in winter and in early spring already available in stores. And imported flowering plants, which can also be grown in the garden, are sold all year round.
Gardeners are faced with the task: before planting in open ground, because before the start of the garden season is still very far away. But once in a warm place, planting material garden plants instantly starts to grow.
Warning gardeners to refrain from buying garden plants so early long before planting them in the garden is pointless. I myself sometimes can not resist buying planting material in winter and early spring. Therefore, you need to know how to proceed correctly with purchased garden plants so that they are planted in a permanent place.
I’ll tell you how I keep early purchased seedlings of various garden plants in the apartment until they are planted in a permanent place.
The importance of keeping planting material cool
Let's take a closer look at questions about early purchased rose seedlings and the conditions for their successful landing and good survival in the future.
It is advisable to buy seedlings that went on sale in winter and early spring immediately after bringing them to the store and store them in a cool place. It is important that garden plants a minimum of time lay warm - otherwise the planting material will begin to grow.
For example, when in a warm and dark place, thin white sprouts grow in rhizomatous perennials in bags of peat. Waxed rose shoots sprout buds quickly, while polyethylene-packed roots suffocate. Therefore, when keeping the planting material of garden plants in such unfavorable conditions, after even a short time, sometimes there is nothing to hope for.
rose seedlings
Consider the situation with purchased in winter or early spring planting materialpacked in colorful carton boxes(including those brought from Poland, Hungary, etc.). Their price is very attractive, so it is difficult to resist not to purchase such seedlings of the desired varieties of roses.
If the buds on the purchased rose seedling have not yet begun to swell, then this good sign- it means that with a high probability this rose will take root. But before planting the purchased rose in the garden, it must be preserved.
When kept warm, rose seedlings develop long sprouts. I don’t take such roses at all - after all, thin sprouts will dry up, and the roots of the seedling do not work yet, and such a greatly weakened plant may die.
The purchased rose seedling soon starts to grow, even if you keep it in the refrigerator for the first time.
At first, you can store the rose in the refrigerator in the package in which it was purchased, but not more than a week. A rose seedling's chances of survival decrease every day, because its packed roots are pinched and covered with peat or sawdust, which can dry out. Therefore, after a short storage in a cold place, the rose has to be planted in a pot.
In the photo: an unpacked rose seedling before planting in a pot
Rose seedlings purchased in cardboard packaging must be unpacked and inspected for roots. They are cut to a minimum without any regret. And there are roots and bent two or three times, so the capacity for planting such a rose seedling may need a large one.
Because I can't resist these early purchases of new roses every year, I have two large pots 22 cm high for planting them (the smaller the diameter of the container, the less land will be needed). Therefore, I buy no more than two seedlings of roses in winter or early spring at the very beginning of the delivery to the store, while the plants have not yet begun to grow.
In autumn, I make and prepare soil mixtures for growing seedlings with a high content of sand. A purchased peat substrate is suitable only as an additive to a self-composed earthen mixture to make it more loose and moisture-capacity.
I plant the unpacked rose in a pot, straightening the roots, in the prepared soil (the volume of the earth should be slightly larger than the bulk of the roots). If the roots are large, then you can bend them a little at the very bottom, so that during planting a clod of earth is preserved in the center. And along the perimeter, protruding roots can then be straightened and trimmed a little.
Gradually I fill the roots of the rose with an earthen mixture, watering and at the same time slightly compacting it near the roots.
From above I pour a layer of dry earth or sand into the pot as mulch. I leave the root collar of the rose seedling on the surface of the earth for the time being - I will deepen it when transplanting a rose from a pot into open ground to a permanent place.
It would be nice to store pots of roses in a cold, frost-free place at a constant temperature, but I don’t have such a large free refrigerator. I bring out the planted rose glazed balcony and monitor the temperature. It is undesirable for it to fall below zero, since young buds and sprouts of a rose seedling can freeze slightly, and this will have a bad effect on its survival in the future. If frosts are kept small, rose shoots can be covered with something (non-woven fabric, film) for better preservation. When severe frosts are expected at night, I bring pots of roses from the balcony to the apartment and put them in the coolest place until the cold passes.
It will be possible to plant purchased rose bushes in the garden in spring, as soon as the land allows - this usually happens in mid-April or a little earlier. I bring roses in pots to the country. I plant them carefully, without disturbing the coma of the earth and deepening the root neck as expected - about 2 cm.
Be sure to take care of covering (with any non-woven material, film) for the first time the roses planted in the garden from excessive sun and wind. Return frosts will also probably still be, which is usually for the middle zone; but if there is little greenery, and it freezes over, it's okay. It is better not to remove temporary shelter from planted roses for as long as possible for their maximum adaptation in the garden, especially in difficult weather conditions.
In the photo: rose seedlings are planted in pots; first bloom of a young rose after a few months
Like rose seedlings, I keep all other seedlings of garden plants bought in winter or early spring until planting in the garden; but they are usually easier. They do not need such voluminous pots (except for hydrangeas) - it is enough that their roots are only placed in a pot.
If the rose was bought in a blooming pot, then you can wait a bit - until all the opened flowers have faded (provided that the rose will stand in a cool place, and).
In a pot with a purchased blooming rose there is one transport peat, which dries quickly in an apartment, so you have to water it often.
It is pointless to expect other flowers from such a plant, so you need to pinch off the remaining buds, shake off the peat from the roots and transplant it into land suitable for roses.
I have roses bought in February-March in flowering pots under the usual shelter in the country house. But blooming roses are still better to buy closer to the beginning of the garden season or early autumn, so that immediately.
Gerberas, chrysanthemums, hydrangea
Exactly the same as with blooming roses in pots, I do with blooming flowers bought at the beginning of spring. Then these gerberas bloom all summer in my country house, in the open field.
Flowering in pots, which are also sold in abundance in late winter and early spring, then grow beautifully in the country.
Bought in pots flowering bushes chrysanthemums will then also need to be transplanted from peat into a suitable substrate in which they will grow before planting in open ground.
Potted chrysanthemums, once in the garden, grow huge bushes by autumn. Because these plants for growing in pots are treated with growth-inhibiting hormones, and in the wild nothing prevents these chrysanthemums from growing. They bloom again in the garden in autumn - and sometimes chrysanthemums in the open field get a completely different color of flowers than when they are bought blooming in a store.
Heat-loving chrysanthemums must be dug up in autumn and cool until spring. And cold-resistant ones need to be covered for the winter, they just won’t overwinter without shelter.
Just like the potted roses and chrysanthemums I bought in winter and early spring, I also grew a seedling from a plant blooming in a pot for my garden. Is it true, blue flowers my hydrangeas were only at the very beginning, and in the country it turned from blue into pink. I have not yet tried to water the hydrangea bush with alum to get the blue color of the flowers, because I like it pink too.
Once again, I will clarify that those purchased in pots should not be transplanted into a ready-made peat substrate, which is sold in a store, but into the ground.
For such home plantings, I always have humus prepared in advance from the dacha. I mix it with sand, with a purchased substrate (I try to take packages of "Live Earth"). I definitely steam the earth mixture.
The roots of seedlings when planting in pots should be only slightly sprinkled with earth on top.
Clematis and woody plants
With clematis seedlings, which are bought in winter or early spring long before planting in the garden, they do exactly the same as with blooming roses. For them, too, the main thing is not to flood the plants in the pot. In and in young clematis seedlings, the weakest point is the root neck (the place where the roots of the plant begin to grow), which can rot from waterlogging. Therefore, when planting clematis in a pot, it is better not to cover the root collar with earth at all; and if you fill it up a little, then only with sand.
At the first opportunity, it is necessary to take out a pot with planted clematis on a glazed balcony or loggia (make sure that there are no sub-zero temperatures there).
After planting clematis in the ground, you first need to cover the seedling from the sun and wind.
With purchased garden seedlings, they do exactly the same as with seedlings of roses and clematis.
Seedlings of some types of garden plants are sold with an open root system. If the roots are already wilted, then the dry tips of the roots must be cut before planting (about 0.5 cm, to a healthy tissue), and then soak them in for 3-4 hours (I use root). And then plant the plant in a pot.
Bulbous and bulbous plants
Planting material of gladioli and planted in the spring in the garden when the earth warms up. We have in middle lane the planting period for these plants usually falls at the end of April and the beginning of May. Otherwise, in cold soil, tubers and bulbs of heat-loving plants can rot, and then the plant will be sick for a long time and grow slowly.
After purchase, the planting material of these plants must be kept in a cold, dark place, in which case the refrigerator helps out.
It is undesirable to keep perennial rhizomes and bulbs after purchase in the same bag in the refrigerator for a long time. Peat, in which rhizomes, root tubers and bulbs are located, can dry out; or, conversely, they will rot from excess moisture.
Even for the unpretentious, the scales began to rot after a week of storage in the refrigerator in the package in which the bulbs were bought. It's good that I noticed it in time. She cut off the blackened areas, missed with brilliant green, dried the sections and. Until sprouts appear in pots with lilies, and the bulb is in the ground and is protected from the cold, then weak and short frosts on a glazed balcony are not terrible for plants.
When the sprouts of high-quality lily bulbs stored in the refrigerator reach a length of more than 10 cm, and it is still a long time to wait before planting the plants in the garden, they must also be planted in the ground and put the pots in the light.
In lilies, the formed supra-bulb roots are important for growth, so this must be taken into account when planting bulbs in a pot. The soil layer above the lily bulb should be at least 5-7 cm.
Corms have a feature: if you break the already grown roots on the bottom of the bulb, then new ones will no longer grow, and this will weaken flowering.
Under gladioli and dahlias, when planting them in the garden, be sure to add them.
demanding on different acidity of the soil, therefore, when planting their bulbs, carefully add wood ash(look at). Be aware that some groups of lilies prefer slightly acidic soil (for example, Oriental Hybrids), and the ash creates an alkaline environment.
When planting plants from pots in the garden, they must be carefully knocked out of the pot with a clod of earth, then they get sick less after transshipment.
dahlias
The heat-loving ones are afraid of frost, and it will be possible to plant them with sprouts in the garden only when it warms up in late April or early May - under shelter with protection from return frosts.
I store the purchased dahlia root tubers in a bag with holes - I keep them in the refrigerator until the buds on the neck begin to swell. And then, too, selected according to the size of each tuber. I moisten the earth and keep dahlias at home in the coolest place.
Such a place in my apartment is a closet in the kitchen under the window. In early February, I just get out of there overwintered after a period of winter dormancy. And then again I fill the cabinet shelves with pots with rhizomes and bulbs planted in winter and early spring, which stand there until mid-March.
Purchased dahlias once began to bloom in my garden very early - simultaneously with the end of May. I must say that there is no beauty in this - flowering dahlias are "lost" against the backdrop of lush flowering of peonies and other flowers of this spring period. Still, we are accustomed to perceive dahlias as summer and autumn flowers of August and September, since dahlias bloom magnificently before the onset of frost. And it is in autumn that the beauty of their inflorescences is striking, because flowering plants the garden is getting smaller. And dahlias seem to us exotic flowers against the background of the yellowing foliage of woody plants.
Caring for potted garden plants
After planting in pots, garden plants should be well shed and put the pots in the coolest place in the apartment. Try to water the plants as little as possible - it's better to let the earth dry out a little than to pour.
If the state of the seedling allows, and the plant has just begun to grow, it is better to keep it longer in cold and dark until planting.
And if there are already leaves on it, then you need to choose a cool and bright place to keep the sprouted plant.
When keeping roses and other plants in an apartment, they often appear malicious pest(especially if the rose is in a warm place) -.
As soon as the leaves of the rose bush begin to turn yellow, you need to carefully monitor the rose, wash its stem and leaves with cool water, and carry out preventive treatments against spider mites. Since the tick is very small, when you can already see its web on the plant, it is sometimes too late - it is not always possible to save the affected rose.
It is problematic to spray pest-affected plants in an apartment with chemicals. When it is not very cold outside and there is a glazed balcony or loggia, you can sprinkle the plants there during the day, and bring them into the apartment in the evening. The rose keeps low temperatures well (the main thing is that it should be at least +3 ... +5 degrees on the balcony).
spider mite in an apartment can harm not only roses, but also all plants located there.
Benefits of planting house grown plants in the garden
When a plant bought in winter or early spring was at home in a pot of earth before planting in the garden, its root system had already developed sufficiently and adapted to the ground. Therefore, when transshipping a plant from a pot into open ground, the plant only needs to be slightly deepened, and also covered for the first time from the wind and from the hot sun.
In the garden, such seedlings do not get sick after transplantation, they begin to grow and grow stronger almost immediately, and soon they bloom.
Garden plants after planting in the ground have time to prepare well for winter during the garden season.
So, buying garden plants in stores in winter and early spring only makes sense if you are sure that you can save the seedlings before planting in the garden. If there are conditions for keeping these plants, and, most importantly, if there is a desire to care for and grow them. And the question is where
We have already written about how to properly cover trees in the fall to protect them from rodents and spring sun. But now spring has come, and many gardeners are wondering: when to open the trees?
In this case, it all depends on the material with which the trees were covered. If the trees are covered with coniferous spruce branches or agrotex, then one should not rush here. After all, spruce branches are a breathable material, and you can safely leave it until the beginning of May.
The same applies to nonwovens. They are also very breathable and you can take your time getting them out of the trees.
But if dense, air-tight materials such as roofing material or films were used to shelter the trees, then it is worth opening the trees as early as possible in order to avoid underheating the bark of a young tree.
Why is it necessary? For example, roofing material is strongly heated by the sun, which causes an acceleration of tree vegetation. At the same time, frosts at night can adversely affect the tissues of the tree bark.
But even with "breathing" shelter materials, you should not tighten it, because if you miss the formation of buds on a tree, then you can damage them later.
So, we conclude: if the trees were covered with "non-breathing", that is, dense, breathable covering materials, you need to open the trees in early April. If, however, "breathing" covering materials, such as coniferous spruce branches or agrotex, were used as a covering material, then you can not rush to remove these materials. However, it is worth removing them before bud break.
Before the onset of spring trunks fruit trees rubbed with milk of lime. In addition to everything White color reflects Sun rays, which avoids overheating during intense sunlight and a sharp drop in temperature at night, especially below zero.
In the spring, the moisture-proof bowl around the tree is covered with dry soil, compost, peat or plant residues, this prevents the rapid evaporation of moisture.
During the growing season, especially during dry periods, fruit trees are carefully and plentifully watered. Watering often, but little by little, is useless. Moisture does not reach the roots, lingering in surface layer earth, on which a crust then forms. To retain moisture around the tree, even before it begins to bloom, it is useful to lay peat, straw manure or grass in a layer of 5-10 cm.
If a tree does not bloom in the spring, it must be dug out of the ground, shortened the roots and for several days (best in the cellar) lower the roots into the water or cover them with moist earth. Only after it turns green can it be planted again in the ground.
During the growing season, especially after rain (before the formation of a dried earth crust), the soil around the tree must be finely loosened several times. It is necessary to loosen in May-July, when shoots and fruits are mainly formed. In August and September, the soil is not disturbed, which ensures better ripening and coloring of the fruit.
In autumn, the earth is dug up around the tree to a depth of no more than 10 cm, and between rows - up to 15 cm. Around the tree, digging is carried out only with a spade-fork, which does not damage the roots so much. Even better than loosening, a shallow trench. In summer, loosening the ground is generally not recommended. After the soil dries up in the spring, it is cultivated reverse side rake (also in order to reduce moisture loss from evaporation).
To enrich the soil with humus, you can grow under fruit trees various plants. For this purpose, field peas, fodder vetch, white mustard, buckwheat, phacelia, white clover, multi-flowered chaff, annual ryegrass, etc., and on sandy soils - lupine.
Sowing material is applied from early July to early August in moist soil. Plants are planted only in spring. In winter, this planting material protects the soil from severe freezing and helps to better retain snow. It is not recommended to grow green manure plants in areas with rainfall below 500 mm, as well as in young fruit plantations.
Vegetables can be grown between newly planted trees, and between dwarf plantings in the case when they have not reached 3 years, and among taller seedlings - up to 8 years. The most suitable vegetables for this purpose are bush beans, peas, lettuce, early cauliflower, kohlrabi, cucumbers, celery, tomatoes, carrots and early potatoes. However, it is impossible to plant vegetables directly under fruit trees.
Fertilizer
The basis of fertilizing fruit trees is organic fertilizers. As a rule, well-packed or composted manure is used; in autumn it is introduced into the soil to a depth of 10-15 cm or over the entire area of cultivation under the trees, sometimes along the diameter of the crowns under each tree. Lighter soils are fertilized annually or every other year, heavy soils are fertilized every 3-4 years. Large doses of fertilizers are applied under weakly growing trees. Instead of manure applied in autumn, often in spring, compost can be used. Dry bird droppings are also used (100-200 g per 1 m 2).
Simultaneously with organic fertilizers, mineral and chemical fertilizers should also be applied to the soil. If green manure plants are also grown under the trees, the dose of manure or compost can be reduced by half.
One tree at the age of 2-3 years requires 12-15 kg of fertilizer; every year the dose of fertilizers increases, i.e. for an eight-year-old tree, it requires 40-50 kg, and older trees with a crown diameter of 6 m consume 120-160 kg of fertilizer.
Mineral fertilizers are used taking into account the reaction of the soil, the age and fruitfulness of the tree. In autumn, when plowing the soil, phosphate and potash fertilizers are usually applied so that these substances are already absorbed during the growing season. With the onset of spring, nitrogenous fertilizers are applied. You can also use combined fertilizers in autumn and spring, which gives a tangible effect. During the growing season, nitrogenous fertilizers are applied additionally, and they are applied shallowly into the soil.
In the year when the soil is fertilized with a full volume of compost or manure, the dose mineral fertilizers is reduced by half. If the trees grow too vigorously, and the shoots do not mature well, the amount of nitrogen fertilizers applied is reduced, and more phosphorus and sulfur fertilizers are added. If previous crops are grown under the trees, the amount of fertilizer applied should be increased according to their needs.
For top dressing of weakly growing trees, it is allowed to use during the growing season and liquid fertilizers. Useful, for example, fermented bird or rabbit droppings, diluted in 10 parts of water. You can also use a solution of complete fertilizers that dissolve well in water. These liquid fertilizers are poured into grooves 10-15 cm deep around the circumference of the crown. After the liquid is absorbed into the soil, the grooves are leveled.
Lime is applied to the soil in accordance with its reaction. It is especially necessary for stone fruits; berry crops are less demanding in this respect. It should not be overlooked that calcium fertilizers and manure, as well as superphosphate and chemical nitrogenous fertilizers, should not be introduced at the same time.
In case of an acute lack of nutrients, when their intake from the soil is somehow limited (waterlogged soil, damaged roots), spraying the leaves with a nutrient solution can be recommended. 400 g of ammonium nitrate with limestone or 500-600 g of urea, 500-600 g of potassium bisulfate and an extract of 3-4 kg of superphosphate are dissolved in 10 liters of water. The most favorable for such spraying is the period after flowering. With a clear lack of nutrients, spraying is repeated one or two more times in 10-14 days. As necessary, such spraying is combined with spraying against tree diseases and pests.
Protection against diseases and pests
The best protection is prevention. If fruit plants create good conditions and accordingly take care of them, they will not cause much trouble to the gardener.
And if you also provide for everything in order to attract birds as your helpers, then worries will be completely reduced. To do this, it is enough to install bird feeders in the garden for the winter, replenish the feeders with food, and put titmouses and birdhouses for some useful birds so that the birds take the chicks directly to the site. Birds will repay their owners with kindness - they will take care of useful labor: pest control.
If, nevertheless, any controversial issues arise, you should try to find out the reason and, after consulting with a specialist, make appropriate adjustments to care for the garden and in the fight against pests. Chemicals used only as a last resort.
Frost crackles outside. The ground is covered with snow. It seems that the trees and shrubs do not need to be taken care of. But that's not the case at all. At any time of the year, plants require attention. Gardening involves a lot of very important work. Their implementation affects future harvest and the full development of horticultural crops. But before that, the plants should overwinter. At this time, there are many moments that should not be missed.
Protecting plants from freezing
In early December, attention is paid to young trees and shrubs.
In order for them to winter well, it is necessary to monitor the warming of plants. As a heater, you can use snow, which is distributed under the trees, around the bush and compacted. It will protect against frost and rodents. Hilling of plants with snow continues throughout the winter.
Rodents - pests of sleeping plants
Garden care in winter and spring provides for various activities. And each of them has its own deadlines. In winter, attention is paid to protecting trees from rodents. Mice and hares can damage the bark of trees. Annual and biennial crops are especially affected. The tree trunk is protected in autumn period. He is wrapped around various materials. At the end of winter, drugs are used that will scare away rodents. They are placed around trees.
Garden care in spring: spring work
With the onset of March, a hot time for gardeners begins. This is a responsible period. With the beginning of snow melting and with the first streams, work on home gardens or summer cottages. How to organize garden care in spring? What to do in the first days of March? During this period, the snow becomes loose. It gradually melts, and there is no need to speed up this process. The exception is snowdrifts, which completely cover the bushes. So that the snow does not damage the branches when melting, it is raked, freeing the plants.
tree pruning
The main condition for this event is the air temperature. Do not work if it is cold outside. In the event that the thermometer recorded readings below minus ten degrees Celsius, trees should not be cut. Peculiarities climatic zones make their own adjustments to the care of the garden in the spring.
Competent pruning is carried out before the buds swell. It is performed on sunny days at zero air temperature.
The fruit-bearing trees are cut first, the flower buds of which are ahead of the awakening of the leafy ones. This event includes the removal of:
Damaged, frozen shoots;
Branches growing inside the crown;
Branches that interfere with the development of the crown.
At the same time, they adhere to the rule that provides for the maximum pruning of large branches. In this case, no stumps are left. When removing branches with a diameter of more than fifteen centimeters, garden pitch is used. It is used to process the cut point. After all the trees are cultivated, it is the turn of the infertile young plants. For such trees, this technique involves, first of all, the formation of a crown. The annual gradual removal of branches that will be undesirable for proper growth allows for several years to grow a productive healthy tree, which will thank with a high yield.
Garden care in early spring involves pruning not only trees, but also shrubs. Old shoots of currant berry bushes, as well as raspberries and gooseberries, are subject to removal. Frozen, damaged branches are cut at the base. Fruiting shoots are shortened by ten or fifteen centimeters.
tree grafting
Garden care in early spring involves a lot of work. One of the important activities is the grafting of fruit crops, which is performed before the buds swell.
There are several such ways. Among them, grafting with cuttings into a split or behind the bark is popular and often used. They are harvested at the beginning of the winter period, before the onset of severe frosts. Shoots of annual growths are suitable for grafting. The cuttings used for this event have three or four buds. As a rule, stone fruits will be the first, and then pome crops. For young trees, the grafting zone is no more than two meters above the soil surface, and for shoots - one and a half meters from the trunk. Branch cut diameter:
For stone fruits- 3 cm;
For pome crops - 5-6 cm.
All operations are performed on the day of vaccination. The junctions of the cutting with the tree branch are wrapped with insulating tape, which can be removed three or four weeks after the operation or left until next spring.
Planting trees and shrubs
Garden care in early spring is not only about ensuring the beautiful growth of planted plants. At this time, young trees and shrubs can be planted. This event is carried out before bud break. IN spring period crops are planted that have insufficient winter-hardiness. After planting, provide constant soil moisture.
Preventive actions
One of the important agricultural practices is the control of pests and diseases. Garden care in early spring is the best time of the year for this. Chemical treatment of plants will require practical skills and knowledge from gardeners. Without plant protection, it is impossible to grow a healthy and high-grade crop.
Spraying of fruit and berry crops can be divided into three stages:
Before the swelling of the kidneys;
Before flowering;
A week after flowering.
The garden is treated with special preparations. When working with them, you must strictly follow the instructions.
In addition, garden care in early spring includes another very important event - whitewashing tree trunks with a solution of slaked lime.
After the snow melts and stable warm weather is established, the fallen leaves are removed and burned.
Every garden owner wants to harvest a rich harvest every year. This is quite expected: spending a lot of time and effort on caring for bushes and trees, no one wants to be left without tasty and healthy fruits in the fall. However, in order to get good harvest With every plant in the garden, you have to take garden care very seriously. And it’s worth starting from the very beginning of spring. It is also advisable to do and process also ordinary, and not just apple trees in the garden.
The beginning of spring in the country
Of course, in March, even young and strong trees are more like dead wood: there are no buds or leaves on them. The trees have not yet awakened after the winter, and only after a month and a half (depending on the region, weather and plant variety) will the first swollen buds appear on the branches. But experts recommend starting to care for the garden in March.
Some gardeners thin out the crown already in March, removing dried and dead branches. However, not everyone can determine which branches have dried up and which simply have not departed from hibernation. Therefore, it is better not to rush, so as not to destroy strong young branches. But in March, it's time to process the trunk itself and the skeletal branches (the main and thickest ones, on which the entire crown rests) with a twenty percent solution of lime. This will protect the tree from mice and other small pests.
some types of small pests Pay attention to whether melt water accumulates around your trees? If the roots are in a hollow, then small drainage channels should be built to divert water to the side. Otherwise, stagnant water may well lead to rotting of the roots or even the trunk of a tree.
Also inspect the trees for dried fruits and berries that have endured all winter. They should be collected and sent to the compost heap.
From autumn to spring, various bacteria often develop in these fruits, which can cause serious damage to the entire garden.
If the birds did not eat them in a hungry winter, you should get rid of them yourself.
The work takes very little time, and after that, for a while, you can forget about the need to care for the garden.
Getting rid of extra branches
After waiting until the buds swell, so that you can easily distinguish dry branches from healthy ones, you can proceed to further work. Dry branches should be removed immediately.
To remove thin ones, use pruners, but old ones are best removed with a hacksaw. Breaking branches by hand is highly discouraged. Indeed, in this case, not only there is a risk of serious injury, but also damage to young branches that can bring a crop, if not this year, then next.
At the same time, shoots that grow parallel to the trunk can be removed. They rarely bear fruit, but they cause a lot of problems. Collecting a few fruits from their tops is quite difficult. And in strong winds, high branches often break and damage the entire crown of the tree. They also shade the rest of the shoots going away from the trunk, which is why their fruitfulness is sharply reduced.
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Decoration of the front garden in front of the house
At all, experienced gardeners they consider the ideal crown, which has the shape of a kind of bowl, - on the outside the branches form a thick partition, and inside the crown has a small void.
Tree pruning scheme At the same time, harvesting from a tree is as convenient as possible, and the sun's rays reach all the main fruit-bearing branches, guaranteeing an abundance of fruits in the fall.
If you need to saw off thick branches (about 3 centimeters in diameter and thickness), you should cut with an assistant who will hold the base of the branch. Otherwise, the branch, falling, can damage the bark, along which the juice moves especially actively at this time of the year. Do you work alone? Then first make a shallow cut (about 0.5 cm deep) from below, and only then saw from above. In this case, the branch will not be able to harm the tree.
Of course, the cuts of all living branches should be immediately treated with pitch, lime or other suitable remedy, excluding the danger of any infection that can destroy the tree or weaken it. You should not feel sorry for the branches, even if they are young and promise a rich harvest.
Remember the simple truth - the fewer branches, the more nutrients each of them will receive. This means that even a small number of branches may well bring you a really rich harvest. Collecting large fruits or small berries is much easier and more convenient from branches that are located outside the crown, and not in depth.
Feeding the garden before summer
If the garden was laid out several years ago, then the soil has probably already lost some of the minerals and needs to be replenished. And here you will come to the aid of various natural and chemical fertilizers. It is necessary to choose the right ones that are really important for your garden in the spring.
Young trees that are not yet fruiting or fruiting very sparingly do not need to be fertilized. Unless you can add a small amount of humus (at the same time, make sure that the humus has reached the “condition” and will not burn the root system and trunk).
garden of young trees Mature trees (from 5 years old) should be fertilized primarily with nitrogen fertilizers. They stimulate the growth of the crown, as well as the formation a large number large leaves, and in fact they are necessary for speed dial nutrients and a rich harvest. It is best to apply fertilizer during the first autumn loosening, around April.
Read the instructions very carefully. It is not uncommon for gardeners, guided by the principle "the more the better", in the fall to receive fruits with dangerous high level nitrogen content. Such fruits are quite easy to poison. Important potash and phosphate fertilizers are best applied in autumn.
Of course, do not forget about organic fertilizers: they are the most complex complex of all substances necessary for successful growth and a rich crop of plants. As organic fertilizers humus, as well as slurry, bird and cow droppings can act.
rotted cow dung With droppings (especially chicken!) You should be very, very careful: a huge concentration of saltpeter can kill a tree. Therefore, before being introduced into the soil, the litter is diluted warm water, a part of cow dung accounts for 5-6 parts of water, and bird droppings- at least 10-12 parts of water.
