Wide Crown Of Hornbeam

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

On a hot July afternoon, it is pleasant to relax under the protection of the wide and dense crown of a deciduous tree called Hornbeam. Monoecious frost-resistant representatives of the genus retain their oval simple leaves on the branches for a long time even after they dry out. Ornamental species with different crown shapes have been bred

Rod hornbeam

Just over three dozen deciduous tree species

kind Hornbeam (Carpinus) witness the appearance on Earth of the ancestor of man - the ape man.

Over millions of years, the plant has adapted to the changing seasons, shedding its simple, jagged leaves for the winter, in order to re-show them to the world in spring, along with the flowers that form greenish-red catkins.

Flowers are divided into male and female, formed on different trees, thereby reckoning Hornbeam as monoecious trees.

Although Hornbeam belongs to the Birch family, unlike birches, which quickly heal the wounds of the earth after fires and felling, it grows slowly, and therefore they like to use it to create dwarf bonsai.

The most common species in the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth is

Common hornbeam

Common hornbeam

The common hornbeam (or European) with the Latin name "Carpinus betulus" is used to create parks; gazebos, walls and hedges are built from it, giving the plantings a different shape. The plant easily tolerates a haircut, maintaining the human-conceived figure of a tree for a long period, due to its slow growth. The ability to grow "slowly" makes Hornbeam attractive to creative people who create masterpieces in the bonsai style.

From the Birch family Hornbeam inherited a silvery-white bark, dark green oval simple leaves, decorated with denticles along the edge, and greenish-red catkins of dioecious flowers that appear simultaneously with sticky spring leaves. The simplicity of the leaves coexists with their tenacity, which allows them to hold on to autumn-winter branches for a long time, when other trees are already naked.

Tireless creative people have created valuable decorative forms of the Hornbeam, the crown of which can be columnar; pyramidal; weeping, like a willow; simple leaves can turn into lobed leaves; and the color of the tree turns purple.

Growing

Hornbeams are shade-tolerant, and therefore they feel great in the shade, although they can grow in a lit place.

There is no forbidden air temperature for them, since they can withstand heat, frost and frost, which makes them ubiquitous.

The list of Hornbeam's advantages does not end with their frost resistance. Over millions of years, they have learned to adapt to adverse changes, and therefore stoically breathe the polluted air of industrial cities, and also resist the onslaught of pests and diseases, making it easier for gardeners to take care of trees. They even need watering only during prolonged drought.

Any soil is good for Hornbeam, but, naturally, it is easier and more comfortable to grow on fertile soil with good drainage, rich in organic matter. With the listed properties of the soil, there is no need for additional fertilizing with fertilizers.

Freestanding Hornbeam trees are generally not trimmed. The same cannot be said about Hornbeam hedges, which require annual summer procedures to maintain the required shape.

Reproduction

Hornbeam seeds germinate unevenly and for a long time, as if not rushing into this world. This does not frighten gardeners, and therefore, in the midst of autumn, they interred single-seeded nuts, wrapped in a three-blade wrapper, so that, after thinning the seedlings next fall, take care of them for another 3-4 years, and then determine them for permanent residence.

In addition, Hornbeam produces abundant growth, which also multiplies its presence on the planet.