Poplar

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

Poplar (lat. Populus) - a genus of trees of the Willow family. Poplar is widespread in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It is used for landscaping city parks, alleys and roadsides. Some species are found in East Africa and South America. In nature, it grows on well-moistened slopes, along river valleys and dune sands. Representatives of the genus are distinguished by their rapid growth. The average age is 70-80 years.

Characteristics of culture

Poplar is a large tree up to 60 m high with an ovoid, tent-shaped or pyramidal crown and a trunk reaching 1-1.5 m in diameter. The bark is dark gray or brownish-gray, fractured. The branches are covered with smooth, olive or gray bark. The root system is strong, some of the roots are located superficially. Leaves glabrous or pubescent, broadly ovate silt lanceolate, alternate, sitting on long petioles.

The flowers are small, collected in long drooping or erect cylindrical earrings, equipped with a finger-dissected bracts. The fruit is a 2-4-leaf capsule. The seeds are small, black-brown or black, oblong-ovoid or oblong in shape, at the base are equipped with a bundle of numerous hairs of a silky structure (poplar fluff).

Reproduction

Poplar is propagated by seed and cuttings. The seed method is laborious and subject only to specialists. Poplar seeds are very small, it is very difficult to sow them, because even from a light breath of the wind they scatter on different sides. There are other difficulties in growing crops with this method.

To grow poplar on personal backyard plots, gardeners use the second method, that is, cuttings. Cuttings are cut from lignified shoots in early spring (before the leaves bloom) and planted in the ground at a distance of 10 -12 cm from each other. Cuttings take root very quickly (subject to regular watering) and in the first year they give well-developed seedlings.

Landing

Poplar seedlings are planted in early spring. Autumn planting is not forbidden, but undesirable. The depth of the planting pit should be at least 70-100 cm. The root collar should not be buried; it should be located at the level of the soil surface. At the bottom of the pit, a roller is formed, the mixture for which is made up of turf, sand and peat in a ratio of 3: 2: 2 with the addition of mineral fertilizers. After planting, the soil in the near-stem zone is slightly compacted and watered abundantly.

Care

Poplar watering is carried out only during drought at the rate of 20-25 liters per 1 tree. Young plants are watered 2-3 times a month, they are more sensitive in drought. The soil in the near-trunk zone is regularly loosened and freed from weeds, and in spring and autumn it is dug to a depth of 10-15 cm. After 7-8 years, loosening can be missed, and the near-trunk circles can be sown with lawn or flower crops that can develop in the shade. Mulching is encouraged; sawdust, peat or humus can be used as mulch.

Plants easily tolerate pruning and shearing, quickly recover. After strong pruning, the crop is fed with mineral and organic fertilizers and watered abundantly. Poplar is frost-hardy and does not need shelter for the winter. It is resistant to diseases and pests, but it can be affected by leaf beetles, poplar-spruce aphids, poplar moths, and scab. When the first signs of damage are detected, the plants are treated with colloidal sulfur and organophosphate insecticides.