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Evergreen coniferous crops are very popular due to their high ornamentation and undemandingness. Among these plants are thuja, planting and care in the open field for which even beginners can do. In nature, thujas, the closest relatives of junipers and cypresses, have the form of shrubs or tall trees with a dense crown and soft scaly needles.
Cultivated species of the plant are more compact than wild-growing ones, they may have a golden or silver-gray crown, and the Tui necapriz are not afraid of the polluted air and winter well in Russia.
When and how to plant an evergreen shrub? How to care for thuja in the country, and how does the care of a plant differ in different regions?
Thuja with an open root system can be planted into the ground in spring or autumn. The first option is preferable, since the plant has time to acclimatize and root. In the fall, if you delay with planting, the risk of bush freezing is great.
Nurseries offer seedlings with a closed root system. Planting such a plant is possible throughout the warm season.
How to plant a thuja in the spring?
Decorative thujas love the light, but, permanent exposure to the sun acts depressingly. Such a shrub turns yellow, dries out and hibernates poorly. To avoid this, choose a bright place for Tui, protected from the midday sun and drafts.
Thuis are unpretentious and easily growing on soils of different composition more than other conifers like moisture, but at the same time they are afraid of water stagnation, therefore, before planting the thuja in the spring, they properly prepare the pit, loose aerated substrate, and also prepare the seedling.
The ground for the thuja is mixed on the basis of:
- 2 pieces of the litter of their coniferous forest or peat;
- 3 pieces of sod land;
- 2 pieces of humus;
- 1 part sand.
Mineral fertilizers for hnoiks are mixed into the substrate, according to the recommendations of the dressing manufacturer. If the soil at the cottage is sandy, no additional sand is added.
Plants with an open root system often dry out on the way to their permanent place of residence. To replenish strength and revive thuyu, immersion of roots in settled water at room temperature will help, to which it is useful to add a root-stimulator.
Plants with a closed root system, especially from foreign nurseries, can be infected with harmful fungi, scutes, spider mites, the pathogen of rust and other diseases.
. When planting a thuja in Siberia, as shown in the photo, care did not begin with the struggle for the life of a shrub, the plant must be inspected in advance and treated with systemic insecticides and fungicides from root to crown.
Tui planting technology in the spring: a step-by-step description of the
The dimensions of the planting pit depend on the size of the earthy coma and the root system of the seedling. A thuja seedling at 3–4 years of age requires a pit 50 to 100 cm wide and 60–70 cm deep.
The pit is made 1–3 meters away from other garden crops. The distance depends on the selected variety. The higher the shrub, the more space and power required for its shallow root system.
How to proceed? To summer residents who do not have experience in growing conifers, a step-by-step description of the planting technology of thuja in spring will be useful.
- If there is a dense, heavy soil at the site, a drainage of sand, brick chips or expanded clay with a layer from 15 to 20 cm is required at the bottom.
- Then, part of the prepared soil is poured to the bottom with a cone for a seedling with an open root system and an even layer for the plant in the container.
- A shrub with a closed root system is removed from the container and placed in the center of the pit. The roots of the shrub without a container straighten and evenly laid out on the earthen cone.
- It is important that the root of the thuja is not below the level of the soil.
- When the pit is filled with soil, it is slightly compacted.
- The soil under the planted thuja is watered abundantly so that the soil is wet throughout the depth of the pit. It takes from 10 to 20 liters.
- At the end, the tree trunk is mulched with chopped grass or peat.
Loose protective layer of mulch will save moisture, protect the root system from being blown away when planting thuja and leaving in the Leningrad region, as well as from freezing during returning cold in Siberia or the Urals.
Care for thuja after landing in open ground
Tui respond well to water. With its lack of a shrub loses brightness and tone, the needles gradually turn yellow, and the crown thins.
Focusing on the weather, air humidity and soil, the plants in the garden are watered regularly. In dry times, this should be done every 3–4 days. Irrigation of the canopy in the morning or in the evening will help:
- to keep the green alive and beautiful;
- intensify respiration shoots.
Care for thuja in open ground after planting involves the removal of weeds and the careful loosening of the soil under a shrub. Since the thuja roots are superficial, you should not disturb the soil deeper than 8–10 cm. Laying peat or sawdust mulch will help simplify the task, as well as update its layer as needed.
The thuja feeding carried out in the spring gives the plant the strength to recover quickly after wintering and activates the growth of young shoots. As a fertilizer, you should use complex compositions for coniferous crops with a predominance of nitrogen. Liquid feeding is made in the morning or evening hours on wet soil.
If fertilizers were added to the soil, the first dressing of the thuja is carried out only two years after planting, when the soil is completely thawed. This is especially important when planting and caring for thuja in the Urals, in Siberia and other regions with a harsh climate.
Roots in warm soil immediately absorb useful substances and push shoots to grow. If fertilizers fall into frozen ground, they can cause root rot.
Pruning of thuja in spring
Evergreen shrubs remain virtually unchanged during the winter. During the cold season, some varieties of thuja acquire a brown shade, their development is inhibited and resumed only with the arrival of heat.
Thuja care in the spring necessarily includes sanitary pruning, allowing you to release the crown from dry and badly damaged branches. While the shoots did not go to the growth of the spring hold the crown. This should be done carefully, cutting no more than a third of the length of the shoot. Further pruning helps to maintain the shape of the shrub, and also stimulates branching, making the plant more dense, vibrant, green.
A hot summer can lead to the loss or weakening of part of the branches. In this case, do not wait for autumn. Sanitary pruning thuya spend as needed. If the shoot is not dead, but only weakened, a haircut can push its recovery.
The re-shaping time of the bush in the middle lane begins in August and lasts until the end of September. In Siberia, in the Urals and areas where the first frosts come earlier, the haircut will have to be done earlier. 
By autumn, the growth of the thuja stops, the plant is preparing for winter. If the soil is dry, the plants in October, before snow falls, watered abundantly.
Preparing for cold weather and caring for thuja after winter
Most species of thuja endure frost without loss, however, young shrubs are better protected from low temperatures with the help of spruce branches or other suitable materials. In the future, growing shrubs may not suffer from cold, but from crown fractures and burns of needles that occur in February or March, when the snow melts and can no longer protect the branches.
In Siberia, the hothouses lose their decorative effect both from the early spring burn and from the desiccation as a result of soil freezing. These dangers often pursue large tall forms. Strelani and squat plants tolerate even the harshest winters better, but can spring up in spring with a dense crown and long-term thawing of the soil.
Before the onset of winter when caring for thuja:
- carry out sanitary pruning of the crown;
- shrubs are watered and spud high;
- near-stem circles abundantly mulch with a layer up to 15 cm.
Pyramidal and spherical shrubs for the prevention of snow breaks are tied, fixing the shape with a string, but not pulling together to prevent the appearance of a gap.
Covers for evergreen wintering plants have proven themselves well. Snow helps to preserve the decorativeness of the thuja; both tall and low plants plentifully sprinkle it on them.
Before caring for thuja in the country, you need to know the features of the various forms of this culture.
Garden Tui are divided into vigorous, medium-grown specimens and groundcover forms. Among tall plants it winters best, retains a bright color of needles and forms a thuja Braband up to 20 meters high. Shrubs with a narrower pyramidal shape can burn out, but columnar plants, even in Siberian conditions, retain decorativeness well. Thuja Smaragd height of about 2 meters with an average growth rate and in winter and summer happy with bright green needles, but fade without sufficient care.
Small plants that are easy to cover under the snow and cover in the spring to save from burns are considered the most unpretentious and easy to care for. They are good for planting and care in the Urals, in Siberia and in the Leningrad region, where large shrubs are not always able to grow.
Thuja care after the winter begins in February. The bright sun not only awakens everything to life, but also turns the snow into a hard crust, spoiling the bark, and burns scaly needles. Therefore, before taking shelter from a thuja after winter, they destroy the ice crust, and also carry out a number of activities to speed up the thawing of the soil:
- remove the old mulch;
- shrub watered with hot water;
- pristvolny circle covered with a film or black non-woven material.
A bright spring sun is detrimental to pine needles, which turn yellow and often fall. From March to May, especially if thuja grows in an open, sunny place, the shrub is covered with breathing material.
When the needles on the shoots are still damaged and have lost their former glory, the heavily dried, yellowed parts of the branches are cut off, and the crown is treated daily with irrigation of a growth stimulator solution.
Ice crust can damage the bark. After the shelter was removed for the winter, the thuja is examined, and the lesions revealed are covered with garden pitch.
Problems when taking care of the thuja in the open field
Problems with growing thuja are most often associated with:
- with a lack of attention;
- with improper planting or choice of place for shrubs;
- weakening wintering field;
- attack by pests or pathogens.
Tui are affected by pathogens of fungal and bacterial infections, manifested in the form of wilting needles, the appearance of yellowness or brown spots on it. Without proper attention and complex treatment with a fungicide, the disease grows and can cause the death of a garden thuja. After primary irrigation, the procedure is repeated after 2 weeks.
Among the pests that are dangerous for thuja:
- shchitovki and false-protection;
- spider mites;
- tue mole;
- aphid;
- fills;
- lubooedy damaging the bark.
As a preventive measure, plants are sprayed with an insecticide solution in early spring, repeating the treatment after 14 days.
If the thuja is planted correctly, and caring for the plant fully covers its needs, the shrub grows well and decorates the dacha for a long time.
