In the wild, more than six dozen species of juniper are known - tree-like or shrubby coniferous plants of the cypress family. In addition, breeders brought the number of decorative species of juniper to 150. All of them are distinguished by a variety of greenery, their inherent small scaly needles and a variety of forms - from creeping to columnar. At the same time, in most cases, these plants are resistant to droughts, frosts and grow on any soil. And yet, in addition to external aesthetics, they have healing properties. Among junipers, the Chinese variety occupies a worthy place. "Stricta", the landing of which, by the way, and with simple care, can be taken by all lovers of natural grace.
Did you know? Juniper broths treat skin diseases, and oil treats joints.
Juniper "Stricta": description of the variety
By the age of ten, the Chinese juniper Streakt grows to a two-meter height. This ratio of growth with age allows specialists to consider "Strict" a juniper, in the description of which the term "slow-growing" is appropriate. In addition, "Strict" is described as a thick, conical-shaped bush with vertical, straight and thin shoots that does not require special care conditions. In diameter, the bush reaches one and a half meters with a maximum height of 2.5 m. Prickly, but soft to the touch, the needles have a green-blue color. "Stricta" brings a harvest of waxed dark blue pine cones, enhancing the decorative effect of the plant. In addition to China, Korea, Mongolia and Japan are considered to be the homeland of the Strict, in addition to China. The rich eastern charm of juniper in the state will last more than one human generation, because the plant's age is estimated at 100 years.
Did you know? Separating 30 kg of phytoncides per day, juniper will give you the opportunity to breathe clean air all the time.
Planting rules of juniper "Strict"
Before you start planting a Chinese juniper called "Strict", it is advisable to get a certain guarantee of its future viability. For example, to get a good confidence in the successful cultivation of a plant, you can buy in a specialty store a young bush grown directly in a box (container) with closed roots.
Important! Outdoors, the roots dry quickly and can die.
Choosing a place for planting shrubs
Juniper "Strict" especially well grows in the open sun, so the choice of a place for its landing should be made taking into account this circumstance. It will also be possible to avoid oppressive external influence if the place determined for juniper is far from climbers. The best periods for planting a juniper "Strict" are considered April-May or the very beginning of autumn.
Soil for planting
No matter how much you start planting the Strict juniper, given its unpretentiousness to sandy, calcareous or loamy soil, it’s still better to take care of its most optimal composition.
There are two options here:
- turf, sand and peat in a ratio of 1: 1: 2;
- sand, peat, coniferous land in a ratio of 1: 1: 1.
Having chosen and having realized one of the offered ways of mixing of soil, you should not be limited to it. In order to put a decent point in the soil preparation, immediately after planting, mulch the ground around the new bush, using cones, chips, shavings or pine bark, depending on the possibilities.
The scheme of planting juniper "Strickt"
Dug for the juniper bush "Strickt" pit, before you put him there, you need to fill two bayonet spade with the prepared soil mixture. Domestic soil fits on a substantial, twenty-centimeter drainage from crushed bricks or very coarse sand. Determining the overall dimensions of the pit, it is necessary to focus on the size of the bush. Standard are the same, 0.7 m each, depth and width. When planting, the root collar should be raised 5-10 cm above the edge of the pit so that it is at the desired level after the subsidence of the soil. When planting several bushes between them, you need to keep at least a meter distance, otherwise the roots will not get enough freedom to grow.
Features of the cultivation of Chinese juniper "Stricta"
Watering and feeding
The first watering of new bushes is made immediately after planting.
In the future, the juniper "Strict" in the process of growing is watered downward:
- abundant fluid in the first days and weeks;
- 4 watering for 4-month season.
Weeding should be followed by weeding and loosening the soil. Despite the good tolerability of the juniper Strickt, as well as its numerous relatives, the hot season, to take care of it, using the weekly sprinkling of the crown with water in a particularly dry period, is still needed. In contrast to watering, fertilizing in the process of caring for a plant will be only an episode - every season in early summer you need to fertilize the soil with a nitroammophotic (30-40 g per 1 m²).
How to trim a Chinese juniper
Juniper "Strict" well tolerated and targeted pruning, and produced in the process of comprehensive care for him. In this regard, in addition to the natural removal of dry and diseased shoots, it is possible to produce shaping to give the bush the most spectacular aesthetic appearance.
How to keep the plant in winter
"Stricta" is a winter-hardy variety. But a young plant can not withstand a strong decrease in temperature. Therefore, in the first two years for the juniper, it is desirable to make shelter for the winter. You should not wrestle with what the juniper itself can cover for the winter - this is not necessary, but it is worth creating a warming layer made of peat, chips or sawdust on the adjacent land, and the circle right next to the trunk should be covered with fir or pine paws.
Important! So that the thin twigs do not break under the weight of heavy snow, they should be tied together in the fall.
The reproduction of the Chinese juniper "Stricta"
Reproduction by cuttings
An 8-10-year-old plant will best serve as a donor for the Strickt juniper bushes. Cuttings from it are cut in April-May along with a piece of wood. The length of the cutting should be 12 cm, and the 5-cm lower end is cleared of needles and lowered into the growth stimulator solution for 24 hours. For rooting is used sand-peat mixture and a dark place under the film. 1.5 months is necessary for good root development. In the open ground seedlings are placed in early July. In winter, they are protected from hypothermia by a spruce twig. Grown bushes are transplanted to a permanent place no earlier than two years later.
Growing juniper "Strict" from seeds
Gardeners who are not afraid of painstaking, unhurried (the first shoots will be no sooner than a year), can be quite difficult work, they can succeed by growing Chinese juniper "Stricta" from seeds. In the autumn they are stratified and sown in a container with the ground. Then follows a period of natural stratification: the boxes with seeds are left outdoors for the entire winter period (up to 150 days). The result is sowing in open ground in the month of May.
Did you know? Juniper twigs in wooden tanks help to preserve mushrooms, vegetables and fruits.
The main pests and diseases of the Chinese juniper "Stricta"
The main danger for the Chinese juniper "Strict" is represented by the juniper shchitovka, spider mite and aphid. The latter often moves to a juniper from garden roses. Processing plants with insecticides should be made on the detection of pests. At the same time, it is necessary to process nearby trees and shrubs.
Juniper "Strict" is ill, mainly fungal diseases:
| Title | Symptoms | Treatment |
| Rust | Brown growths with an orange-golden patina on the trunk, branches and bark cracks. As the disease progresses, the affected parts dry out, the needles become brown and peel off | Treatment with the drug "Arceride" is 4 procedures with an interval of 10 days. The sooner the treatment begins, the more successful it will be. |
| Shrinking branches | Both branches and bark dry up, and the needles turn yellow and crumble | Pruning (and burning) the diseased branches, disinfecting the slices with 1% copper sulphate and coating them with garden pitch or Rannet paste. Prevention is the treatment of branches with Bordeaux mixture (1%) or with substances "HOM" or "Abiga-Peak" |
| Brown shutte | Last year's needles in spring begins to turn yellow, turning into a brown one, but without shedding. Thin twigs die off, the bush loses its decorative charm | Pruning of diseased branches, treatment of the plant with Bordeaux mixture, preparations "HOM" or "Abiga-Peak" in spring, summer (with a strong lesion) and autumn |
The main advantage of the juniper of the Chinese "Strict" is its ability to decorate any living landscape, so those who know the aesthetics of rock gardens, stone and heather gardens and compositions are most often engaged in growing it. But also by his lonely beauty, and in a simpler setting, he is able to delight the eyes of his masters and their guests.
