Coniferous trees can decorate any site. They look great as solitaries and against the background of many other plants. It is not difficult to grow them, it is enough to choose the right place for planting and provide minimal regular care. Description and recommendations for the cultivation of a pine such as Weimutova Minima are collected in the article.

Botanical Description and Characteristics

Pine Weimutov Minima (lat.Pinus strobus Minima) cultivated since 1923. This is a dwarf form of a variety called Weymouth, or eastern white, known from the XVIII century. and named after the name of the seafarer who brought it to Britain.A feature of the described species of pine are very thin, but stiff needles. Their length is 2.5 cm. They are not straight, but slightly bent. They are dark green in color and turn blue in late summer.

An evergreen dwarf tree usually does not exceed 1 m in height. Crohn's it is formed in the form of a ball. As a plant grows, it becomes like a pillow. The width of the tree exceeds its height. The diameter of the mature plant is 1.5 m.

The shoots of the described pine are thin, green-brown or red-brown. From them hang fruits in the form of cones in the form of a slightly curved narrow cylinder. They are light brown in color. In length, cones reach 20 cm, in width - 4 cm.

Did you know? Pine trees can live very long - 300 years or more. The oldest coniferous plant known to scientists under the name Metusela marked 4842 years.

Main characteristics of the plant Pinus strobus:

• photophilousness;
• wind resistance;
• slow growth (annual growth - 5–7 cm);
• increased level of frost resistance;
• high degree of resistance to disease;
• prefers fertile, moderately moist soil with a neutral or slightly acidic pH;
• does not tolerate planting in dense, saline soils, soils with excessive lime content;
• lack of need for annual pruning.

Video: Weimutov Pine Minima

Using

Weimutov Pine Minima is recommended for cultivation in rocky, heather and Japanese gardens, on alpine hills. It is planted near natural and artificial reservoirs. A tree can grow alone or in a group, in an array.

Important! Due to its sensitivity to dirty air and exhaust gases, the Weimutov Minima pine is not suitable for planting in places with excessive gas contamination and smoke.

It goes well with other short conifers (fir, spruce), deciduous plants and shrubs (oak, alder, maple, sea buckthorn), cereals. This variety is suitable for container cultivation.

Landing

In order to successfully grow a pine tree, it is necessary to choose a good place, a quality seedling, prepare the site and observe the planting technology. This tree needs a lot of light. It can put up with partial shade, but it will slightly reduce its decorative effect.

Did you know? The height of the trunk of the tallest pine tree in the world reaches 70–80 m. This tree belongs to the Lambert species.

Before landing, it is important to find out how close underground water is. They should not approach closer than 1.5 m. A minimum distance of 1.5 m should be maintained from a building or other plant to the planted pine.

Seedling Selection

To buy a seedling, you should go to a specialized store or a well-established nursery. You don’t need to buy planting material from your hands, because there is no guarantee that this is the variety that is needed. In addition, quite often such seedlings are infected with diseases or pests.

You can choose planting material with a closed or unprotected root system. Seedlings from containers adapt faster in open ground. In plants with unprotected roots, you can immediately assess their condition and development, select the strongest and most healthy.

Seedlings should be purchased with the following characteristics:

1. Shoots bend well.
2. The needles are painted in a uniform saturated color, do not fall.
3. On the trunk, roots there are no injuries, rot, harmful insects.
4. The root system is healthy, well developed.

Site preparation

Planting of pine can be done in spring, in April - May and autumn, in late September - mid-October. During spring planting, preparation of the site should be attended to in the fall. If a tree is planted in the autumn, then it is necessary to prepare the site in 2–4 weeks.

The soil must be cleaned of plant debris and dug deep. Then you should dig a landing hole with a depth of 70–90 cm and a width commensurate with the size of the root system. The earth extracted when digging the hole should be mixed with sand and nitroammophos (40-50 g) or humus. If required, reduce acidity by adding lime. At the bottom of the pit is to lay a drainage layer that will drain excess moisture.

Important! When choosing a place for planting pine trees, avoid areas where currant and gooseberry bushes are located nearby. This will reduce the risk of infection with a common disease for these plants - rust.

Step-by-step landing instructions

To plant a pine correctly, you must act as follows:

1. Pour fertilized soil onto the drainage, forming a small hill.
2. Set the seedling in the center with a whole earthen lump.
3. Fill the voids with soil.
4. Check that the root collar is flush with the ground.
5. Tread lightly.
6. Watering.
7. Shade the area, protecting the plant from sunlight.

Care

Adult pines require little attention and effort. Regular and frequent care is needed only for young plants under the age of 4–5 years. After the tree is well established on the site, and the root system is well developed, human intervention in his life will be minimal.

Pine care is standard and consists of such procedures as moisturizing, fertilizing, mulching, weeding, loosening, preventive measures to prevent diseases and harmful insects.

Video: Conifer Care Guidelines

Watering and feeding

The recommended watering regime for young pines is once every 2-3 weeks. Under one tree you need to use near a bucket of water. Mature plants need to be watered only during prolonged droughts. The rest of the time, a well-developed root system is able to produce moisture and nutrients on its own.

Abundant watering is necessary for the tree in the spring and before wintering. In the summer, sprinkling is not out of place. Pine does not require obligatory top dressing. To accelerate growth and development, strengthen immunity under young trees, you can make ready-made complex mineral fertilizer intended for conifers. Do this according to the instructions from the manufacturer.

Mulching and cultivation

Important soil care procedures are loosening, mulching and weeding. Loosening the earth in the near-stem zone should be after each irrigation and rainfall. This will avoid the formation of a dense crust on the surface, which prevents the normal passage of water and air to the roots. Loosening should be shallow, since the root system of the pine is superficial.

Mulching is carried out in order to maintain the optimum level of soil moisture, to control the growth of weeds, to reduce the amount of watering, weeding and loosening. Peat or sawdust is best used as mulch. Mulch coating should be changed annually in the autumn.

It is important to monitor cleanliness in the near-stem circle and remove weeds in a timely manner. Weeds not only clog the site, but also contribute to the spread of pathogens and harmful insects.

Shaping and trimming

Weimutov Minima pine independently forms a beautiful spherical or pillow-shaped crown shape and in most cases does not require human intervention. If necessary, you can make a pinch. This procedure allows you to create the right, perfect tree shape. In the spring, pinch young shoots.

Winter preparations

Since the Weimutov Minima pine can tolerate severe frosts without problems, it is not necessary to prepare it for wintering. It is worth taking care of only young trees. After the first frost, they should be wrapped in burlap or breathable non-woven material suitable for these purposes.

Since the spring sun quite often causes burns of conifers and a decrease in the level of their decorativeness, it is important to protect the pines by shading or wrapping them in early spring. You need to remove the shelter in April.

Disease prevention

The described culture is characterized by strong immunity and is affected by diseases and pests only in case of improper planting or errors in care.

Of the diseases among the representatives of this species, rust is most common. It is characterized by the appearance of orange bubbles in the lower part of the crown. In order to prevent the development of this disease, it is necessary to spray the plant in spring with any copper-containing preparation, for example, Bordeaux liquid, copper sulfate solution, Rogor, etc.

So, if it is necessary to decorate a summer garden or garden plot, then you can consider planting a dwarf form of Weimutov Minima pine. It is easy to care for and goes well with a large number of different plants, creating original landscape compositions with them.