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Iva kozya, otherwise her botany called Bredina (Selix carrea), and in common people simply Rakita, a plant belonging to the family Willow. Homeland is Europe, but it grows successfully in Western Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. The average life expectancy is 150 years. During this time, the height of the plant can reach 10 m and, 5 m in diameter, the trunk.
Many gardeners are wondering, isva goat is a tree or shrub? Everyone calls it differently, but in the general classification it is a deciduous tree, sometimes a tree-like shrub. Based on the name, we can conclude that the sheep and goats like to eat with a plant.
Short description
The plant loves light, nevertheless, it has shade-tolerant qualities. Favorite places of growth: fertile, rich, sandy or gravelly soils. In this case, they should not be strongly moistened - it can ruin a tree. As a conclusion - watering should be moderate. There is a rakita along roads, houses, on logs of wood, felling. Formed seedlings are used for planting. If you need to multiply, then for this approach cuttings, seeds or the method of vaccination.
The characteristic features of the plant are:
- Branches. They are thick and spreading. In young individuals, they have a slightly grayish color and a slight opulence. In specimens grown and well developed, the color of the branches may be greenish-gray or yellow-brown. If the tree is old, its branches acquire a gray color, and, moreover, become brittle.
- Bark.At first it is green-gray and quite smooth. As the "growing" color changes to brown, and at the bottom of the trunk are formed cracks. As for the wood, it is smooth, but when it comes in contact with the air it turns red.
- Foliage.It has an elliptical shape with a length / width of 11-18 / 5-8 cm, respectively. The outer side is painted in a dark green color, and the lower side is grayish. A distinctive feature is a jagged uneven edge. In the axils of the leaves, the kidneys are hidden. They are quite large (length-width 5/3 cm, respectively). Flower buds have a reddish color and an ovate, not flattened shape measuring 15 / 3-6 mm in length / width.
- Flowers, in the form of earrings.Flowering of goat willow occurs in April, until the foliage starts growing, and lasts 10-13 days. There are female and male flowers. The first wide, oblong-oval forms up to 6 cm long. The second - dense, cylindrical shape, reach 10 cm in length, multi-flowered.
- Fetus.As a result of pollination in May, a fruit is formed in the form of a box with a diameter of about 7-8 cm, located on a fluffy petiole. Each fruit contains about 18 seeds with fluffy outgrowths, due to which the seeds are transported over a distance. Unfortunately, seeds very quickly lose their germination.
Beauty and shape
Goat willow in landscape design (photo can be seen below) is very common. And all because of its beauty and form. And the appearance of the plant strongly depends on the soil in which it grows, and the illumination.
Most often, rakita is planted with the improvement of private houses and estates. At first glance, the willow seems ungainly, but thanks to its weeping forms, grafted onto the stem, it acquires a very attractive appearance.
The willow looks beautiful in the stony gardens, as well as on the edge of the reservoirs. It is worth to evaluate another advantage of the plant - the ability to bind the roots of the soil, so it is not surprising that it is often planted on the slopes.
Varieties
Most often gardeners pay attention to such varieties of willows as "Silberglanz having a height of up to 8 m and a sprawling crown, "Pendula" the main advantage of which is the weeping crown and the die form, and "Mas which has a wide-spread crown and reaches the height up to 10 m.
Willow goat Pendula
This deciduous tree, reaching a height and length up to 2-3 m. As a rule, it lives no more than 30 years on soils of any humidity. A species of shade-tolerant and light-loving. For normal growth requires abundant watering. But in order to avoid overflow it is necessary to lay a rather high drainage layer. The plant is frost-resistant, but for winter it is recommended to cover the stem.
The dignity of the plant, let us repeat, the mantle-shaped weeping crown. The goat willow looks perfect on the stem. Of the many varieties of pendula can be determined by dark-green oblong-elliptical foliage up to 8-10 cm long. In the fall period, the color becomes yellow.
In April-May, flowering (lasting 15 days) begins with the ejection of flat golden-yellow earrings. In the future, the fetus is formed in the form of a capsule.
In landscape design, pendula is planted as a single tree, and in decorative groups. It looks great in rock gardens and near water bodies. It is perfectly combined with dwarf trees of coniferous varieties, juveniles, moisture-loving plants and soil cover. With regard to reproduction, the procedure is carried out by grafting on the stem.
The most difficult to care for is the pruning of goat's goose Pendula. If during the first year the crown is not correctly formed, the branches will settle down to the ground and the decorative value will be lost.
Young animals pruned all branches, leaving a length of only 15 cm. In this case, there must be a kidney looking to the side or up. But not inside the crown. Such a haircut is achieved by forming a shape that looks like an open umbrella.
If the plant is grown, then pruning is carried out after flowering, shortening the branches 2/3 of the entire length. This is achieved by a dense branching of the crown.
Iva Kozya Kilmarnock (Kilmarnock)
This variety is characterized by its miniature (maximum, m in height). The tree is stamping, like an open umbrella with branches reaching the ground. The plant is frost-resistant and wind-resistant, photophilous. Has no requirements to the soil, grows well on little-loamy, loamy soils. The only drawback - the sensitivity to moisture, so you need to be careful with watering.
You can identify the variety by foliage. It is green, oblong-elliptical, slightly wrinkled, yellowing in autumn.
In April, flowering begins with the release of numerous earrings with silvery and fragrant flowers.
Goat willow: planting and care
Planting is carried out with the onset of spring. Cuttings are placed in advance in the water and waiting for the appearance of rootlets. After they should be transplanted into the open ground, before dug a shallow hole. The extracted soil is mixed with compost, and after planting the cuttings are buried in a pit and slightly ground. After that, it is good to water the plant with water. Subsequently, watering is performed 2-3 times / week. For adult specimens, regular watering is not necessary. If the dry and hot weather is observed in the summer, the saplings should be watered more often.
As for feeding, in the spring-autumn period it is carried out twice by complex means. In the autumn, give preference to sulfuric potassium or superphosphate. In the presence of a large number of weeds around the tree, mulching is carried out by sawdust, peat, expanded clay, paper, shredded pebbles.
In the case of rapid drying of the land near the willow goat, it should be loosened, and if the cracks go, then first water the land, and then loosen.
Do not forget about the timely and regular cutting of trees.
Correctly carried out planting, watering control, and willow trim will help you form a beautiful plant that will bring grace to the landscape design of your home.
