Cypress is an evergreen plant represented by coniferous bushes and trees of various heights. There are dwarf specimens with a height of less than 0.5 m and monumental plants more than 70 m in height. They belong to the Cypress family. The habitat affects North America and East Asia. From the 18th century cypresses began to decorate the parks and gardens of Europe. Today they are also used as a houseplant. Soft shoots exude a specific smell that fills the house with exotic notes of the tropics of the East or the Mediterranean.
Plant description
Cypress is a plant with an upright, strong trunk, covered with brown-brown peeling bark. The plant is nourished by a developed rhizome. It spreads more in breadth than in depth.
A pyramidal or sprawling crown consists of branched shoots. Young branches are covered with small needles, which over the years turn into triangular scales. They are tight to each other and have a bright green, bluish or light green color. Each flake has a pointed edge, bent inward.
Cypress is a monocotyledonous plant, that is, male and female generative organs bloom on one individual. Cones grow on groups of one year old branches. They have a spherical shape with a tuberous surface. The diameter of one cone is 1-1.5 cm. Under the blue-green scales adjacent to each other there are 2 seeds. Ripening occurs in the first year. Each small seed is flattened on the sides and has narrow wings.
Species and decorative varieties
In total, 7 species of plants are registered in the cypress family. At the same time, there are several hundred decorative varieties that can satisfy the requirements of any landscape designer.
Cypress pea. The plant has spread from Japan. It is a tree up to 30 m high with a pyramidal crown. The trunk is covered with a reddish-brown scaly bark. Stretched, perpendicular to the trunk branches with flat processes are covered with bluish-blue scaly needles. The branches are dotted with small yellow-brown cones up to 6 mm in diameter. Varieties:
- Boulevard. A cone-shaped tree about 5 m high. Awl-shaped needles of silver-blue color grow on soft branches, do not exceed 6 cm in length. The ends of the needles are bent inward. This thermophilic variety does not tolerate frost.
- Filyera. A tree-shaped plant about 5 m in height has a wide cone-shaped crown with branches hanging down at the ends.
- Nana. A sprawling shrub 60-80 cm tall and 1.5 m wide is covered with small bluish-green scales.
- Baby Blue A tree 150-200 cm tall with a dense conical crown is covered with blue needles.
- Sangold. A spherical shrub about half a meter high is characterized by soft needles of golden green color.
Lavson's cypress. The North American variety is a powerful tree 70 m high. Outwardly, it resembles a narrow cone. The needles are distinguished by a darker shade of greenery. The top often slopes to one side. The trunk is covered with a red-brown lamellar bark, and gray-brown cones grow in groups at the ends of the branches. Their diameter reaches 10 cm. Decorative varieties:
- Elwoodi - a tree 3 m tall with a cone-shaped green-blue crown grows sprawling branches drooping at the ends;
- Snow White - a columnar shrub with multi-colored needles covered with a silver border;
- Yvonne - a plant up to 2.5 m in height has a conical crown with vertical branches, they are covered with golden yellow or light green needles;
- Columnaris - a tree 5-10 m almost from the ground itself is covered with tight vertical gray-blue branches.
Cypress dull (blunted). A slender plant up to 50 m tall comes from Japan. Its trunk in girth may be 2 m. It is covered with a smooth light brown bark. Repeatedly branched horizontal branches hang at the ends. They are covered with tiny yellow-green or bright green scales. Varieties:
- Dracht (drat) - a bush with a small annual growth by 10 years reaches 1.5-2 m, it has a narrow conical shape and a gray-green color;
- Rashahiba - a sprawling dwarf shrub with loose bright green branches and orange or brownish cones;
- Nana Gracilis - bush up to 60 cm tall has a broad conical shape and dark green shiny needles.
Nutkansky cypress. Plants are found on the Pacific coast of North America. They are trees 40 meters high with a dense crown covered with dark green small needles. On the branches are spherical cones 1-1.2 cm wide. Varieties:
- Leyland - a plant 15-20 m high and up to 5.5 m wide has a narrow pyramidal shape with openwork fan-shaped branches of dark green color;
- Pendula is a weeping variety that looks like a candle with dark green drooping branches.
Breeding methods
Cypress is propagated by seeds and vegetatively (green cuttings, layering). Sowing seeds is suitable for species plants, because the characteristics of the variety are easily split. Germination capacity persists for 15 years after harvest. In order for the seed material to undergo a natural stratification, crops are produced in boxes with sand and peat soil in October. They are immediately taken out to the street and covered with a delicate hat. At the end of March, containers are brought into a warm (+ 18 ... + 22 ° C), well-lit room. Direct sunlight is undesirable.
Shoots appear very quickly, they need moderate watering. The grown seedlings dive into another box with a distance of 10-15 cm or in separate pots. Since mid-April, in the absence of frost, kaparisoviki for several hours every day taken out to the street for hardening. At the end of spring, stronger cypress trees are planted in open ground in partial shade. In the first wintering they will need good shelter.
Propagation by layering is considered the easiest way, which is suitable for open shrubs and creeping varieties. During spring, an incision is made on the bark and immersed in soil, fixing with a slingshot or stone. The top is lifted and a support is made of stakes. All season you need to water not only the mother plant, but also the layering. Soon she will have her own roots, but she plans to leave and transplant for the next spring.
Cuttings are among the most reliable methods of reproduction. For it, lateral young shoots 5-15 cm long are cut during spring. Near the lower cut, the needles are removed. Rooted cuttings in flower pots with a mixture of perlite, sand and coniferous bark. Seedlings are covered with a film under which they maintain high humidity. Rooting occurs within 1-2 months. After this, the plants are immediately transferred to the open ground and again covered with a transparent cap. Until winter, they are fully adaptable and will be able to survive the cold without shelter. With late cuttings, seedlings are left in containers in a cool room until spring.
Outdoor landing
To plant a cypress in the garden, choose a shady, cool place. The more yellow needles in the color of the needles, the more sun the plant needs. The soil should be loose, nutritious and well-drained. Lime content is not acceptable. Well grows cypress on loam.
Landing is planned for April. To do this, it’s better to prepare a landing pit up to 90 cm deep and about 60 cm wide already in the fall. A thick (from 20 cm) drainage layer of sand or gravel is placed at the bottom. The pit is watered and the roots are treated with a lump of earth with the Kornevin solution. Having placed the rhizome, the empty place is covered with a mixture of turf soil, peat, leaf humus and sand. The root neck is fixed at a height of 10-20 cm above the soil level, so that during shrinkage it becomes even with the soil. Immediately after the manipulation, the seedlings are fed "Nitroammofoskoy", and the soil surface is mulched. In group planting, the distance between plants is 1-1.5 m.
Care Rules
Street cypress love the high humidity of the soil and air. They should be regularly watered and sprayed. In the absence of natural rainfall, a bucket of water is poured weekly under a tree. It is better to spray plants in the evening. The soil in the root soil is regularly loosened to a depth of about 20 cm. Weeds can develop near the young tree, which should be removed. It is useful to mulch the surface with peat or sawdust.
For active growth, cypress needs top dressing. In April-June, 1-2 times a month, the earth is sprinkled with mineral complex fertilizer, and then the plant is abundantly watered. It is better to use half the recommended dose. From July-August, feeding is stopped so that the cypress prepared for wintering.
Most species are resistant to frost, but can suffer in cold, snowless winters. In the fall, the trunk circle is mulched with peat and covered with fallen leaves. Young cypress trees can be covered completely with spruce branches and non-woven material. In early spring, all shelter is removed, and the snow is scattered so that the plants do not soprel.
To give shape, cypress shears. They tolerate this procedure well, but it must be carried out in early spring. During pruning, frozen and dry branches are removed, and shoots that are knocked out of the general form are also cut. The latter is shortened to a third of the length.
Cypress is a plant resistant to diseases and parasites. Only weakened specimens suffer from pests such as spider mites or scale insects. Insecticide treatment will quickly get rid of insects. With frequent flooding of the soil, root rot can develop. It is possible to escape from it only at an early stage. Soil and plants are treated with fungicide.
Cypress in the house
Dwarf trees and shrubs can be planted in a pot to decorate the room. At home, cypress must provide high humidity and regular watering. The optimum temperature throughout the year is + 20 ... + 25 ° C.
Rhizome develops quickly and requires free space, so the plants are transplanted every 1-3 years, gradually increasing the pot to a large tub.
Using
An evergreen noble plant is used to design paths and alleys in the park and large garden. It is planted in groups or singly in the middle of the lawn, as a bright accent. Low-growing, weeping shrubs are suitable for decorating a rockery, rocky garden or alpine hill.
In summer, plants will be an ideal backdrop for bright flowers, and in winter they will help turn a boring garden into a more conspicuous one. Moreover, some varieties in the cold season change color to blue or golden.
