A plant of the Cypress family - the Munglou juniper - is one of the most popular ornamental varieties with a pyramidal bright blue crown. It is used in many compositions in both private and industrial landscape design. Distributed in southwestern Canada, northern Mexico and the United States.
Juniper rock Munglow
Brief information about the variety
- Colour: in winter - a bluish tone, closer to cold weather - a rich bluish-blue color.
- Height: by 10 years about 2 m.
- Crown diameter: 1m.
- Growing regions: the south of Russia, the central, middle and northern stripes, subject to shelter for the winter at a young age.
- Landing features: likes a sunny place with a little shade. The scheme of planting young plants - 50x70 cm, adults 200x200 cm.
- Immunity: good frost resistance, poor resistance to diseases and parasites.
Plant characteristic
This culture is represented by two varieties - dioecious tree or shrub.
Under natural conditions, where a plant growing at an altitude of 1200-1700 m above sea level can grow up to 10-18 m with a circumference of 0.8-2 m.
It grows in size quite quickly - the annual growth is 15-20 cm.
External description
The crown looks attractive, has a pyramidal shape, consisting of numerous densely adjacent shoots, becomes spherical with age.
The central conductor is covered with brown bark, the young branches are pale or greenish blue.
Needles are needle-shaped, length 1.2 cm, width - 0.2 cm, in winter they are bluish in color, closer to cold they acquire a rich bluish-blue color.
The root system is superficial, branched. Forms spherical fruits, small, gray-blue tone, 0.4-0.6 cm in size, ripen in the second year of cultivation;
Inside the cone berries contain seeds with a ribbed structure, brownish-red, with a diameter of 0.5 cm.
Growing regions
Due to its good winter hardiness, this plant is distributed throughout the territory of Ukraine, suitable for cultivation in the south of Russia, as well as in the central, middle and northern strip, provided it is sheltered for the winter at a young age.
Landing rules
This juniper variety grows well and takes root on almost all types of soil, the main thing is to choose high-quality and healthy planting material for planting.
Sapling selection
It is recommended to purchase seedlings in nurseries.
You can buy a seedling in a gardening nursery. It is better to take 1-2 years old with a beautiful, lively crown of a uniform saturated color.
Twigs and needles should be intact, without any signs of disease - red, yellow, black spots, mold and rot.
The best option would be a copy with a closed root system, so it will more easily transfer planting to the site, the roots will not dry out and remain unharmed.
The optimal height of a young bush for planting is 30-40 cm.
Plants with an earthen clod can be planted in the spring before the start of sap flow or in the fall a month before the onset of stable cold weather.
Junipers with open roots are best planted in spring, because during autumn planting there is a high risk of freezing and death.
Site preparation
This culture loves sunny places in the garden with light shading.
If planted in the open sun, the crown will quickly turn yellow and dry out from the scorching rays.
When Munglow Juniper is planted in full shade, it will grow slowly and look less attractive.
Prefers sandy, sour, fertile soil with good drainage. If you plan to plant on loamy or clayey soil, pre-apply 2-3 buckets of coarse sand or vermiculite per 1 m².
The site is freed from weeds, residues of vegetation, dug up, leveled. Two weeks later, they begin to prepare the planting holes.
Landing technique
The size of the holes depends on the dimensions of the earthen coma - they should be 2-3 times larger.
The optimal distance between the bushes is 0.5 m, in a row - 0.7 m, when planting adult specimens, observe the 2x2 m scheme.
At the bottom of each pit, a floor of a drainage bucket is laid - pebbles, rubble or brick chips, sprinkled with a thin layer of sand.
Then it is half-filled with a pre-prepared mixture of peat, turf and sand in a 2: 1: 1 ratio.
Before laying in a hole, moisten a lump with roots, then lower it so that the root collar remains slightly above the surface of the soil, fill up all the voids, trample and water abundantly - 5 liters of water are consumed per seedling.
Care requirements
The rocky juniper Munglaw is an unpretentious crop that requires several manipulations.
Watering
For successful rooting and intensive growth of green mass, frequent and regular watering is required - at least once every 7 days in a dry summer.
Grown plants from three years old are watered three times per season.
Additionally, sprinkling of the crown is carried out in the evening - once a week. The aboveground part, saturated with moisture, forms a young growth faster, retains decorative qualities and is protected from the invasion of harmful insects.
Loosening and mulching
Juniper will decorate your site
To keep the soil in the near-stem zone light and allow moisture and oxygen to pass through well, it is loosened a day after watering.
This variety has a superficial, branched root system, so loosening is carried out carefully and to a depth of 3-4 cm.
In parallel with this procedure, they weed between the rows, remove unnecessary vegetation.
To protect the roots from drying out, after moistening, a thick layer of mulch from peat or coniferous sawdust is applied. This soil cover prevents the growth of weeds, which greatly facilitates maintenance.
Top dressing
Caring for the Munglow juniper involves regular feeding.
Young plants are fertilized the next year after planting, in early spring. Kemira-universal is introduced (20 g of substance per bucket of water) or nitroammofosk (30-40 g per 1 m²).
Starting from 4-5 years old, feeding of conifers is stopped.
Pruning
This culture, which naturally forms a beautiful, compact aerial part, does not need shaping pruning.
Every spring, before the start of sap flow, they carry out a sanitary haircut - they remove all shoots damaged by frost, diseases, pests, as well as twigs growing in the wrong direction.
A sterile object is used for cutting to eliminate the risk of infection. After the procedure, the crown is sprayed with a solution of copper sulfate.
If you want to transform and align its contours, try to carry out light pruning - no more than 20 mm in length, otherwise the plant may not tolerate stress and die.
Shelter for the winter
Adult specimens are able to successfully endure a long wintering and a drop in temperature to -30 ° C without shelter.
They are simply piled up with peat, and in a snowy winter they shake off the snow to eliminate the risk of injury to the branches under its weight.
Young seedlings up to three years old are mulched with peat or coniferous sawdust, covered with cardboard boxes or burlap.
Under such a layer, the crown will have access to oxygen, which will prevent the invasion of parasites and the appearance of mold.
The insulation is removed after the snow melts and the threat of return frosts has passed.
Reproduction
The most efficient and fastest way of propagation is with cuttings.
Harvesting and planting
The preparation of shoots for obtaining new plants is carried out in the spring (in April or May). Lignified cuttings with a small piece of old bark are cut from the top of an adult tree.
Segments 15-20 cm long are freed from shoots and needles in the lower part, planted in a wet substrate of sand and peat (1: 1), covered with foil and germinated at home.
Care
With poor care, the tree will get sick
Optimum temperature for germination is 20-21 ° C, humidity is 60%.
It can take 2 to 3 months for rooting. During this time, the shoots are regularly ventilated and moistened. As soon as the first buds appear on them, the shelter is removed, the temperature is lowered to 15-17 ° C and placed in a room with diffused daylight.
A year later, they are transplanted to the site, they do it in early autumn. Planting technique and rules are the same as for purchased seedlings.
There is another way to reproduce this variety - by grafting. But it is considered time consuming, not always justified, and requires some knowledge and skills.
Diseases
Even with good care and adherence to all the rules of agricultural technology, this rocky juniper can be damaged by various infections.
Rust
A fungal disease that manifests itself as numerous red or orange oily spots on the surface of the trunk and adjacent branches.
The infected plant loses its decorative effect over time, dries up and after three years, if no measures are taken, dies.
At the first signs of damage, it is necessary to destroy all infected organs, then treat the crown with one of the fungicides - Tilt, Vectra, Skor, Bayleton or Rogor.
Fusarium
Another fungal disease that develops in conditions of constant dampness and thickened plantings. The fungus primarily affects the root system, blocking access to oxygen, moisture and nutrients.
Against this background, the crown, deprived of food and moisture, loses its decorative effect, the top acquires a brownish-red tone. It is difficult to detect a sore at an early stage.
If you notice a slight reddening of the needles on the crown, it is worth cutting it off, then irrigate the soil and the entire aerial part with Bordeaux liquid. Some gardeners recommend a surface replacement of the soil with a fresh mixture soaked in fungicide.
For prevention, it is necessary to use healthy planting material, and before planting, treat its crown and earthen lump with Maxim, Fitosporin-M or Quadris.
Shrinking branches
One of the most common problems. Signs of this disease are massive yellowing and death of needles, young growth.
At an advanced stage, the entire aerial part is covered with small black spots - the fruiting bodies of the fungus.
Heavily infected bushes are removed from the site and burned, the sick are often cut out on the young to healthy tissue, then treated with a solution of copper sulfate or Bordeaux liquid.
For prophylaxis, a double cultivation of the crown and soil around the trunk is required - in April and early October. For this, use Tilt, Ridomil Gold or Skor.
Brown shute
All damaged parts of the tree must be removed
Signs of damage are massive yellowing and shedding of needles. The peak of development occurs at the beginning of summer, and towards the end the needles are covered with black dots.
If not properly cared for and grown in a shady location, the sore develops rapidly and spreads to healthy trees.
The treatment is carried out as follows - first, the damaged parts are removed, then all the fallen needles are collected, and the crown and soil around the plant are treated with Ridomil Gold, Quadris, Strobi or Skor.
The same funds are used for prevention in spring and autumn.
Pests
In addition to diseases, this juniper variety is damaged by some parasites - miner moth, spider mite, shitovka, aphid.
Double irrigation of the crown with Fitoverm will help to destroy aphids. You can get rid of moths with the help of Decis, from scouring with a solution of karbofos.
Spider mites are well destroyed by acaricides - Actellik, Aktara, or Karbofos.
Application in landscape
Munglaw has a regular, geometric shape and high decorativeness throughout the year, so the juniper is readily used in landscape design:
- they frame alleys, beautifully decorate gardens, use it on alpine hills;
- great for creating Japanese, English and Scandinavian styles on the site;
- group plantings along the curbs, in city parks look spectacular;
- this variety goes well with ground cover and undersized conifers;
- in flower arrangements, this plant is used as a center element, framed with roses, hydrangeas, oaks.
Reviews
Gardeners love this plant for its different qualities and leave only a positive characteristic:
- compact and undemanding needles do not take up much space in the garden, therefore they are suitable for growing in small and tiny areas;
- due to good winter hardiness, adult specimens do not require shelter and winter well in any zone of our country;
- some people like that this variety itself forms a beautiful crown, it does not need to be cut, which greatly facilitates maintenance.