One of the brightest modern ornaments of landscape design is the Serbian spruce Karel. Among the main advantages of culture is not only an unforgettable appearance, but also the ability to grow quickly: you won’t have to wait long for the moment when your guests or just passers-by will delightfully stop their eyes and admire your landscape. Read more about the features of culture and how to care for it - read on.
Botanical Description
The Serbian spruce is distinguished by the slenderness of the crown, which is formed by openwork branches covered with a thick and lush layer of two-color needles: the top has a dark green glossy color, and the bottom is green with a white strip. This feature gives the impression that the tree is smoky blue. The branch ends are bent upwards, which makes the appearance of the tree thoroughly symmetrical.
The biologically correct name of the culture is picea omorica (omorika). It was discovered by the breeder Mr. Karel Buntinx in 1991 was completely coincidental: he discovered a plant among ordinary spruce seedlings that was unlike the others. In honor of the scientist Omorik and got its name - Karel. Studies have shown that a species appeared as a result of crossing a black Christmas tree with its hybrid, which happened freely, without the participation of breeders.Did you know? On average, spruce lives 200 years, but some trees survive to 600 years.
The tree grows very quickly: in one year its height increases by 35 cm and its width by 15 cm. The average growth rates of adult plants are 15–20 m, but there are giants that reach 40 m. As for the diameter, it is about 3-4 m.
As the culture grows, it forms a narrow pyramidal or conical densely spreading crown. The trunk of the Serbian spruce Karel is covered with a thick red-gray rough bark. At the end of summer, the crown is decorated with numerous cones, which gradually change color from red-violet to violet-brown. Their length varies between 3–6 cm.
The advantages of the omorika include its high frost resistance: even at the lowest temperature indicators, the plant feels comfortable and looks especially attractive in the winter garden, with white snow on green branches.Did you know? Serbian spruce Karel can be attributed to centenarians, since its average age is about 300 years.
Landscape design application
It is generally accepted that spruce wood is suitable for the manufacture of furniture, paper and other products, and the tree itself is an excellent decoration of the house during the New Year and Christmas. But if we are talking about the Serbian variety of Karel spruce, then its main purpose is to create a vivid landscape design. With her participation, original and unique compositions are made that perfectly fit not only in the private, but also in the park landscape.
One of the original options, which is popular among designers and is to the taste of customers, is a harmonious combination of Karel’s spruce and stones: you can create a rockery by beautifully covering the tree with stones, or you can just plant it near a stone fence. It is advisable to create floral arrangements around the culture by combining varieties of meadow, wildflowers, garden flowers, or a blue Christmas tree with dwarf relatives, thuja or cypress.
Important! Do not plant Karel spruce near ponds. Of course, it will look beautiful, but such beauty is not durable, because the culture does not tolerate excess moisture.
Another option from landscape designers is a rock garden, which harmoniously combines stones, evergreen trees and flowers. The landscape will turn out to be especially beautiful if you plant flowers of contrasting colors: yellow and red, white and purple. To create park landscapes, it is advisable to plant conifers of this type on both sides of the paths.
In creating landscape design, the ensemble of Christmas trees with contrasting needles, for example, blue and yellow or light green, tall and dwarf trees, will be harmoniously combined. Looks good Karel in compositions with juniper.
Landing stages
It is recommended to plant omorica in May, when the temperature is stably maintained on the street and there is no risk of frost.
Important! Keep in mind that the culture does not tolerate transplants, so before planting it, choose the right place so that the tree does not bother you later because of its high growth.
Planting a Serbian spruce Karel, like any other culture, consists of the following stages:
- Choosing a seat. The tree is shade-tolerant, but prefers well-lit sunny areas, with moderately moist, not swampy soil and deep groundwater. The tree is unpretentious to the type of soil, the main thing is that it is not acidic. In this case, the land on the site must be treated with lime.
- Preparing the landing hole. She begins with her digging. The parameters of the hole are 70 × 50 × 50 cm. Take care of good drainage using sand or broken brick. Between the trees should be kept at a distance of 4-5 m.
- Direct landing. Seedlings are placed in the planting pits so that the root neck is at the level of the soil. Before planting, it is recommended to withstand future trees in the water for 1-2 hours. The planting hole is covered with earth, which is well rammed around the trunk. Then the plant is watered with a bucket of water.
Further care
Care for a variety of Serbian spruce Karel consists of watering, top dressing, loosening the soil, mulching and pruning the crown.
Watering and feeding
In summer, it is recommended to carry out the watering procedure 1-2 times every 7 days, using 10 l of water for one tree. It is advisable to do this in the evening. If autumn and spring pass without rains, then during this period it is also advisable to water blue Christmas trees. On dry summer days, you should take care of additional watering.
Video: Karel Serbian Spruce Care
Fertilize the plant only during planting. The bottom of the hole must be laid out with compost and add one of the feeding for conifers: Novofert, Biopon, Agrekol, Compo, Stimovit. More fertilize the plant is not needed.
Loosening and mulching
So that the soil under the tree does not condense, it should be loosened regularly, but not deeper than 7 cm, since the root system of this variety is located close to the upper soil layer.
In early spring and autumn, the earth around the trunk of the Serbian spruce Karel is mulched with peat, which, in the process of loosening, mixes with the earth and becomes a source of minerals necessary for the culture.Did you know? Each fall, the spruce drops 1/6 of its needles, on the site of which new green needles grow in the spring.
The thickness of the peat mulch should be approximately 5 cm.Pruning
Among the procedures for caring for the Serbian Christmas tree is the pruning of the crown. It is necessary so that the fast-growing tree does not skew to any one side or lose its attractiveness. Trimming is quite easy: you just need to shorten the branches that stand out by their size among others or choose the wrong direction for growth.
But most often the culture grows correctly, and it does not need forming pruning, but only sanitary, which consists in removing dry and damaged branches. They spend it in late spring and early summer, before the intense movement of juice. If the crop is used for hedges, then crop it in the winter. This time is also relevant for giving the crown a special decorative shape.
In severe climatic conditions, the needles of a tree need to be sheltered for the winter. It is best to use craft paper as a cover material.
In order to enjoy the scenery outside the window every day, you need quite a bit: plant a Serbian spruce Karel on your site, and around it - a couple of other ornamental plants and flowers, you can lay out the stones. And then you will be provided with a beautiful landscape design. Moreover, caring for the Christmas tree will not require much effort from you.
