Content
The beauty of meadowsweet (aka spirea) has been known to people for a very long time, but the high decorativeness of this shrub was appreciated only with the advent of landscape design. Gardeners take care of maintaining the splendor of the bush and the luxurious flowering of the spirea in the fall, pruning and providing care for preparing for winter. But not every gardener knows that the method of cutting different types of meadowsweet is very different. We will help you understand the nuances of caring for this spectacular plant.
The genus Spiraea is a member of the Pink family and includes over 80 species of ornamental deciduous shrubs. The average height of the culture is 90–170 cm, the crown circumference reaches 2.5 m. The openwork crown is made up of thin shoots, sagging under a mass of inflorescences almost to the ground. Therefore, the spirea is often compared to a snow-white fountain. The first flowering occurs in the 3-4th year of the growing season, limited by the appearance of individual inflorescences. In subsequent years, the shrub tirelessly pleases gardeners with splendor. The plant can act as an effective soloist or enter a group. Due to their endurance, unpretentiousness, resistance to dust, spireas are often used as hedges.
Advice
If you choose the right cultivars in terms of flowering time, you can achieve the continuity of this process for 3–3.5 months.
The timing and features of pruning a shrub directly depend on its variety. All types of spirea are usually subdivided by flowering time into spring-flowering and summer-flowering ones. Let's consider the main representatives of these groups.
Snow-white flowers with a yellow core and incredibly long stamens are a feature inherent in early flowering spireas. Dense corymbose or umbrella-shaped inflorescences densely stick around thin shoots, forcing them to bend to the ground. The appearance of "snow" on the branches occurs in late spring or early summer. Flower buds are laid on last year's shoots, located along the entire length of the branches. May "snow storm" lasts only 2-3 weeks, fills the garden with fragrance, attracting a lot of pollinators.
The following spring types of spirea are most often found in culture:
They differ slightly in height, shape of the crown and leaves, size of flowers, inflorescences. Some representatives have a snow-white color, others have a cream color. The Nippon Spirea dresses up in a crimson dress in the fall, and Wangutta burns with an orange flame.
The listed varieties are photophilous, but they tolerate light shading. Spireas are capable of growing in Spartan conditions, but without proper pruning and periodic rejuvenation, they first grow and look sloppy, and then begin to wither away, lose their decorative effect.
Representatives of this group bloom throughout the summer. They are characterized by bright juicy colors of inflorescences - pink, reddish, purple. Inflorescences are formed on the growths of the current year, have the form of panicles or large scutes.
Summer-flowering spireas include the following types:
Like their spring sisters, summer-flowering spireas are unpretentious, light-loving, and can steadily tolerate gas pollution.The listed cultures will perfectly fit into the design of any garden, decorate a rabatka, mixborder. Gardeners are especially attracted by Japanese spirea, on the basis of which a lot of beautiful varieties and decorative variegated forms are obtained. Cultivars of the Japanese meadowsweet are easy to shape, used to create garden sculptures.
Throughout the growing season, meadowsweet should be periodically pruned. This plant is so plastic that it is easy to form, and reacts very positively to pruning, throwing out more powerful shoots and forming a larger number of inflorescences. Thanks to the haircut, it is possible to achieve an increase in the decorativeness of the culture, because the meadowsweet belongs to the fast-growing species. It gives a lot of root growth and shoots, so without timely cutting it will become a messy bush.
Depending on the goals pursued, trimming the spirea is divided into the following types:
The shoots of meadowsweet are short-lived and after 1-2 years they begin to dry out. If left on the bush, the twigs will become a refuge for pests, a breeding ground for fungal spores. Some types of shrubs do not tolerate frosts very well, the tips of the branches freeze slightly. To protect the culture from diseases and restore decorativeness, throughout the growing season, gardeners remove diseased, dry, broken branches. Frozen shoots are cut in the spring before bud break.
A stimulating haircut is used for early flowering meadowsweet over 3-4 years old. By removing weak growths, branching is stimulated, flowering is enhanced. This approach will improve the illumination and ventilation of the crown, which will have a beneficial effect on the health of the culture. A stimulating haircut is performed in early autumn.
It is customary to deal with the formation of a shrub in spring or autumn. The autumn period for gardeners is less loaded with work, therefore, more often the crown of the spirea is formed in the fall.
Advice
A shaping haircut can be moderate or dramatic. In the first case, the silhouette of the bush is simply slightly corrected, in the second, so many branches are cut off so that the culture takes the desired shape.
Rejuvenating pruning will be needed for a plant over 15 years old. From this age, biological aging begins, the bush gradually loses its attractiveness. Autumn pruning is performed 2-3 weeks before frost so that the wounds have time to heal.
Early flowering spireas are prone to growing a large number of shoots, therefore, they require the mandatory removal of part of the shoot. If the shrub grows alone, gardeners recommend creating a strong skeleton by removing weak growth. In the fall, a quarter of the shoots are cut off at soil level. Over the next season, the bush will drive out new young twigs.
Early flowering species are sheared after the wilting of the inflorescences, in the middle of summer, but more often the event is postponed until autumn, when the crown is clearly visible. It is impossible to be zealous with a haircut, because the flower buds are already laid, so gardeners cut off only a third of the annual growth. This stimulates tillering, enhances flowering. Unbranched branches, which are often observed in gray spirea Grefsheim and Wangutta (hybrids), are cut in half, and a third of the growth is cut off at each fork.
Advice
In the spring, pruning is not carried out so as not to lose some of the inflorescences. Only the frozen tips and branches broken by snow are removed.
Summer-flowering shrub varieties respond well to pruning. The more shoots are removed, the more intensively the green mass grows. Haircuts are carried out every autumn, starting from the age of 3-4 years. Be sure to cut out any weak growth at the level of the root collar. In the fall or early spring, cut off the branches, leaving 2-3 developed buds above the lignified part.
Stimulating pruning is the complete removal of vegetation at a height of 30 cm. The event is carried out in early spring to stimulate tillering. Spirea, which is cared for in accordance with all the rules, will recover very quickly and will delight you with abundant flowering already in the current season.
Planting and transplanting of ornamental shrubs is carried out in the fall. At the same time, it is customary to divide the bushes 3-4 years old to get new specimens. To facilitate the adaptation of the bush to a new place, planting work is combined with pruning.
Work is carried out in early autumn, as soon as a change in the color of the foliage is outlined. Choose a cloudy or rainy day and follow the following algorithm.
The distance between the bushes for a solo planting should be at least 1.5 m, for a group planting - 70-80 cm. If you plan to plant a hedge, reduce the step between specimens to half a meter.
Mature specimens over 15 years old require anti-aging pruning. The event is carried out in the fall by completely removing the aerial part of the bush at the level of the root collar. The same scheme applies to a plant that is badly damaged by pests. After such a radical intervention, summer-flowering varieties will bloom in the next season, and spring ones only a year later.
Advice
Do not leave stumps after trimming. Young thin and weak twigs will grow from dormant buds on pruning in spring.
A spirea hedge is an excellent solution for a garden plot. It will protect your property from dust and exhaust gases, serve as a decoration and screen from prying eyes, without causing heavy shading.
After adjusting the shape of the hedge in autumn, be sure to add potassium-phosphorus fertilizing and mulch the soil. Such a measure stimulates the healing of wounds, will help spirea in preparation for winter.
A systematic hedge trimming allows:
Modeling a hedge is started a year after planting. Young bushes are pruned, removing a third of the annual growth. After 2-3 years, you can cut up to half of each twig to maintain the shape of the green fence. As you age, periodically trim the shrinking branches inside the crown.
Important!
Low pruning of the old fence will lead to the risk of drying out or freezing, since old bushes have an increased tendency to bare the root collar.
Autumn care for spirea necessarily includes preparation for a dormant period. Young animals are wrapped up for the winter to avoid freezing. To do this, the twigs are loosely pulled together with twine and wrapped with covering material.In harsh climates, it is better to build an air-dry shelter.
The root system of the spirea lies close to the surface of the soil, so it is better to insulate even adult bushes. Cover the root collar with a layer of leaf or peat mulch 10-15 cm thick.
With proper care, including systematic pruning and rejuvenation, the ornamental spiraea shrub will adorn the garden for 20-25 years. Since spring work takes up a lot of gardeners' time, it is convenient to postpone the care of lush bushes until autumn.
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