Landscape designers often use dwarf plants in the design of flower beds. Especially popular in this role are thuja varieties of Teddy. Perennial has a high level of resistance to various ailments and infections. Caring for a hardy evergreen shrub is quite simple.
Description of Tui Teddy
Thuja Teddy belongs to the category of slowly growing coniferous shrubs. Annual growth reaches 2.5-3 cm. The plant is painted green with a subtle bluish tint. Shoots are located quite tightly to each other. The bark of a perennial shrub is smooth. The root system is branched, located close to the soil surface. The needle-shaped foliage, according to the characteristics, is soft when palpated. On small cones, thin scales are visible.
Thuja Teddy
Thuja Teddy can be grown both in open field and in garden containers. The diameter of the spherical crown reaches 35-40 cm. The bush does not need additional pruning.
The essential oils that a perennial plant gives off are endowed with an amazing aroma of needles. Ether helps purify the air.
Important! Proper care of a perennial culture will allow you to grow healthy thuja bushes, which will become a real decoration of the garden.
Planting and caring for Teddy Thuja
When landing a thuja, it is worthwhile to select open ground areas located on the western side. Planting seedlings is recommended at the end of March or in early autumn. In the absence of protection of the root system of the seedling, it is worth purchasing and planting it in mid-April or in the first weeks of autumn.
Ground for landing should be light. It is advisable to prepare the soil mixture yourself. It should consist on the basis of:
- sand;
- peat;
- sheet soil;
- a small amount of mineral fertilizers.
A dug recess for planting is covered with 70% soil mixture. The soil is compacted and moistened abundantly. The remaining soil is mixed with fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
When planting bushes in a home flower bed, it is necessary to position the root necks at the level of the soil surface. In the first weeks after planting, perennials need abundant moistening of the earth.
Important! Good frost resistance of the variety allows you to grow evergreen bushes in the suburbs.
The depth of the planting pits should exceed the size of the root system of seedlings together with the earthen lump by 20-30 cm. The width of the recess for planting in this case exceeds the root of the seedling with the ground by 35-45 cm.
Evergreen shrub
The distance between the bushes should reach 1-1.5 m. When planting thuja along the alley, you can slightly increase the distance between perennial plants.
Step-by-step process
A mixture of soil is added to the surface of the bottom of the landing pit, combined with a small percentage of rotted manure. Before planting seedlings, their root systems are immersed in water for 10-20 minutes.
When the preparatory work is completed, proceed to landing:
- Seedlings descend into the pit. The neck of young greenery should rise above the surface of the earth.
- Holding one tree with one hand, the other must be sprinkled with a hole on the ground.
- The soil is compacted. It is very important to do everything carefully to avoid damage to the base of the barrel.
- The land in which the bushes are planted is abundantly moistened. Each plant will need 20-22 liters of water.
- As soon as the liquid is absorbed into the ground, you can begin to mulch. It is best to use peat, pine bark, wood chips or compost for this purpose. The mulch layer should reach 7 cm.
Thanks to mulching, it is possible to slow down the process of evaporation of moisture from the soil and protect the roots of the plant on hot or very cold days.
Important! Mulch should not cover the branches or stem of plants. Failure to comply with this condition may lead to overheating of the thuja.
Care Features
Thuja western Teddy needs special care. This will allow you to grow the plant healthy and enjoy its beautiful appearance.
Watering
Thuja western teddy loves wet ground. Experts recommend using a sprinkler method for irrigation. After the thuja has been landed, after 4-5 days it is necessary to establish a regime of watering it. Experienced gardeners are advised to adhere to the following scheme of soil moistening: every 5 days under one seedling, it is recommended to pour 4 buckets of decanted water. The sprinkling method is especially useful for young bushes, the needles and root system of which are intensely absorbed by moisture. In addition, water allows you to wash away dust from the needles and improve breathing of a long-term culture. Systematic watering helps to accelerate the growth of thuja.
The recommended soil loosening depth is 8 cm. The soil cannot be loosened deeper, since the root system of plants is superficial.
Top dressing
In April, the plant needs to be fed. To this end, agronomists are advised to use complex mineral fertilizer. The most effective drug in this category is Kemira Universal. For each sq.m, 50-55 g of funds will be required.
Important! In the case when fertilizers were applied when planting seedlings, repeated top dressing is applied only after 24 months.
Grade Teddy
Transfer
There are situations when adult shrubs need to be transplanted for any reason. After reading the recommendations regarding transplantation, you can avoid problems during the procedure.
- When digging an adult bush, you should stick the soil with the tip of a shovel. 40-45 cm to retreat from the stem.
- Gently prying the tree, you can pull out the root system along with the trunk circle.
- Perennial is carefully transferred to a new landing site, avoiding the falling of an earthen coma.
- Thuja Teddy landed in a new place.
- In the future, caring for the plant is quite simple.
Important! Compliance with the rules of transplantation will not harm the bush. The tree will easily take root in the new plot, and will delight the owner of the yard with an attractive appearance.
Breeding
To propagate Teddy thuja, you can use various methods, namely:
- cuttings;
- seed method;
- dividing the bush.
When using the seed method, it is worth considering that the varietal characteristics of an evergreen plant will be lost. The growing process will take a long period of time. Therefore, gardeners generally prefer to propagate thaw by cuttings.
Seed cultivation
When choosing the seed method, it is necessary to remove the cones from the parent bushes, dry them and extract the seeds. Planting seeds in the soil mixture is best done at the end of November. As a container for planting, it is better to give preference to wooden boxes filled with moistened soil mixtures, consisting on the basis of:
- turf or garden soil;
- peat;
- river sand.
The surface of the earth is leveled, seeds are planted in recesses. The soil is moistened from the spray gun. After landing, wooden boxes are placed indoors in a shaded area. The temperature in the room should be between 12-17 degrees. Shoots are systematically fed with mineral fertilizers
Important! As soon as the seedling height reaches 2 cm, they can be transplanted in separate containers.
Cuttings
A more convenient way of propagating the Teddy thuja is by cutting. For this purpose, experts recommend using lignified sections of two-year-old shoots, the length of which should be within 10 cm. Also, semi-lignified shoots, whose length reaches 7-8 cm, are suitable. Cut them off at the end of May. The lower part of the cuttings is cleaned of branches and needles. The lower section is treated with a solution of heteroauxin.
Cuttings must be planted in the greenhouse. It is advisable to prepare the soil yourself on the basis of:
- soddy soil;
- peat;
- sand.
Each stalk is planted to a depth of 25 mm. After this, the planted processes are sprinkled with sand. The temperature in the room should be in the range of 24-27 degrees. Humidity should not exceed 68-69%.
Plant care
Why is Thuja Teddy turning yellow
There are a number of reasons against which Teddy thuja bushes may begin to turn yellow. Below are the main reasons leading to a similar problem.
- Fungal infections. Conifers are susceptible to fungal ailments. Affected plants should be treated with shrubs with a solution of baseazole. For every 2 liters of water you will need 2 g of the product. It is necessary 7 days after the first treatment to conduct a second procedure.
- The invasion of aphids often becomes the cause of yellowing, drying and decay of the needles. Sucking insects infect shrubs and often lead to the death of plants. In order to cope with pests, it will be necessary to treat the green spaces with preparations belonging to the category of insecticides. The best tools in this category were Actellik, Aktara and Angio.
Thuja spherical Teddy is often used to decorate a garden plot, park or square. Dwarf conifers are endowed with an amazing appearance, which helps to increase their popularity. The variety is unpretentious in care. Its significant advantage is the independent formation of a beautiful spherical crown. Thuja will ideally fit into any site design.