Planting mountain pine in spring and autumn: care and cultivation in your own garden
It will be a great success for you to plant a mountain pine tree in the country. The evergreen plant carries out its mission, laying a special microclimate filled with healing essential oils. Beauty, comfort and tranquility will reign here. A real treasure, the mountain pine survives from year to year under the most severe circumstances and gets along with all its neighbors. Durability, decorativeness, unpretentiousness make it one of the most competitive and demanded conifers, which is literally created for use in landscape design: for rock garden, rockery, rutaria, mixborder, stone garden, border plantings.
Our article is devoted to how to properly plant a mountain pine in spring and autumn, as well as to the peculiarities of care and cultivation.
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Popular varieties of mountain pine: Pumilio, Mugus and others
Originally grown in the mountains of Central and Southern Europe. As a rule, it is a small tree, the length of which can reach 2 meters, but there are also very tall varieties. It has a very dark trunk and short spiny needles (only 2.5 centimeters long).
The most popular varieties of mountain pine are:
- Pumilio (up to 1.5 m high and up to 3 meters in diameter, requires formative pruning to remain decorative, looks beautiful both in single plantings and on alpine hills);
- Mugus (height up to 3 m, diameter also up to 3 meters, loves watering in hot weather, can grow in light partial shade, can be used to create a hedge);
- Pug and mini Pug (spherical, maximum height - 1.5 meters (mini - 40-60 cm), mini diameter - up to 1 meter, normal - similar to height, sun-loving and poorly tolerates shady areas);
- Columnaris (height - up to 2 m, width - up to 3 meters, light-requiring and can even tolerate stagnant moisture and acidic soils);
- Dwarf (grows up to 2 m in height and width, suitable for parterre lawn, landscaping of roofs and rocky areas, as well as for container growing);
- Benjamin (spherical, rather short and slow-growing, height - up to 70 cm, diameter - up to 90 cm, goes well with medium-sized plants);
- Winter Gold (has a spherical shrub shape, grows very slowly and eventually reaches 0.5-1 meters, golden yellow only in winter, hence the name).
Video: mountain pine Winter Gold - planting and care
When to plant mountain pine: optimal timing
It is recommended to plant a mountain pine sapling in a container in the second half of spring - in late April - early May (when the ground warms up enough), or in the fall in late September - early October, but not later, otherwise the plant will not have time to take root and may die due to severe frosts. Although the container plant can be planted almost all year round, even in the strongest summer heat, it is better to do this during the recommended spring and autumn periods.
Important! Experienced experts advise planting mountain pine in the fall if you live in the south. But in central Russia (Moscow region) and to the north, spring plantings are more preferable, that is, before the start of growth.
How to plant a mountain pine at a summer cottage
In order for the planted mountain beauty to please you and your neighbors, in the process of planting a seedling, you need to observe several basic rules for choosing a place, soil and technology for planting in open ground.
Optimal place on the site
The pine tree grows very well in bright sunny places, although a light partial shade is suitable for it, and if you plant it in a too shady place, then it will still most likely be able to take root, but it will develop more slowly.
As for a specific place on the site, the following points should be considered:
- The tree dries up the soil greatly, nothing will grow under it.
- All the space under the pine is always in needles.
- The most important thing! The minimum distance from the foundation should be about 5 meters, otherwise the root system can simply destroy it if it is not a columnar foundation or a reinforced monolith. Therefore, it should not be planted close to the house.
Advice! It is ideal to plant mountain pines inrocky gardens and next to other conifers (juniper, thuja, spruce).
Landing hole and suitable soil
It is more rational to plant pine in an area with sandy and sandy loam soil.
The soil should preferably be slightly acidic, pH 6-7.
Any pine, like all conifers, does not tolerate stagnant water, therefore, if you have heavy clay soils (loam and clay) or groundwater is too high, or it is a rather low-lying area, then it is optimal to pour a good 10-20 at the bottom of the planting pit. a centimeter drainage layer, for example, from expanded clay or fragments of broken brick.
The planting hole should be prepared in accordance with the size of the earthen lump (container) of the seedling, optimally - 2 times larger, but you can simply add 15-30 centimeters to the diameter and 20-40 centimeters to the depth.
The soil mixture for filling the planting pit can be prepared as follows: 3 parts of sod land, 1 part of peat, 1 part of river sand. You can also add a little complex fertilizer (20-30 grams) and mix everything very thoroughly.
Direct landing
Step-by-step instructions for planting a mountain pine sapling:
- Decide on a place on the site.
- Prepare the planting hole and potting soil
- Drain as needed, and then sprinkle some soil over it.
- Carefully remove the seedling from the container and place it on the ground together with the earthen lump so that the root collar is not buried in any way (if necessary, top up the soil, it will still settle a little after watering).
- Fill with fertile soil and tamp it well so that there are no voids in the ground.
- Form a near-stem circle and water abundantly, and you can lightly pour over the seedling itself by placing your hand under the stream of water from the watering can.
- Next, mulch the seedling with peat 5-10 centimeters so that moisture lingers longer.
Important! If you are about to plant a few pines, then for a mountain decorative variety the optimal distance between seedlings will be ok 1.5-2 meters apart.
Mountain pine care: growing rules
These conifers are quite unpretentious, but the standard list of measures for caring for them is worth mentioning.
Watering
The mountain variety, like almost all types of pines (except for the Rumelian), does not need additional watering (except for moments of special drought and summer), since it is a very drought-resistant plant, moreover, its fallen needles will contribute to good moisture retention.
If you planted a tree in the spring, and the summer turned out to be hot and dry, then periodically you should water it abundantly (you can also use light sprinkling).
In late autumn, young pine seedlings also need to be poured abundantly with water, because the moist soil does not freeze so much, which means that the likelihood of spring burning of the needles is significantly reduced.
Interesting! The needles burns especially strongly in spring, because during this period the pine has already woken up, and the soil is still frozen, respectively, the roots do not receive the necessary nutrition.
Top dressing
In the first few years (2-3 years) after planting a pine seedling, it is advisable to feed it once a year (preferably in early spring, although it is possible in late autumn) to feed it with complex mineral fertilizers (somewhere around 30-40 grams per plant) or special fertilizers for conifers. Thus, if during planting you have already applied top dressing, then the next one will need to be done only after a year.
In the future, the pine will not need any fertilizers, it will receive everything it needs from the coniferous litter, which it will create for itself.
Advice! If you have a desert area, then when planting, it is advisable to additionally water the seedling with root. And a month later, feed the pine with special fertilizers for conifers.
Pruning
The pine does not need special pruning, but if you want to slow down the growth of its shoots in order to make the crown of the tree thicker, then in the spring you need to pinch the young shoots 1/3 of their length, and you can do this manually, gently breaking off the branches with your fingers. You can also do shaping haircuts so that the pine tree has the most decorative shape and do not forget about sanitary pruning.
Video: cutting and shaping the mountain pine Pumilio
Shelter for the winter
It is advisable to cover young seedlings of mountain pines for the winter with spruce branches. Such a shelter will simultaneously protect the tree from severe frosts and sunburn, which may occur in early spring. You can also shade the wood with burlap or use special covers.The main thing is not to use polyethylene or some kind of thick material, because in this case the seedling can rot.
Adult perennial pines will no longer need such a shelter.
If you nevertheless understand that it is absolutely necessary to allocate a place for a mountain pine in your area, then its correct planting in spring or autumn should be the same balanced decision. Consider our tips and tricks on planting timing, site selection, soil and care technology, and you will surely grow a healthy tree, which you will observe and admire from year to year.
Video: planting and caring for a mountain pine