Due to its plasticity and unpretentiousness, juniper has become a popular plant in modern landscape design. The variety of forms and varieties is quite large, there are more than 70 species. The juniper group and its representative - Gold Kissen (Juniperus media Gold Kissen) are worthy of special attention.
Botanical Description
Gold Kissen, which means “golden pillow”, grows in nature on the rocky soils of the mountains of North America, throughout the Northern Hemisphere, to the subtropics. This evergreen coniferous plant belongs to the Cypress family.
Hybrid Gold Kissen media - medium-sized coniferous shrub up to 1 m in height. Its habitus (volume) is up to 2.2 m. Bred in Germany by Wilhelm Pfitzer at the end of the 19th century. by crossing Cossack and Chinese species.
Did you know? Juniper lives on our planet for 520 million years. His life expectancy is up to 600 years.
A distinctive feature is the raggedness, which gives it a special decorative effect. Gold Kissen can be described as follows:
- has a spreading feathery asymmetric shape;
- green needles, scaly. The annual growth that appears in early summer (up to 15 cm long) has a bright yellow golden hue;
- the shoots have a horizontal growth direction (35–55º), rising slightly upward, and the young growth slightly hangs. The lower branches spread along the ground;
- the fruits are small, reminiscent of berries, blue, inedible. Fruits "golden pillow" rarely, from late August to mid-September. During this period, the shrub acquires a particularly decorative appearance;
- this coniferous plant can be cultivated on any slightly acidic soil of loose composition;
- likes sunny places, can tolerate partial shade, but at the same time there is a risk of losing the decorative needles;
- has a powerful rod root system with horizontal layers, occupying the diameter of the crown;
- tolerates short-term drought, frost-resistant (–27 ° C);
- well tolerates the ecology of megacities.
Landing
The beginning of the planting of juniper medium occurs in late April or early September. Given that Gold Kissen does not tolerate transplantation, due attention should be paid to this process, the correct implementation of which will provide a good result when grown by 80%. Particular attention should be paid to the choice of planting material.
Video: Juniper planting
Seedling preparation
For the same reason, it is necessary to carefully choose planting material with a good root system. It is advisable to purchase a seedling with a closed root system. When buying, pay attention to the root held tight in the container and have a healthy appearance. Turn it down, if it fell out, it means that the seedling was placed in a container immediately before sale, such a plant should not be purchased.
Site preparation
An important stage of the landing is the determination of the place. It is worthwhile to carefully consider all the risks - shading by neighboring trees, planting density, estimated proximity, possible redevelopment of the site, etc., since Gold Kissen does not tolerate transplant.
Important! The best age for planting seedlings Gold Kissen — 3–4 years. It should not be transplanted.
If the soil at the selected site for planting this coniferous plant does not meet its requirements, it is necessary to carry out some techniques to change the soil structure: prepare a soil mixture of sand, peat and sod land in a ratio of 2: 1: 1. If the soil level exceeds pH more than 5, then it is worth adding lime.
If the soil is very dense, then at the bottom of the landing hole you need to arrange a good drainage of stones and sand at least 20 cm.
Landing process
For planting a standard 3-4-year-old seedling, a hole 70 × 70 cm should be dug (on light soils - 50 × 70, because there is no drainage there). When planting a shrub, it is important to ensure that the root neck is necessarily at the level of the soil. Before planting, the bush can be sprayed with growth stimulants aimed at increasing the survival rate of the plant, and also water it with the appropriate solution a day before planting. After planting, the tree needs to be watered (up to 20 l under the root).
Important! To achieve high decorativeness Gold Kissen must prepare the soil strictly according to the instructions and choose a sunny place for its planting.
If the soil strongly settles, then add soil and spill again. After a day, it is necessary to mulch the planting with any material as desired, while taking into account that the layer of organic mulch should be at least 20 cm.This will help maintain optimal water balance, microclimate in the root system and eliminate the need for weeding and loosening of the trunk section.
Juniper Care
Gold Kissen is finicky in leaving for the first two years after landing. At the beginning of his life, he needs regular watering, mulching and top dressing. For snow retention, the plant is sheltered for the winter. At this time, you should carefully consider the manifestation of signs of the disease or the appearance of pests. In general, this shrub is not fastidious.
Watering
The main area of concern in the first year of life is regular watering. Watering standards are as follows: watering in dry weather should be done twice a week. Under a bush with a diameter of 0.5 m, add 5 liters of water, and then add 3-5 liters of water for each additional half meter.
Plants of the second year of life need to be watered once a week. If the plant is well mulled, the frequency of irrigation can be reduced by 2-3 times, depending on the microclimate of the soil. When watering the plant, it is necessary to arrange sprinkling.
Top dressing
Experts recommend feeding the bush no more than once a year at the beginning of the growing season. The solution should contain a significant proportion of nitrogen fertilizers. For this, it is advisable to use ready-made industrial mixtures. It is important not to overfeed the shrub, in order to avoid the loss of needles.
Important! Juniper does not tolerate organic fertilizing (manure, humus, infusion of herbs).
Loosening and mulching
After each watering, you need to carefully loosen the trunk circle, taking care not to damage the root. As mentioned above, in the presence of good mulch, this agricultural technique can be eliminated or minimized. Mulching a tree is important annually in early April or May.
Shredded grass is good for this. The best way is to mow it, grind it and leave it in a garbage bag for fermentation for a week. You can simply cover the root zone with a diameter of up to 1 m with any organic matter, grass, sawdust, bark, non-woven covering material or use a combination (grass + 5 cm sawdust or bark on top, etc.).
Pruning
For Gold Kissen, only sanitary pruning is used, in which damaged or dried branches are removed. Spend it in early spring or autumn. Formative pruning is permissible only when forming a hedge. This species tolerates both types of pruning well.
Video: juniper pruning
Winter preparations
In the first fall of the growing season, the shrub should be tied so that probable heavy snowfalls do not break the plant. It is recommended to put on a burlap from above, in order to avoid sunburn of needles in February and to mulch the near-trunk circle with a layer of peat or straw up to 20 cm. If the local climate suggests severe frosts with no snow, it is necessary to cover it abundantly with spruce branches or other alternative natural material to retain snow.
Did you know? Berry-like juniper fruits are actually — bumps.
Possible diseases and pests
The main pests of juniper are aphids, moths, sawflies, spider mites. Neighborhood with other species of fruit or deciduous trees increases the likelihood of infection of the shrub with diseases or pests. Diseases that can affect the tree - rust, drying out, necrosis of the bark and shute.
For the treatment and prevention of pests in the spring, fungicides are used, from pests - insecticides. In summer, treatment must be repeated. Particular attention should be paid to combating the spider mite, it is quite difficult to get rid of it, so it is better to prevent infection. The spider mite spreads rapidly in dry, hot weather.
Breeding methods
The method of reproduction Gold Kissen - layering, as this is a hybrid form of juniper. To do this, cuttings up to 10 cm in size are cut in May-June, plant them in containers of up to half a liter. The rooting mixture should consist of rotted juniper needles, sand and peat. It is more advisable to purchase a finished composition.
Cuttings are planted at an angle of 45 °, watered, covered with an opaque film, creating a mini-greenhouse, for 3 weeks. You can also propagate Gold Kissen layering. To do this, in spring, the lower branches are deepened into the ground, securing them with brackets, sprinkled with a mound of soil, mulch, regularly moistened. The resulting seedling can be planted next spring in a container and grow it for about 4 years.
Did you know? Ancestors made dishes from juniper bark, the milk in which did not turn sour even in the heat.
Use in landscape design
Gold Kissen is ideal for gardens with a small area. It looks good in compositions and single landings, as well as a hedge. Junipers of this variety strengthen the slopes, decorate multi-tiered compositions. It is in good harmony with shade-tolerant unpretentious perennials (brunner, hellebore, hosta, etc.) and early flowering bulbous (tulips, crocuses, copses, muscari, etc.).
Gold Kissen media has long been chosen in Europe. He has recently mastered the territory of Russia and the CIS countries, but has earned the attention of landscape designers. Its decorative qualities and compact volume are well suited for small areas.
In addition, from the third year of planting, the shrub does not require special attention, which makes it promising in almost any household plot, and good adaptation to adverse environments and the ability to clean the air are good features for planting in an urban area.
