adding soil as necessary and monitoring stable soil moisture.
Shumovskaya Tatyana Anatolevna
The article was prepared specifically for MirSovet.ru -
Mistakes when planting fruit tree seedlings
Oddly enough, but often when planting seedlings, even experienced gardeners make a lot of mistakes. Therefore, let's try to answer ourselves honestly - what is necessary for the successful cultivation of fruit crops? There are many answers to this question. But today we will try to understand the main mistakes that we make when planting fruit tree seedlings.
The main mistake of gardeners (including those with experience) is their desire to buy seedlings as large as possible. But a large seedling is not necessarily the best, but most often the worst. The thing is that in nurseries, plants are dug up with a plow, which leaves no more than half of the suction roots of a large seedling, and sometimes much less. In order for such a seedling to take root in a new place, you need to remove almost its entire crown, and such a plant will be sick for a very long time.
And in nondescript seedlings - one-year-olds and two-year-olds - the crown is not developed or does not exist at all - one twig, but their roots are much less damaged when digging up. Such a seedling takes root much faster and subsequently noticeably outstrips three-year-old seedlings in growth.
Under no circumstances should you buy seedlings from cars parked along the roads and entering gardens, as well as at spontaneous markets. Here they can sell you anything. You need to buy seedlings only from a nursery and, most importantly, zoned ones.
It is these seedlings that were bred and zoned for our often capricious and harsh weather. Therefore, think carefully before buying on the market a little cheaper, but “a pig in a poke.”
Another serious mistake is purchasing and planting seedlings with an open root system too early. Optimal time planting seedlings of most garden crops - from September 15 to October 5-10, and for cherries and plums - until September 25.
But many gardeners, with their premature rush demand, provoke an early start in digging up seedlings in nurseries and selling them. Already at the end of August on the streets of the city you can meet people with seedlings that look more like the tops of overgrown tomatoes with green withered leaves and drooping top. This seedling could not be dug up for at least another 2-3 weeks, but in our “wild” market, demand always determines supply.
Such a seedling should be planted in autumn permanent place useless. It can only be saved in a hole under a snow shelter or in a cold basement with a constant temperature of 0 to -3...4°C. But why create such unbearable difficulties for yourself and then try to overcome them?
A very serious mistake is planting young seedlings on freshly poured, “unsettled” soil in a hole. That is why planting young trees can begin only 25-30 days after preparing the hole (at least 10-12 days), i.e. only after the soil in the filled pit has settled and settled.
Why is this so important? Yes, because in order not to make a mistake and correctly place the seedling in the hole, and for this you need to be able to correctly determine its root collar. The root collar (the border between the roots and the crown) should be at soil level or 2-3 cm above it.
But seedlings from the nursery usually also have a graft. It is done on wild land 4-8 cm above the root collar. Beginning gardeners often confuse the root collar and the grafting site, and therefore plant the seedlings very deeply, burying them in the soil up to the grafting site.
The root collar young seedling easy to detect. To do this, you need to wipe the main shoot and root with a wet cloth. The root collar of the seedling will be located just on the border of the transition of the color of the bark from greenish to light brown.
The root collar should not be allowed to deepen significantly into the soil during planting, otherwise tree growth will be slowed down and inhibited, especially on heavy clay soils. But shallow planting of seedlings, in which the roots dry out and the plants take root worse, is also unacceptable. Shallow planting in spring is extremely harmful in dry years.
To prevent these gross mistakes, when planting seedlings across the planting hole, it is necessary to place a board with a cut in the center and use it (and not by eye) to determine the level of the root collar. When planting, the seedling should be kept near the stake so that the root collar is 4-5 cm higher than the edges of the hole.
One of the serious mistakes is introducing a very large amount of mineral fertilizers into the planting hole. From their excess, the very bacteria that must process nutrients into a form accessible to plants die, because these very excess fertilizers have created such an aggressive environment in the planting pit in which such bacteria cannot live.
In the same way, fresh or slightly decomposed manure should not be introduced into the planting hole. The fact is that any organic fertilizers with a low degree of decomposition, falling into the lower part of the planting pit, especially in heavy clay soil, with a lack of oxygen there, they decompose poorly, intensely releasing ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, which greatly inhibit the root system of plants and have a bad effect on the survival rate of seedlings.
Before planting, the root system of seedlings is carefully inspected and trimmed, removing torn or soaked roots to a healthy part. Seedlings with dried roots must be immersed in water for 1-2 days.
Then for better contact with soil, plant roots must be dipped in a liquid mash of clay and mullein (3 parts clay to 1 part mullein), to which it is advisable to add growth substances - root, epin, novosil or others. Planted apple tree seedlings must be pruned in early spring, before buds open.
Immediately after planting, the tree must be tied with a figure eight of twine to the stake so that its stem does not split under the influence of the wind and, swinging, does not tear off new tender roots, preventing the seedling from taking root properly. It is advisable to put a ring made of roofing felt or birch bark on the trunk, in the place where it is tied, to eliminate the risk of damage from possible friction of the twine on the tree bark.
Then over landing pit make a hole and water it with water at the rate of 2-3 buckets for each tree, regardless of soil moisture and weather. After water is absorbed into the soil, the hole within a radius of 0.5-0.7 m must be mulched with a thin layer of manure, humus or peat chips. This will prevent rapid evaporation of moisture and will promote good survival of seedlings.
A day after this operation, soil is added to the hole to seal the gullies formed after the first watering. In this case, a fairly significant subsidence of the earth will occur along with the planted tree, and its root collar will settle to the normal soil level in the garden.
Unfortunately, many mistakes that affect the survival rate and further development of a young tree occur even after planting the seedlings.
It was already said above that immediately after planting young trees, it is necessary to water the soil, spending at least 3-4 buckets of water per hole, regardless of soil moisture, so that the soil sticks to the roots. Unfortunately, everyone understands this simple rule in their own way.
Often other gardeners try to water such plantings as often as possible, but little by little. Such watering, especially in dry and hot weather, on the contrary, only dries out the soil in the planting hole and leads to the formation of a soil crust. We seem to be trying to provide the planted plants with water, but in fact we are taking it away from them. But excessively abundant and frequent watering is also harmful to young plants. Irrigation with water (not only for young trees) taken directly from an artesian well is especially dangerous.
Irrigation with water with mineral fertilizers dissolved in it, primarily urea and ammonium nitrate, is very, very harmful for young plants in the year of planting (especially the first 1.5-2 months). As you can see, these most common and most beneficial fertilizers for plants during this period are generally contraindicated for young seedlings.
You can make a serious mistake when mulching the soil in the planting hole. Please note that it was stated above that after planting the seedlings, the soil must be mulched with a thin layer of peat. The purpose of this mulching is to prevent moisture from evaporating from the soil. And in late autumn, after the soil has frozen, this layer of mulch must be significantly increased in order to protect young plants from death in the event of very low temperatures.
If this mulching procedure is violated and immediately after planting a very thick layer of peat is placed in the trunk circles of young trees, then in the event of a likely long, warm and rainy autumn, the bark of the seedlings may be strongly supported, and they will be in danger of death.
Well, with the onset of stable frosts, it is necessary to wrap the seedlings with spruce branches, paper, etc., in order to protect young plants from low winter temperatures, sunburn bark in early spring, and at the same time from voracious rodents.
V. Shafransky
("Gardener")
Majority garden plants can be planted in both spring and autumn; gardeners usually prefer autumn planting, but in middle lane In Russia, with fairly early and severe winters, autumn planting of seedlings will lead to freezing of the plants.
Therefore, for middle latitudes, spring planting of seedlings is more justified. But it must be carried out strictly before the buds open.
Preparatory work in the garden
Holes for planting need to be prepared in the fall. This is especially important for dense soils - clayey and loamy, where serious soil replacement is required. The rule is simple: for autumn planting of seedlings, pits are prepared in the spring, for spring ones - in the fall. The prepared pit should stand for 6-7 months.
Why dig a hole for seedlings in advance?
If you plant trees or shrubs in a hole freshly dug in spring, the earth will gradually settle and pull the seedlings along with it, they will end up below the level of the site, i.e. in the hole. This means that puddles of water will accumulate and stand melt water, snow melting will be delayed. If you dig up a hole, there is a risk of deepening the root collar, but it should only be covered thin layer soil (1-2 cm).
Trees that are too deep when planted are stunted, develop slowly and bear fruit worse. A planting mistake needs to be corrected (lifting the plant out of the ground) to save the seedling, but this is a very labor-intensive job, so just try to avoid incorrect planting.
How to dig holes for planting seedlings
The depth and diameter of the hole for planting seedlings depends on the crop:
- For pears and apple trees 60-70 cm deep, 80-90 cm in diameter
- Plums and cherries - 40 cm deep, 70-80 cm in diameter
- Currants, honeysuckle and gooseberries - 35-40 cm deep, 60 cm in diameter
- Sea buckthorn, serviceberry - 40 cm deep, 80 cm in diameter
- Raspberries - 30-40 cm deep, 50 cm in diameter
Distance between future trees: for apple, pear, cherry plum, cherry, cherry - 5 m.
The technique of digging a hole and then filling it with earth is also special. For fruit trees, the holes are dug quite deep, and the soil removed is heterogeneous. The excavated soil conventionally has two fractions - the arable layer - approximately 20 cm of the top soil (half the bayonet of a shovel) and the subsurface layer - the one that is deeper than the top 20 cm.
When digging a hole for seedlings, throw the soil into two different piles - one for the arable layer, and the other for the lower horizon. Then partly evenly scatter the lower, infertile soil over the site, and partly make it trunk circle, or immediately load it into a wheelbarrow to take it outside the garden. The walls of the pit must be vertical!
Preparing a hole in an abandoned area
If fruit planting is carried out in an abandoned area overgrown with turf, the scheme is different: you need to remove a layer of turf (10-15 cm depending on the herbs) and put it aside, then remove the fertile layer under the turf (another 15-20 cm) and put it in a separate a bunch. Then dig up all the soil below to the required depth (about the size of a spade) and place it in a garden cart.
At the dug hole, we level the walls (vertically, like in a well) and put the turf on the bottom of the hole, turning the layers over with the grass facing down.
Refueling the pit
The dug hole must be filled; it cannot be left empty until spring, otherwise melt water will remain in it for a long time, and the hole will become unsuitable for spring planting- Until the water goes away, all planting dates will expire.
Therefore, we fill the pit in the fall. For this you will need:
- 1-2 buckets of well-rotted manure (aged 3 years)
- 1-2 buckets of leaf humus (either peat or fertile soil from other plantings on the site)
- approximately 100-200 g of ash per 1 sq. m of soil (1-2 faceted glasses)
- fertile soil removed from a hole
We pour all the components into the pit in parts: a third of each in three additions, and mix with a shovel. After each layer you need to trample the ground with your feet. The total volume of filling for the pit should be in such quantity that a mound approximately 20 cm high is formed in place of the pit.
Humus (rotted manure) is ideally horse manure; it is ideally suited for fertilizing; mullein comes in second place. Bird droppings are completely unsuitable for seedlings. Manure must not be used fresh; it must sit well for at least two years, preferably three.
Applying fertilizers when planting seedlings
Whether or not to add mineral fertilizers to the hole when planting seedlings is a controversial issue. The root system of seedlings is severely damaged during digging and reacts sensitively to contact with fertilizers; young growing roots are burned and die. Instead of growing the root system, the plant freezes in growth or dies.
Plant roots are especially sensitive to nitrogen and potassium fertilizers. The only way to avoid root burn is to introduce them at some distance from the root ball of the seedling.
But this is impractical due to the fact that mineral fertilizers do not have time to wait until the established roots grow to them and absorb them painlessly - they dissolve in water and are washed into the lower layers of the soil much earlier.
Phosphorus fertilizers could have a slightly milder effect on the roots if they contained phosphorus in pure form. However, simple or double superphosphate, in addition to phosphorus ions, contain impurities that are far from harmless to the roots, especially young ones and those injured by transplantation. Therefore, it is also permissible to add phosphorus fertilizers when planting only at some distance from the root ball of the seedlings.
Traditional agronomy taught us to apply fertilizers when planting seedlings as follows: nitrogen fertilizers (rotted manure, compost) necessary for good growth seedlings, mix with soil to fill the hole (with the fertile layer removed). Mix phosphorus and potassium fertilizers with a small amount earth (shovel) and pour it onto the bottom of the hole. Do not add mineral fertilizers to the soil of the upper half of the hole, where the plant’s root system will be located.
Such a system helps to avoid burning the roots, but there is a possibility that by the time the root system recovers, grows and reaches the layer of soil with embedded fertilizers, the nutrients from it will be washed out or intercepted by the grass roots.
From the point of view of modern agronomy, there is no need to apply any mineral fertilizers to the hole when planting seedlings. Serious damage to young trees or shrubs can be caused, including the death of the plant.
How to speed up the growth of seedlings
After planting, it is especially important to achieve the development of a good root system of fruit crops. Therefore, fertilizing must be safe - use weak solutions of liquid organic fertilizers(mullein, green manure), but not immediately after planting, but approximately in the second or third year after planting.
Need in mineral fertilizers increases significantly later, when plants reach fruiting age.
If you are going to plant a garden on poor soils, then you should stock up on several carts of imported fertile soil in advance. Do not use the lower, nutrient-poor layer of soil when digging a hole.
If the planting hole is filled with fertile soil, then there is no need for additional filling with fertilizers.
Planting seedlings
First of all, we plant winter grafted seedlings that were stored in a cold basement or rootstocks dug in before winter.
Carry out an audit: inspect the root system of plants, remove rotten roots to healthy tissue (it light color). Make the cuts in a straight line, without sawing, with a very sharp knife - the smoother the cut, the faster callus forms. If the seedlings have cuts or breaks on thick roots, sprinkle them with crushed coal.
If you have purchased seedlings whose root system is covered with clay mash, you need to wash the roots off it!
To plant, in an area prepared in the fall and filled with nutrient soil, we dig a hole, but not over the entire area where we dug the hole in the fall, but much smaller - the hole should be sufficient to freely accommodate the root system of the seedling, but no more. The depth is such that the root collar of a seedling placed in a hole is at ground level. Do not allow it to go deeper than even 5-7 cm.
The root collar of a seedling is the place where the first roots emerge from the trunk. Not to be confused with the grafting site - it is approximately 10-15 cm above the root collar.
To plant the seedling at the correct depth, use a level - a long stick placed across the hole so that the ends rest on the level surface of the ground around the hole.
It is better to plant seedlings together, so that one person holds the tree by the trunk, maintaining its even vertical position, and the second person buries it. If the seedling has a lot of roots, when filling it with soil, you need to lightly shake the trunk so that the soil is well distributed into the voids between the roots.
Do not compact the soil around the planting site too hard. Just water the soil; when the soil settles, add more. During the first two weeks, the soil will be covered, and if necessary, you need to hill up again if the root collar is exposed.
After digging in the seedling, you need to form a tree trunk circle or “saucer” around it for watering. About 50-60 cm in diameter, 7-10 cm in height. Be sure to secure the trunk of the seedling - stick a wooden peg into the ground next to the trunk. It is important to sharpen its lower end so that it does not tear the roots of the tree, but easily passes between them. Tie the trunk to the support using jute or a piece of nylon tights. Do not use wire or fishing line for garter!
If you plan to use not a thin peg, but a large pole as a support, you need to sharpen its end and drive the pole in before planting the seedling!
After planting, it is necessary to water the plant abundantly; the earthen circle near the trunk will prevent water from spreading over the area. Watering is necessary in any weather and soil moisture. After watering, the earth becomes heavier, settles and compacts naturally. How much water to pour: a full bucket, but not at once, but in two or three doses.
When planting winter-grafted seedlings, a month after planting you need to remove the film wrap.
If you didn’t have time to prepare the planting holes in the fall
What to do in this case? You can plant cultivated shrubs and trees, but you will have to limit yourself not to wide holes filled with prepared soil, but to small holes the size of the root system of seedlings. But later it will be necessary to cultivate the soil around the plantings, the mechanism of which will depend on the type of soil.
Without preliminary preparation pits are planted fruit and berry bushes and trees only on soils with close groundwater. In this case, the hole is dug shallow - just enough to fit a shovel, but nutritious soil is poured not only into the hole, but also on top with a high mound. The mound should be at least 40-50 cm in height and about 100 cm in diameter. In this case, it is necessary to form a watering “saucer”.
If groundwater go deep, and there is no need to lift the seedling onto a mound, then you can carry out the technique of planting seedlings with subsequent mulching without preliminary preparation. A shallow hole is dug, on the bayonet of a shovel. Then, around a seedling with a diameter of one and a half meters, 3 buckets of old humus are distributed in an even layer, and digging is carried out. We water the soil and mulch it with a thick layer of straw or peat (height 5-7 cm).
In any case, remember that the root collar of the seedling cannot be buried, and young plants require abundant watering.
