Blue spruce is one of the most expensive trees for personal cultivation, so many gardeners prefer to grow it on their own, sowing seeds or planting cuttings on a site, which is much cheaper than buying grown seedlings. What exactly is worth knowing about this process, why difficulties sometimes appear and how to prevent mistakes during cultivation will be discussed in this article.

Landing

The process of planting any tree is based on several successive actions, each of which has its own important features. First of all, it is worthwhile to responsibly approach the choice of planting material, a place to place a coniferous plant and the choice of planting dates, not to mention the step-by-step procedure itself. Before proceeding to practical actions, it is worth exploring their theoretical nuances.

Did you know? After the death of the old spruce, new trees grow from its roots, which are a complete copy of the dead mother plant. One such specimen is growing on the territory of Sweden, the age of which, according to some estimates, is about 9.5 thousand years.

Seedling Selection

A seedling of blue spruce suitable for planting by three or five years of cultivation usually reaches already 70 cm in height, has a well-developed root system and dense strong shoots. The needles on young plants should be monophonic, without signs of yellowness or drying out of the individual parts. The trunk may be slightly curved, because as the tree grows, it will soon level out.If possible, it is better to buy young spruce in closed soil, which in the future will provide quick survival of the plant in a new place. If you decide to dig a seedling in the forest, then pick up a few buckets of earth from the place on which it grew. In the future, this soil will need to fill the landing hole, mixing it with other fertilizers for conifers.

Choosing a place to land

An ideal landing place for a blue spruce is a well-lit private area, with a minimum of direct sunlight. Given the rapid growth of the spruce root system, it is important that it is also very spacious, without the nearby growth of neighbors. In extreme cases, at a distance of 2–4 m from the trunk, it is possible to organize growth limiters in the form of a strip foundation.

Important! Sun rays will be especially dangerous for young needles in the first three years of growing a plant. In the future, you can not rush to close the seedling from exposure to the sun.

In addition, taking into account the large size of an adult tree (it will grow in width), do not plant it closer than 20 m from the house, otherwise there is the likelihood of undesirable effects of long roots on the foundation of the structure (in some cases, it leads to the appearance of cracks inside the house).

When they plant

Many gardeners believe that the end of winter is best for spruce planting, but for the northern regions this option is not suitable, since the land at this time still remains very frozen and hard to dig. The best solution would be to plant a conifer in April, and both for residents of the northern regions, and for citizens of Central Russia, when frosts begin to recede, and the earth thaws.

Landing rules

In addition to the right choice of seedlings and the implementation of planting measures, there are several more small recommendations for growing a strong tree that will quickly take root in a new place.

Did you know? Felling (separation from the root) of blue spruce or other varieties of this tree is considered a criminal offense and may be punished by a fine of up to 1.5 million rubles or by forced correctional labor for a period of 4 years, with an additional mandatory payment of 150,000-300,000 rubles to the state . In particularly difficult cases, a person faces imprisonment, which is also regulated by Art. 260 of the Criminal Code.

The following tips are among the most popular:

1. The adult blue spruce has a superficial location of the rhizome, which means it will take away moisture from other plants growing nearby. To prevent this from happening, you will have to plant it either behind the perimeter of the site, or arrange regular abundant watering.
2. To ensure rapid survival of the seedling in a new place, replanting it, pay attention to the cardinal points, trying to place it in accordance with the coordinates in the natural growth environment.
3. Since an adult spruce is a fairly large plant, when planting next to the fence, talk with your neighbors and make sure that they are not against the shadow of it.
4. The optimal fertilizer before planting spruce will be 100-150 g nitroammophoski per landing pit.
5. The roots of the plant do not tolerate open air space, so that they do not dry out, you need to try to keep them as low as possible (in extreme cases, the rhizome is wrapped with a damp cloth).
6. And finally, remember that you can’t dig trees wherever you want. To avoid possible troubles, it is better to purchase a seedling in specialized nurseries, and not to get it in protected areas.

Video: how to plant a blue spruce

Step-by-step instruction

When placing spruce in the garden, the planting process consists of several important steps:

1. To begin with, two weeks before the proposed planting, dig a hole in the chosen place, the depth and width of which will be about 25 cm more than the earthen coma of the selected seedling (on average, the parameters of the pit will correspond to 60 × 60 cm).
2. Then lay a five-centimeter layer of broken brick drainage on the bottom and fill the hill with a nutritious soil mixture (you can mix 50% of the top layer of local soil, 30% neutralized peat and 10% sand and humus each).
3. Treat the rhizome of the seedling with a clay mash and after it dries, move the plant into the pit, carefully leveling all the roots.
4. Fill the rhizome with the remaining soil, slightly compact it and water the plant well.
5. Drive a wooden peg next to the seedling and tie the trunk to it.
6. Cover the near-trunk area with sawdust or mulch with peat, which will help maintain the optimum moisture level of the root system.

At this, the spruce planting can be considered completed and all that remains is to arrange the tree proper further care.

Care

Caring for the planted spruce is based on all the same actions as growing other varieties of conifers: timely watering, periodic feeding, prevention of diseases and pests, as well as preparing young and not yet strong plants for winter. Each individual action has its own characteristics, which should not be forgotten when cultivating the blue variety of fir trees.

Video: how to prune blue spruce

Watering and feeding

Blue spruce is a moisture-loving plant, but at the same time it is not worth pouring it with water so that the roots do not begin to rot. An indicator of the optimality of irrigation when planting small seedlings in greenhouse conditions or a pot will be the absence of large drops of water on the glass of the greenhouse, but after planting a plant in an open area, it is worth focusing on the state of the upper soil layer. If during compression in a fist of the earth from the near-stem zone it crumbles and does not become lumpy, then the time has come to water the plant.

In spring and autumn, spruce will have enough natural rainfall, but in summer you will have to take care of additional watering. Immediately after planting, the seedlings are watered several times a week, but by the next year of cultivation, you can reduce the regularity of the liquid application to 1 time per month, and then, if the earth dries quickly under scorching sunlight. On one tree of blue spruce, 40-50 liters of water are usually consumed per irrigation.As for feeding young plants, the best option would be to introduce special formulations for conifers, for example, Pokon mixes. You can feed trees for the first time during planting, and then the procedure should be performed twice a seasonspending about 30 g of granules and 20 g of Epsom salts per plant. Classic humus or other organics in this case are inappropriate, and you can safely look for other places where they should be applied. Coniferous species are preferably fertilized with more suitable mineral compounds.

Winter preparations

Adult and mature blue spruce trees do not need shelter for the cold season, and when preparing for winter, you can irrigate for the last time and close the trunk area with fresh peat.

Important! Before sheltering the trees, it is advisable to wrap their trunk with barbed wire, thereby protecting the tree from rodents.

As for the plants planted in the country in the past or this year, it is advisable to further protect them from frost, using a spruce to shelter. In particularly harsh growing regions, low Christmas trees or cuttings are covered with a cardboard dome.

Video: preparing conifers for winter

Pest and Disease Prevention

Like other inhabitants of the garden, blue spruce is susceptible to diseases and pests. Therefore, in order to protect the plant and prevent its death, it is useful for every gardener to know about the basic rules for the prevention of possible problems.

Of the diseases, the most common ailments are fusarium drying and tracheomycosis. (affect the root system), alternariosis, shute, necrosis of the cortex, cone rust, pine werewolf, rust and ulcerative cancer. Among typical plant pests, spider mites, scabies and hermes, which often become carriers of some of the above diseases, are distinguished.

The following actions will be good prevention in all these cases:

1. Planting conifers should be carried out only in well-lit, spacious and, at the same time, sufficiently purged areas, with an optimal level of moisture in the substrate (if you plant a seedling in a marshy substrate, it will quickly rot).
2. Do not plant a blue spruce next to plants that tolerate a variety of ailments (for example, the neighborhood with potatoes, berry shrubs, tomatoes will be bad).
3. As fertilizers, you can use only micronutrient fertilizers and immunostimulants designed specifically for conifers.
4. Watering should be regular, but moderate, without stagnation of moisture in the root system of plants.
5. Shrunken, broken or damaged by diseases and pests branches must be removed in a timely manner, preferably immediately burning them.
6. In the spring, for preventive purposes, the crown can be treated with chemicals, preferably with a high concentration of copper. Before the next watering or rain, you can sprinkle coniferous plantations with ash.

With a responsible approach to planting and further care for blue spruce, it is not difficult to grow it and very soon the tree will delight you with a lush crown and high decorativeness, perfectly decorating any area.