Cypress is one of the most luxurious evergreen representatives of the plant world. This tree forms a very neat decorative crown with scaly needles. In addition to the thick "hair" on it grow neat bumps round shape.
Cypress growing in the wild, can reach up to ten meters in height. Depending on the type of conifer, its crown may be pin-like, pyramidal or spreading in various shades of green.
But in parallel with the large counterparts, there are cypress bushes. The presence of those on the site of a country house symbolizes the high status of the owners. For example, as expensive furniture in the hall. In this article we will talk about cypress, how is planting and further care in the garden.
Cypress: how to use the plant in the garden
In landscape design, cypresses have occupied their decent niche as a spectacular element of home or street gardening. Naturally, there are some nuances of using cypress crops in decorating summer and garden plots. They are mainly related to the conditions in which the plants were grown.
For example, Cypress species McNaba and Californian remarkably strengthen the sandy areas of the site, decorating them. They also harmoniously look in group mixed ensembles and in single landings. Cypresses provide good protection from the wind, so these shrubs will not only be a spectacular decoration in the country and in the garden.
Gardening Arizona Evergreen Cypress Perfectly adapted to a haircut, which makes it an excellent element for forming a hedge.
Pyramidal - the most decorative representative of cypress. Such shrubs planted by the group will become a real decoration of your garden. Due to its horizontal shape, it is great for group plantings and trimmed walls.
Large cypress looks spectacular in container landings.
Among other things evergreen cypress wood It is widely used in the construction of houses, shipbuilding, in works with artistic and applied themes and in cosmetology as the main ingredient of aroma oils.
And about the medicinal properties of cypress known since ancient times.
Did you know? Cypress wood has a fungicidal effect, and its smell repels insects.
How to plant a cypress
Planting a cypress is not a complicated and time-consuming process, but it is worth sorting it out in more detail so as not to make mistakes.
The first key to success will be the correct choice of seeds for planting. Here, the lump is best suited, which is still green inside, but it has already begun to unfold.
But do not rely on, because any cypress tree does not differ from one hundred percent germination. If only 25% of the seeds from the total amount of seedlings grow, this will be an excellent result.
Choosing a place for a plant
Cypress does not tolerate exposure to direct sunlight, and in the shade, on the contrary, strongly stretches upwards, so the ideal place for planting will be plot with penumbra.
He does not like waterlogging, so the soil retaining moisture is unacceptable, and the most suitable - well drained. In such soils, excess moisture will go deeper. These are general characteristics summarizing all varieties of decorative cypress.
Individually, each species puts its own additional requirements on the conditions for growing and caring for them.
Soil preparation
It is better to be engaged in preparing the soil for planting cypress in spring. Suitable soil consists of the following components: turf, peat, sand and leaf soil. All this is mixed in proportions of 1: 1: 1: 2.
Take a wide box and lay the bottom of the bark or chopped wine corks. Put the containers in the prepared mixture, condense. Make small beds and plant seeds, pour them with warm water and place the boxes in a warm and bright place.
The soil needs constant moisture, and when the seeds germinate, they will need frequent, abundant watering. The signal to it will serve the dried up top soil layer.
Did you know? Cypresses are very ancient plants, and they grow in the temperate zone on various continents. The age of some cypress trees reaches two millennia. And in the territory of ancient Sparta an instance was found, which is already three thousand years old.
Description of the process of planting cypress
Answering the question how to plant a cypress in the garden, I would immediately like to highlight one important point: the distance between the individual holes should be such that the seedlings do not cast a shadow on each other. It is recommended when planting to mix soil with humus, based on needles.
Young cypress need to be planted with a big earthy ball around the root system, so that it is not damaged and further cultivation in the open field is not difficult. Use wooden supports in the form of thin sticks.
Garden cypress care tips
Despite the fact that the cypress is a very unpretentious coniferous shrub, you still need to know how to properly care for it, so that it becomes a real pride of your garden. Particular attention should be paid to the choice of the seat and its preparation. It is precisely from these two events that the fate of an evergreen shrub largely depends.
Watering and spraying garden cypress trees
Shrubs that do not tolerate the lack of moisture in the air and in the soil, need frequent watering and regular spraying. Moisturizing needs to be done every week.
If there is an average temperature and moderate humidity, for each cypress bush you need one bucket of water once a week. If the weather is dry, then the intensity of watering should be doubled.
In addition, in hot weather, care for the cypress in the garden varies slightly. It should be slightly pritenyat and intensively sprayed.
Important! In winter, watering cypress is needed infrequently - up to two times a month, or even less. Everything will depend on the temperature.
The nuances of feeding garden cypress
In the first stages of life, the cypress should be fed as often as possible, at least twice a month. The ideal mixture for these purposes will be a mixture of mullein and superphosphate. In spring and summer, it is regularly necessary to fertilize with liquid mineral-containing substances.
The ideal cypress soil composition should contain peat, turf and sand. Shrub loves loose soil and does not tolerate stagnant water. The neck of the rhizome should not sink into the soil too deeply, because it will destroy the plant.
After four years of life, top-dressing can be reduced as much as possible, therefore it will be enough to add fertilizer under the cypress in spring and at the end of autumn.
How to shape the crown of an evergreen tree
Cypress care involves regular pruning of the plant. In March, you need to cut the frozen ends of the shoots, remove old shoots, dry branches and those that are damaged. In addition to sanitary pruning, in the spring, you can make cypress crown formation.
Usually it is necessary to maintain the pyramidal shape or the shape of the cone of a shrub. For one hairstyle you should not cut more than a third of the coniferous mass. In the autumn, when the growing season has already come to an end and the crown of the plant has formed and has become the most dense, you need to cut off 30% of the growth for the current year.
Thus, the natural or given form will be saved. No need to leave bare branches, which still soon wither. Formation of the crown need to deal with a year after planting or transplanting cypress.
Cypress care in winter
Many varieties of evergreen cypress, not adapted for wintering, are sheltered by natural materials and are damaged by snow.
To help the cypress tree successfully overwinter will be able to special watering, which is called moisture charging. It is carried out in large quantities at the end of autumn, when the ground is not frozen.
Consider the fact that the plants, the crowns of which have undergone the formation, overwinter worse. They are critically affected by sudden changes in temperature, in contrast to plants with a natural crown shape.
In regions where the cold climate prevails, cypress trees are sheltered for the winter. Shrubs grown in open pots, at the time of extreme cold, should be transferred to warmer and brighter rooms, the temperature of which varies around five degrees Celsius.
Often, plants with a formed crown require the introduction of various fertilizers, so they can be further fertilized and even necessary.
The greatest threat to cypress in the winter is snow, under the weight of which it can break. Therefore, it will have to constantly sweep, until the formation of faults. High cypress varieties better loosely tied with string.
Did you know? The high resin content in cypress wood ensures its excellent preservation. At the time of ancient Egypt, sarcophagi were made from this material, and oil was used as the main ingredient in embalming mummies. Plutarch recommended writing all important documents exclusively on cypress plaques.
Reproduction cypress
Cypress can be propagated in two ways: cuttings and seeds. And it is more convenient to grow it, to decide the gardener himself.
Seed method
Seed propagation is the easiest, and seed germination is quite good. The most popular type of cypress, best suited for this method, is large-fruited. He is very unpretentious, grows quickly, and his bell-shaped crown is very elegant.
Even the type of cypress, which is not intended for growing at home, can be kept in the apartment, as long as its size permits.
Did you know? According to the Greeks, cypress groves and temples were considered the earthly projection of paradise.
Cypress cuttings
Cypress, reproduction of which occurs by cutting, prepared in autumn or winter. Cuttings are cut from young plants in the active phase of growth, for example, from a hedge, the formation of which occurs regularly. Frequent pruning shoots gives a powerful boost.
Cuttings are best harvested from the top of the cypress. Untypical deformed cypress trees of specific sizes and growing in the horizontal plane grow from the lower shoots.
Cypress shoots, like all other conifers, have large differences in the nature of their growth. There are axial shoots that determine the growth of branches, lateral shoots with strong growth, and weak lateral shoots with limited growth.
It is important to take shoots from the part that develops normally, with the apical point of growth and not damaged. Therefore, weak side shoots are not suitable. If there is no apical point of growth, then the cypress will grow strongly bushy. Quite often it occurs in golden forms.
