Decoration of personal plots in Lately is becoming more and more popular. In order to decorate the territory, plot owners purchase various exotic plants. Ornamental plant The dwarf birch, native to the tundra, perfectly decorates the garden and complements the landscape of any complexity. The birch tree is miniature but attractive and can tolerate low air temperatures.
Description of the plant
Dwarf birch is a shrub with a height of 20 to 70 centimeters. The leaves of the plant have serrated edges and can reach 15 centimeters in length. In autumn, the green color changes to bright red, which perfectly decorates nature. The plant bears fruit from May to June with small nuts with a very small diameter.
The tree resembles a creeping shrub that clings to the soil with its roots. Thus, one bush can occupy a significant area.
The wild birch bush grows in the mountainous tundra at an altitude of more than 500 meters. The plant does not resemble a birch tree neither in appearance, nor in height, nor in the color of its bark. The miniature tree got its name from the word “yora”, which means “bush”. The thickets that the birch forms are impenetrable. Often they are intertwined with dwarf willow, which makes the path through their growth almost impossible.
It is correct to consider a dwarf birch as a shrub. Betula nаna grows no higher than 80 cm. The bush is covered with snow in winter, which protects it from blizzards and severe frosts. The leaves have a serrated edge. The foliage itself is smooth on top and shiny in color. The bottom of the leaf is matte, with a small fluff. In May, the plant blooms and produces earrings that look a little like the earrings of Russian birch . Autumn plant is incredibly beautiful, as it turns bright red or bright Orange color, thereby decorating the fields and mountains.
Yornik tolerates northern climate well . You can meet the wild version:
Growing conditions
The low-growing bush loves a sunny place, despite the ability to grow at low temperatures. The maximum that a tree can withstand is partial shade. The best place for planting - this is the one in which melt water collects in the spring. At the same time, birch can tolerate short-term droughts.
When planting in the ground, it is important to use drainage. The soil should conduct moisture well, and the substrate should be acidic or semi-acidic. The crop can be planted using seeds. They can be planted immediately after collection, or in autumn period. The seeds are frost-resistant. The most the best seeds for planting are those that were collected in the year of planting. Every year, seed germination may deteriorate.
You can also plant a tree as a seedling. When purchasing, it is important to check that the roots are not damaged or overdried. A few days before planting, mineral fertilizers, humus and humus should be mixed into a hole 1-1.5 meters deep. When planting, the lump that is present on the roots is not removed.
The drainage that must be present in the ground should be represented by pebbles, crushed stone or expanded clay. After planting, the seedling should be watered with water and, if desired, mulched.
Rules for caring for birch
To prevent the tree from getting sick and drying out, the soil should be constantly moistened. If the birch tree is planted in a place where water accumulates, then it is important to carry out regular watering only in the summer. You can feed the crop not only with humus, but also mineral fertilizers. It is best to apply nitrogen fertilizers to the soil in the spring, and nitroammophoska in the fall. The plant needs soil nutrition every year.
Pruning of branches begins in the second year of the crop's life. Dry and diseased branches should be removed in early spring. You can form a crown not only in spring, but also at the end of August.
Caterpillars, cockchafers, armyworms and aphids can infect dwarf birch. The plant should be treated with appropriate medications or it is best to take preventive measures.
Garden addition and design
Yora is used in decoration land plot. Use it when creating:
- alpine slides,
- exotic landscapes;
- miniature mountain elephants;
The birch tree will complement the area decorated in Japanese style, and the tree should be planted near bodies of water. You can supplement the birch with bergenia, gentians, ferns, and moss.
This crop makes an excellent hedge that will gradually grow and weave. The bushes can be trimmed, so you can decorate them culturally. If you plant a shrub in a pot, you can get a bansai.
The dwarf birch is a decoration for any home garden. Growing shrubs does not require special knowledge or expense, and your imagination will help you design the landscape in a stylish and modern way.
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Botanical name: Dwarf birch or low-growing birch (Betula nana).
Genus: Birch.
Family: Birch.
Homeland of dwarf birch: North hemisphere.
Lighting: light-loving, shade-tolerant.
The soil: marshy, moist.
Watering: abundant.
Maximum tree height: up to 1 m.
Average lifespan of a tree: 100-120 years.
Landing: seeds, cuttings.
Dwarf birch: description
The dwarf birch, the photo of which is presented on the page, is a close relative of the ordinary birch. It is a highly branched shrub. It reaches a height of about 1 m. The branches are raised upward or spread along the surface of the ground; in diameter they can cover an area of up to 3 m. With very small sizes, the shoots are hidden in the thickness of the lichen, only the leaves of the plant are visible on the surface. The leaf arrangement is regular.
The leaves of the dwarf birch are small, 5-15 mm long, 10-20 mm wide, round, dark green above, light green below. They are attached to shoots using short petioles 4-6 mm long. In autumn they turn yellow and bright red.
Catkins on dwarf birch are also extremely small. They have an oval shape. When ripe, they crumble into separate parts: three-lobed scales and fruits - small oval nuts 2 mm long, 1 mm wide, with narrow, membranous wings on the sides.
The flowers are small, inconspicuous, unisexual. It blooms in May, before the leaves bloom. Fruits from April to June.
Young shoots are velvety or fluffy, with dark brown or brown bark. Dwarf birch grows very slowly.
The bark of an adult plant is smooth and covered with a cork layer. The shrub's winter hardiness is quite high. In the wild it is found in the North of Russia, Yakutia and Western Siberia. Abroad it grows in North America and in northern Europe. Sometimes found in the mountains and Alps. Prefers rocky, swamp and tundra soils.
Dwarf birch in the tundra with photo
This shrub is considered one of the most common tundra plants. It is found throughout the tundra zone, growing especially abundantly in its southern part, where you can find entire thickets of dwarf birch.
Tundra dwarf birch can withstand long harsh winters on frozen ground. It grows mainly in swamps, along with lichens, mosses and dwarf willows. In summer, the plant serves as food for tundra animals. Larger specimens of birch are used by the local population as fuel.
A photo of a dwarf birch in the tundra is attached.
Dwarf birch in landscape design with photo
IN landscape design use decorative form dwarf birch. Trees are planted for landscaping garden plots, adjacent areas, for the design of public parks and landscape gardens.
Due to its small, rounded shape, this shrub does not require regular pruning.
Looks beautiful in rockeries, alpine slides and group plantings, combined with low-growing evergreen conifers.
Dwarf birch: planting and care
Dwarf birch is planted using seedlings or seeds. The plant is planted in spring and autumn. Dwarf birch seedlings successfully take root in any soil, but prefer loose, slightly acidic, well-fertilized, sandy loam and light loamy soil.
They like abundant watering. Mature plant in summer it draws about 250 liters of water from the soil per day. Large seedlings with an open root system are more difficult to take root. Some of them die, while the tops of others may dry out.
Planting holes are filled with a mixture of garden soil, humus, sand and peat. In the spring, complex fertilizer is added to the pit; in the fall, a phosphorus-potassium mixture is used. Feeding is required in early spring and early summer.
Nitrogen-containing fertilizers (mullein, urea and ammonium nitrate) are suitable for this. Nitroammofoska and Kemira-universal are used as autumn feeding.
Abundant watering is necessary during planting and in the next 3-4 days. During hot and dry periods, the volume of water should be increased.
Loosening is required to control weeds and saturate the soil with oxygen; it is allowed to a depth of up to 3 cm.
Sowing of seeds is carried out immediately after collection or late autumn. Collect seeds during the period of browning of catkins.
Pest protection
Pests of dwarf birch - , and , .
To prevent and control pests, the shrub is treated annually with fungicides and insecticides.
Interesting facts about dwarf birch Ernik
In the North, dwarf birch is called “ernik”. This name comes from the Nenets word “nana”, which means “shrub”. In the harsh conditions of the tundra, this plant has developed its own strategy for successful existence: it moves forward under a layer of snow cape, thereby protecting itself from freezing and death. Therefore, birchberry grows as a spreading, branched bush, and not as a straight tree.
Dwarf birch (lat. Betula nana)- a species of low-growing shrubs of the Birch genus of the Birch family. Other names are low-growing birch, dwarf birch, dwarf birch, dwarf birch. In nature, the plant is found in many European countries, Canada and Russia. Grows in small quantities in the Alps and Scotland. Typical places are hypnotic swamps, arctic tundra, moss forests.
Characteristics of culture
Dwarf birch is a deciduous shrub up to 120 cm high with spreading or erect shoots. Young shoots are densely pubescent or velvety, with age they are almost bare, with reddish-brown or dark brown bark, often with a bluish bloom. The leaves are round-oval or rounded, small, short-petioled, up to 15 mm long, up to 20 cm wide, bluntly toothed along the edge. The upper part of the leaves is dark green, smooth, shiny, the lower part is light green, with scattered pubescence. In autumn, the foliage turns dark yellow or yellow. During flowering, anther earrings form on plants; they can be of two types - male and female; after pollination they fall off. Female specimens produce small elliptical nuts with three lobes and an attached scale.
Growing conditions
Dwarf birch is successfully cultivated on acidic garden soils, peat bogs, fertile chernozems, sandy loam soils, and loams. However, the culture develops best on light, slightly acidic, humus-rich soils. It is undesirable to grow dwarf birch on waterlogged, heavy clay and saline soils. The location is sunny, light shade is also possible.Reproduction and planting
Dwarf birch is propagated by seeds and cuttings. Seeds are collected when the earrings turn brown. Seeds are sown immediately after collection or in late autumn under cover in the form of peat or sawdust. This procedure is quite labor-intensive and not every gardener can do it, so experienced agronomists I advise you to grow the crop by planting a seedling. Seedlings are available in large quantities in specialized nurseries; they should not be purchased from unverified places.It is not recommended to buy seedlings with an open root system; even if planted correctly, they may not take root. It is better to purchase seedlings in containers or with a ball of earth. Seedlings are planted in spring or autumn. landing pit prepared in a couple of weeks, a mixture consisting of garden soil, peat, humus and sand is poured onto its bottom in a ratio of 2:1:1:1. It is important not to forget about entering complex fertilizer(150-200 g per pit). Immediately after planting, the tree trunk area is mulched with a thick layer of humus or other available covering material. Watering is required.
Care
Dwarf birch is a moisture-loving plant, it’s hard to imagine, but in the summer it extracts about 250 liters of water from the soil. Therefore, watering for the crop is vital; during drought, the volume of water and the frequency of watering are doubled.Fertilizing is also necessary; in the spring the plants are fed with nitrogen-containing fertilizers, in the fall - with nitroammophos or Kemira universal. Preventive pruning is carried out annually in the spring, before sap flow begins. Formative as necessary, but within the same time frame.
Application
Dwarf birch has been actively used in landscape design for many years. It looks great in group plantings, rock gardens and rock gardens. Shrubs look especially impressive in the fall, so they are often used to create autonalia (autumn gardens). Dwarf birch goes well with evergreen low-growing conifers, as well as closely related species of birch - ferruginous birch, Finnish birch and Middendordfa birch.Dwarf birch (Betula nana in Latin, or dwarf birch in the people) is a rounded shrub; the largest specimens reach 1.2 meters in height. Thickets of dwarf birch can be found in the wild in the Northern Hemisphere. The homeland of dwarf birch is the tundra. Due to the harsh climatic conditions, only dwarf trees grow in the tundra, low-growing, but very resilient, like all tundra plants. The lifespan of this tree is up to 120 years.
Dwarf birch is found in the wild in the northern regions of Russia.
The dwarf birch is a close relative of the common birch, familiar to everyone. But visually this plant is very different and does not in any way resemble a slender, tall beauty with a white trunk. A fancifully curved, creeping decorative birch can become the highlight of a plant composition in a garden or greenhouse; a bonsai made from this plant also looks great. Considering that dwarf birch grows in northern latitudes, minimal care is required for this crop.
Where else do dwarf trees grow? Low-growing birch can be found in Siberia, Yakutia, North Korea and Japan, North America, Canada, and Kamchatka. Also, dwarf birch can grow in mountainous areas: at an altitude of up to 850 meters in Scotland, and on hills up to 2000 meters high in the Alps.
Dwarf birch is a highly branched or creeping shrub. Its shoots are thin and flexible. Depending on the habitat, the shoots can rise up or spread along the ground, like many tundra plants. Miniature specimens are often completely hidden in lichen thickets, with only bright green leaves visible on the surface. Spreading in different directions, they are able to densely cover an area of 3 square meters.
The small leaves reach only 1.5 cm in length and range from 1 to 2 cm in width. The leaves are very bright, dark green on top and bright green below, round in shape. In autumn they turn yellow and red.
Dwarf birch blooms with miniature yellow-green earrings, also very bright and rich in color. After pollination, the earrings begin to dry, then break up into scales and open the fruit - tiny nuts up to 2 mm in length. Brown with two wings on the sides. The plant blooms in May, until early summer, and bears fruit until the end of June.
Dwarf birch is one of the deciduous trees used to create bonsai.
Birch bark has a variety of shades and textures; it can be smooth, cork, or embossed. It is thanks to the bark dwarf plant looks so decorative and attractive. The brown, gray, brown rugged trunk contrasts beautifully with the bright foliage.
In the vastness of the tundra, this shrub-like dwarf tree is almost the only decoration. Its neighbors are lichens, mosses, and dwarf willows. This is a winter-hardy plant that can tolerate even very low temperatures without problems; it will not be very comfortable in a dry and warm room. You need to remember this when planning to grow dwarf birch at home.
Growing conditions
- Lighting. Dwarf trees grow in the tundra primarily due to the lack of natural sunlight and frozen ground. A low-growing birch, of course, will not dry out in the shade; it will withstand difficult climatic conditions. But still, this plant is light-loving, it needs sunlight.
- The soil. Dwarf birch grows naturally in marshy soils. If you want to grow it in your home garden, you need to choose well-moistened, loose soil with weak acidity. Birch trees need to be watered frequently and abundantly.
- Temperature conditions. Yernik is relatively unpretentious temperature regime. He will overwinter in the garden plot without any problems. But if the summer turns out to be very hot, you will need to protect the tree from the scorching sun. In an office or living room, you should not place a pot of dwarf birch near heating radiators.
- Humidity level. Ideally, plant a dwarf birch tree in an area where water flows close to the surface of the earth. groundwater. If this is not possible, then the soil is regularly and abundantly moistened. The birch tree will also need frequent spraying.
Planting rules and care
Reproduction of dwarf birch is carried out in two ways:
- seeds;
- seedlings.
The plant can be transferred to the ground both in spring and autumn - the seedling will survive the winter. The shrub will take root in any soil, but if possible, preference should be given to sandy loam and light loamy compositions. After planting, the soil must be fertilized and watered well.
Large seedlings with bare roots require special care. If watering is insufficient, it may begin to wither and dry out from the top. In this case, the dried tip is cut off by five to seven centimeters, and the plant is transplanted into more moist soil, not forgetting about fertilizing and watering.
You can plant a young plant in the ground both in spring and autumn.
The plant needs to be fertilized in early spring and mid-summer. Peat, humus, and phosphorus-potassium mineral mixtures can be applied as fertilizer. You can also use:
- mullein;
- urea;
- ammonium nitrate.
If there is a need for autumn feeding, then it is better to use “nitroammophoska”.
As for watering, immediately after planting the soil should be moistened abundantly for three to four days. You cannot forget about regularly watering the plant. During the summer season it can absorb up to 250 liters of water. And if the summer is hot and dry, this volume increases. To saturate the soil with oxygen, it must be periodically loosened to a depth of no more than three centimeters.
To fertilize dwarf birch, various organic fertilizers are used, as well as ammonium nitrate.
Pests and diseases
This crop is quite sensitive to various pests, although it is not susceptible to harsh climatic conditions. You should be wary of:
- mole crickets;
- May beetle;
- thrips;
- goldfish;
- silkworm;
- leaf sawfly;
- powdery mildew.
To prevent insect attacks, the plant is treated with fungicidal and insecticidal solutions once or twice a year.
One of the most dangerous pests for birch - silkworm.
Areas of use
In Siberia, Yakutia and other northern countries, the dwarf birch is perhaps the only green tree. Young shoots of this plant are used as feed for livestock. Local residents use larger and thicker branches to light stoves.
This shrub is cultivated mainly in decorative purposes. This tree will be a great addition to landscape composition, will decorate any personal plot or a city park, rock garden or alpine slide. Birch harmonizes beautifully with short trees coniferous trees and bushes.
