One of the popular species of conifers that are grown in the garden for decorative purposes is mountainous hooked pine unzinate. The tree stubbornly tolerates a cold climate and is absolutely unpretentious in maintenance, and its fluffy crown can be used to create various figures and compositions. A detailed description and characterization of unzincats, especially their planting and cultivation, as well as methods of application in landscape design, are described further in the article.

Tree description

The Latin name for the mountain unzinate pine is Pinus uncinata. This species is characterized by slightly twisted needles and large cones having flaps of scales bent in the form of a beak. Mature trees have large sizes and openwork crown.

Botanical tree description:

1. The height of the adult specimen can reach 20–25 m. The annual growth is small and amounts to 15–20 cm.
2. The roots can be located near the surface of the soil or go deep into the ground - it depends on the mechanical composition of the soil and the amount of nutrients contained in it.
3. The tree is single-stemmed, and its surface and branches are covered with a dense wrinkled bark of gray-brown or black-gray color.
4. The crown has a conical shape, with age becomes spreading. The edges of the shoots are directed up.
5. Curved needles grow on branches in bunches of 2-3 pieces. They are hard, have a rich green color with a slight gray tint.
6. The needles are 5–8 cm long, and the width of one needle can reach 0.2 cm.
7. The kidneys are covered with a large amount of resin, painted red-brown, and their length is 6–9 mm.
8. Young cones are colored purple, and after ripening become dark brown and shiny. They are located in groups of 2-3 pcs., Have an asymmetric shape and are quite long - up to 6 cm with a width of 4-5 cm.
9. Inside the cones there are small black seeds 3-4 mm in size.

Habitat

Under natural conditions, unzinate can grow in mountainous areas at an altitude of 800–2300 m above sea level. This tree is often called Pyrenees, because it is found in the Alps, Pyrenees.

Important! When planting on a pine site, a sunny place with light soil of a slightly acidic reaction is chosen, which passes air, water and heat to the roots well.

In the mountains, unzinate grows in places such as:

• gentle slopes;
• landslides;
• cracks;
• peat bogs.

Landing

Cuttings cut from a tree take root poorly, therefore, it is not possible to grow a new instance from them. Unsinate can be propagated by vaccination on its own, but this method is quite time-consuming and requires some experience from the gardener. The essence of the method is that the cut young shoot of a pine grows on another coniferous tree. At home, the branch does not always take root on the stock, therefore, for growing unzincats on the site, it is easiest to buy ready-made seedlings in a specialized store.Plantation of unzinate pine can be performed at any time from March to November. But for seedlings to better adapt in a new place, it is not recommended to plant them less than a month before the frost. Between adjacent specimens leave a distance of at least 4-5 m.

Important! You can independently collect and plant seeds obtained from pine cones. But at the same time, the resulting tree loses the characteristics of the parent instance and can significantly differ in appearance.

Step-by-step instructions for planting conifers:

1. Prepare a planting pit 10-14 days before planting pine on the site. The diameter and depth of the hole should be 2 times greater than the earthen lump around the roots of the seedling.
2. Mix the earth obtained by digging a hole with peat and river sand in a ratio of 3: 1: 1. Add 25 g of complex fertilizer for conifers.
3. Put a layer of drainage 10-15 cm thick at the bottom of the pit. For this, you can use pieces of broken brick, pebbles or expanded clay.
4. Pour on the drainage a little previously prepared nutritious soil mixture.
5. Lower the lower part of the seedling into the pit, keeping an earthen lump around the roots of the tree. The root neck should be at the same level with the soil surface.
6. Fill the recess with fertile soil, periodically tamping it with your hands to eliminate voids.
7. To form the region of a near-trunk circle around a young seedling, protecting it with an earthen rim 2-3 cm high.
8. Water the pine tree abundantly to make the soil moist. After absorbing water, mulch the earth around the trunk with peat.

Care Rules

Mountain pine unzinate is unpretentious to growing conditions, so the gardener does not have to spend a lot of time and effort on caring for the tree. After successful rooting, the seedlings need enough moisture for active growth. Adult specimens are periodically fed with nutrients, as well as pruning and preparing coniferous crops for winter.

Watering

Unsinate tolerates drought well, but a young pine needs moderately moist soil for normal growth. Therefore, in a hot summer during a drought, the tree needs additional watering.

Important! In order for the pine to quickly get out of the winter dormant period and begin to grow actively, in March the area of ​​the near-trunk circle is cleared of snow and gradually started to be poured with warm water.

During irrigation of coniferous crops, the following rules are observed:

• during the first year after planting, young seedlings are watered with an interval of 2 weeks in the summer, and in the autumn and spring - once every 7 days;
• adult trees are watered only during a very severe drought once every 15–20 days;
• 10-15 l of warm water are spent on young specimens, and from 20 to 35 l (depending on height) on adult pines;
• with severe summer drought, sprinkle the crown, irrigating it with water from a hose with a spray;
• Before the onset of winter, water-charging irrigation is carried out, moistening the soil under the tree to a greater depth - this procedure saturates the roots with moisture and strengthens them before the onset of cold weather.

Top dressing

Unzinate pine responds well to the introduction of nutrients into the soil, but an excess of fertilizers adversely affects the root system of the plant.

Therefore, fertilizing the culture must be done correctly, observing the following recommendations:

• for better rooting, a young seedling is watered with a rooting agent solution (for example, “Kornevin”) during the first week after incorporation into the ground;
• the first feeding is carried out only a year after planting a tree;
• every spring, complex fertilizers (for example, Kemira-Universal) are applied in the amount of 50-60 g per 1 m² of area;
• In summer, foliar top dressing is carried out - the trees are sprayed with solutions of Zircon or Epin preparations prepared according to the instructions on the package.

Mulching and loosening the soil

To facilitate the access of air and moisture to the root system, the area of ​​the trunk circle needs to be loosened regularly to a depth of about 10 cm.This procedure is combined with the removal of weeds and is performed after each rain or watering. A layer of mulch from dry pine bark, peat or rotted compost helps to keep the earth around the trunk loose and moist. It is laid out around the tree, forming a layer 5–7 cm thick.

Did you know? An interesting representative of coniferous crops is Bunge pine. It grows in Southeast Asia and has a white bark.

Haircut and trim

Unzinate pine practically does not need pruning. Without fail, only dried, old and damaged branches are removed from the tree. But if the gardener wants to give the crown a certain shape, then you can periodically carry out a shaping haircut.

In this case, use a sharp knife or secateurs, creating various shapes from pine shoots. During forming pruning, it is allowed to remove no more than 1⁄3 of the total length of the branch. Otherwise, the tree will weaken and become more vulnerable to diseases and pests.

Did you know? Swamp pine - the owner of the longest needles. Needles of adult specimens can grow up to 45 cm in length.

Winter preparations

Unsinate is a frost-resistant species of coniferous crops and is able to withstand frosts down to -40 ° C, and its strong branches do not break under the weight of snow cover. Therefore, trees do not need to be sheltered for the winter, with the exception of young seedlings. On the latter they put on a bag made of burlap, and cover the ground around the trunk with a layer of peat and branches of spruce branches. Such actions not only prevent freezing of the seedling, but also protect it from the bright winter sun, which can provoke the appearance of burns on the bark and needles.

Diseases and Pests

Subject to the listed recommendations for planting and care, unzinate pine shows a stable immunity to infections and insects. But in some cases, infection cannot be avoided, so every gardener should be able to identify signs of a problem and choose the right treatment.

The most common diseases and crop pests are:

1. Schütte. The causative agent of the disease is a harmful fungus that infects the needles of a tree. In this case, the needles can be covered with small black dots - spores of the fungus. Over time, the needles become reddish-brown, dries and crumbles. Infection especially often affects young specimens and can lead to their death.
2. Necrosis. The disease affects the wood, penetrating into it through cracks and damage to the bark. As a result of this, the cambium and bast begin to deteriorate, change color, which leads to the drying of the branches. Young seedlings can even die. On the affected areas, black spots resembling warts are noticeable - these are fruiting of the fungus.
3. Leafworm. This butterfly lays eggs on shoots, from which small light caterpillars emerge. They damage the pine buds and young tops of the branches, as a result of which a similar broom is formed on them from resin-coated needles. When this pest attacks, the crown of the pine is deformed, and the shoots begin to turn yellow.
4. Pine moth. Adult insects produce larvae that infect needles. They make small round holes at the base of each needle, braiding them with a thin white web. As a result of this, the needles are separated from the branch and blown away by the wind, and the crown of the pine is completely exposed. Sometimes you can notice the appearance of a problem only by touching the needles.

All areas affected by infection or insects need to be cut off. For the treatment of diseases, fungicides are used (Horus, Skor, Ordan), following the instructions on the package of the drug. You can get rid of insects with the help of insecticides ("Actellik", "Actara"). You can treat the pine with these substances and for the purpose of prevention. In this case, the interval between procedures should be 40-60 days.

Did you know? The highest representatives of conifers are the Lambert pines. They grow in North America, reaching a height of 70–80 m.

To prevent the occurrence of the above problems, it is enough to perform the following actions:

• choose a sunny place for landing;
• use high-quality planting material purchased in the nursery;
• comply with watering and fertilizer schedules;
• loosen the area of ​​the trunk circle;
• remove plant debris from the site;
• timely pruning shoots.

Landscape design application

Unsinate pine is widely used by gardeners to decorate the site, t. It has a fluffy crown and is an evergreen tree.

The main areas of application of this coniferous culture in landscape design:

• as a tapeworm in small areas;
• for landscaping a summer cottage area and garden in winter;
• as a part of compositions from other coniferous trees, bushes;
• in the form of a decorative element on stony terraces, embankments;
• as a New Year tree in medium and large areas.

Even a novice gardener will be able to grow uncinatum on his plot. Using the information presented in the article, you can correctly plant a tree and provide it with the necessary care, preventing the appearance of diseases and pests. And pruning pine branches will allow you to get from it a spectacular decorative element of an attractive shape.