Cedar

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Cedar (lat. Cedrus) - a genus of trees of the Pine family. In nature, it is found in the western regions of the Himalayas, the Eastern and Southern Mediterranean, as well as in the Crimea. The genus has only four species, of which three are used in landscaping Russian parks, gardens and roadsides.

Characteristics of culture

Cedar is an evergreen tree up to 60 m high with a wide spreading, pyramidal or umbrella-shaped crown. The bark of the trunk is dark gray, cracking, the bark of young shoots is smooth. The root system is shallow, so the plants are prone to windfall. The needles are blue-green or dark green, sometimes silvery-gray, rigid, acicular, prickly, three or four-sided, sitting on leaf pads, the arrangement is spiral.

Flowers are presented in the form of spikelets that form at the ends of shortened shoots. Female spikelets are equipped with numerous stamens, sitting in a spiral, their length varies from 3 to 6 cm. The cones are elongated-ovate or barrel-shaped, single, covered with tiled appressed scales with seed depressions at the base. Cones ripen in the second or third year. The seeds are resinous, triangular in shape, equipped with large wings on the upper side.

Cedar is a long-liver, life expectancy is 2000-3000 years. Often cedars are confused with some types of Pines, which are popularly of the same name. These include: Siberian cedar pine, Korean cedar pine, European cedar pine, Siberian cedar pine.

Growing conditions

In general, cedars are undemanding to growing conditions. However, they develop better on loose, permeable, moderately moist, fertile soils. Loamy, clayey and sandy loam soils are optimal. Cedar does not tolerate compacted, saline, highly calcareous and waterlogged soils.

On dry calcareous soils, all four cedar species suffer from chlorosis and die as a result. Plants are sensitive to water stagnation. The location is preferably illuminated, light shade will not harm. Trees have a powerful root system, it is capable of destroying the foundations of houses and other buildings, so it is not recommended to plant them closer than 3-4 m.

Subtleties of reproduction and planting

Cedars are propagated by seed and vegetative methods; grafting on Scots pine is also possible. Sowing cedar seeds should be carried out in the fall - late September - early October. Seeds are sown in beds prepared in advance and filled with fertilizers. Crops need protection from mice and other rodents. Seedlings appear next spring, they also need shelter in the form of plastic wrap, but only for the first time. With the onset of stable heat, the shelter is removed.

Spring sowing is less successful. In this case, the seeds are stratified. First, the seeds are soaked in water at room temperature for 5-6 days, periodically changing the water. Then the seeds are mixed with peat crumbs or coarse river sand and moistened. As soon as the seeds are hatched, they are taken out into the cold (0C) and kept in this state until sowing. The seeding depth is 3-4 cm. With the appearance of 2-3 true leaves on the seedlings, thinning is performed. Later, the seedlings dive according to the 20 * 10 cm or 20 * 20 cm pattern. If the seedlings are not sufficiently strong, the dive is transferred to the next year. As a rule, the survival rate of seedlings of a culture is 90-95%, but subject to careful care.

The seedlings are planted in a permanent place after 2-3 years. The soil under the cedar is fed with peat, humus or rotted manure and mineral fertilizers. Bedding is encouraged. Seedlings are planted in pits, the size of which depends on the development of the root system. The root collar should be at ground level. After planting, the soil in the near-trunk zone is well compacted, watered and mulched.

Care

There is nothing difficult in caring for a culture. Plants need rare watering in drought, annual fertilizing with nitrogen, potash and phosphorus fertilizers, loosening of the tree trunk circle and mulching with sawdust or peat. Cedar does not require pruning, but on one condition: in young plants aged 3-5 years, lateral buds on the axial shoot are removed. Thanks to this procedure, the growth increases, and the need for trimming the side shoots disappears.