Thanks to conifers, the garden looks especially advantageous, because when the rose nurseries fade, coniferous trees complement the picture and the garden remains evergreen. A correctly selected tree crown, growth and shape of conifers give the garden a special charm. With help coniferous trees it is possible to create any design suitable for buildings on the site.
Which conifers go best with roses?
It is believed that the combination with thuja occidentalis is ideal, since it does not interfere with the development of the rose's root system and does not extinguish the rose, allowing it to gain strength and bloom every year.
Roses develop well with vertical conifers. These include: emerald, brabant, and spherical thujas. The main thing is that the thujas do not grow wider, as in this case they will cover the rose bushes. The following varieties are suitable for junipers: Blue Arrow, Moonlow, Sky rocket.
Fig. 1 Only roses and conifers, no other plants, the composition, in the opinion of the site editors, is magnificent, nothing superfluous (photo from the site wcb.ru)
Fig.2 Diluted with deciduous trees, shrubs and summer trees (photo from wcb.ru)
For planting, you need to choose less aggressive conifers so that over time they do not crowd out rose bushes. Aggressive conifers and junipers are considered to be: Blue Alps, Blue Carpet, Gray Owl, Blue Danuba.
Before planting, be sure to outline the goal of what you want to get from the composition, highlight roses or simply cover empty space. From this you should base yourself on which conifer to choose for planting on the site: spherical or growing upward.
The compatibility of roses and thujas - is such a neighborhood possible?
Thujas can be planted next to roses, but at a distance of one and a half meters, since thujas grow quickly root system, and it can destroy the rose. If the rose has been growing on the site for more than five years, then you can safely plant thujas, since the root system of the rose is already stable and nothing will interfere with it.
Photo source - www.thegracefulgardener.com
According to information from the rosebook.ru forum, it is not recommended to plant asparagus with roses, as it inhibits the root system and the roses become invisible. And also, according to the notes of a forum user, the planted squash inhibits growth and when it was dug up, the rose began to grow. Not recommended plant cloves and other grains, lilies.
Forum members agreed that the rose loves freedom and is best grown separately from everything else.
How to beautifully plant thujas on the site
Thuja is unpretentious and grows in almost any conditions: in well-lit places or partial shade, but does not like very dark and northern places. To grow a fence, use the Columna variety; thujas grow into a beautiful hedge.
To create a beautiful hedge, you should find out in advance how much the selected variety grows upward and in width; planting depends on this, so that the hedge remains beautiful even over several years.
The Smaragd variety is also excellent for creating a hedge. The distance when planting each plant is 70 cm. It should be planted a meter or one and a half meters from the fence. In three years, the thuja grows into a tall, beautiful hedge. Thuja western emerald has a regular cone-shaped crown, reaching up to 4-6 meters in height and up to 1.80 in width. This thuja is always evergreen. Grows in any soil, grows best in the sun. The soil should be moist and fertile. Already fertilized seedlings are planted in the ground. Hardy and frost-resistant. Good quality of this variety – it does not turn yellow.
Thuja is suitable for planting together with roses. But we must take into account the rule of constructing an ensemble. If three elements are involved in planting, then the ensemble should combine no more than two colors. So, the constructed composition will look organic. If there are more colors, then the elements are combined into groups of three with the same colors.
The use of roses and conifers in landscape design, perhaps, but a large area must be allocated for this. Due to the extensive root system of both plants, they are planted at a distance of at least one and a half meters– this contributes to the further development of plants. It is recommended to plant thujas in a semi-shaded area, and roses in lighter and more formal areas. The rose will not look great if planted in the shade.
Is it possible to plant roses between thujas along the fence?
Photo source - davesgarden.com, rose variety - "Iceberg". An example of a very beautiful successful combination of roses and thujas along the fence.
First of all, the rule is that coniferous trees should be planted at a distance of 1.5 meters from the fence, since when they grow, they can damage the installed fence. Developing a composition where thujas and roses are combined looks very beautiful, but requires constant care. Plants must be pruned in a timely manner and their growth monitored.
When planting, thujas are planted closer to the fence (albeit at an acceptable distance), since they create the main fence, and roses are planted at a distance of one and a half meters in another trench. For planting, it is advisable to use ready-made, proven seedlings. The next rule is timely watering so that the root system is established and does not dry out. When composing the composition, you can plant tea roses, although in both of our examples we used varieties of climbing roses and planted them in the background.
Photo from the site zs-z.ru. A climbing rose is planted along the fence, a thuja is planted at a distance of a meter and a hosta is planted below, which completes and shades the composition.
In general, there are no obstacles to planting roses and thujas along the fence, but you should keep in mind: the proximity of these plants will require a lot of space. And pay attention to the height of the fence. It is no coincidence that in both our examples it is very tall.
Flower beds of roses and conifers: diagrams
In order to plant a coniferous flowerbed in landscape design, use this composition:
- A flowerbed with a lawn or a flowerbed in the form of a slide is taken as a basis;
- The decor can be stones or bark;
- Low-growing varieties of conifers are considered priority;
Source - dacha-vprok.ru
- The first composition features the Globosa variety;
- Number two is Selena;
- In the center, number three, is a cedar pine;
- At number four, Tsuga Canadensis is planted;
- At number five, junipers, variety Tamariscifolia, are planted;
- Number six, a pine tree, the variety Pinus sylvestris, is planted.
Scheme from the site dacha-vprok.ru
How to create a mixborder?
Mixborder is the creation of a flower bed in groups, where each group of plants smoothly flows into another. The flowerbed consists of three stages:
- Three-dimensional plants are planted in the background;
- Tall plants;
- Plants without lush foliage.
Source - landas.ru
Planted flowering perennials in front of the thuja, they will look especially advantageous; creeping thuja or horizontal juniper are planted at the very bottom of the composition.
Flowerbed with roses and conifers (diagram):
In this composition, juniper will highlight the roses and make them stand out from the background of the entire flowerbed. Sage helps light varieties of roses look good. If the sage grows, it can be formed into any shape. Hosta, planted along the edge of the flowerbed, complements the created composition.
TaggedConiferous trees and shrubs are in great demand in landscape gardening; their photos can increasingly be found in magazines and websites dedicated to landscape design. They are frost-resistant, decorative, hardy, easy to care for and are distinguished by a variety of crown shapes.
Gardeners love coniferous plants for their many other advantages:
- many varieties of conifers tolerate limited sunlight well and develop well in partial shade
- the well-developed root system of conifers allows them to tolerate long time Without watering, some types of plants grow well on rocky soils. In addition, due to powerful and developed roots, they can be used to strengthen slopes
- Most conifers tolerate pruning well; they (some varieties of thuja look especially attractive in this regard) can be used to obtain a variety of shapes, which are often seen in photographs of regular English gardens. And some varieties of conifers by nature have geometric correct form, so they require virtually no maintenance
- Coniferous trees are a source of beneficial phytoncides; a walk through a garden with coniferous plantings has a beneficial effect on both the physical and psychological state of a person
- Conifers tolerate smoky urban environments well
- ripening cones will attract birds to the garden, filling it with life and movement
But the main thing that attracts conifers and shrubs, why design loves them is that with their green color they bring variety and liveliness even to a gloomy, gray and gloomy autumn-winter garden.
Coniferous plants: how to place them correctly in the garden
Conifers are universal plants; the abundance of forms and species allows them to be used in landscape compositions different styles(you will find confirmation of this in our photos). In this case, the size of the plot will not become a problem - if in nature conifers are quite tall, then decorative varieties and species used for landscaping areas rarely exceed a height of 4 m. Design alpine slides It’s hard to imagine without low-growing conifers and shrubs (dwarf Hampi pine, Lobers spruce, Mini Pug pine, some types of thuja, coniferous shrubs).
The design of the site can give the coniferous tree the function of a color delimiter that will resist the fusion of natural shades. Thus, conifers will help to complicate the color combination of the garden, making it richer and deeper. Often low-growing varieties thuja with dark needles, they are used as a border for a club, enclosing the flowers inside in a kind of green frame that sets off the bright colors of the flowers. Photos of gravel gardens always contain conifers, and in some places the stone can be replaced by cones or small cut bark.
Mixborder
Hedge
To zone a site, designers often use coniferous trees and shrubs. The result is not just beautiful barriers (in the photo they look like a monolithic wall), but at the same time practically impassable, i.e. exactly the qualities required for perimeter fencing fence. To do this, coniferous plants are planted in a checkerboard pattern, arranged in 2-3 rows. Of course, to achieve the full effect, it will take considerable time, but the result will exceed your wildest expectations.
For zoning a plot (garden), medium-sized (1-2 m high) varieties are most often used, which will not block the overall perspective. In addition, an evergreen hedge will provide an excellent backdrop for flowering colorful perennials; this technique is especially common in modern or landscape style gardens.
Advice! Good for creating hedges different kinds thuja - thanks to the dense crown, it will be enough to plant them in one row, saving space.
All-round view composition
Coniferous plants goes well with cereals, flowers (especially lilies) and foliage plants. Coniferous shrubs will look picturesque near ponds, where they will be accompanied by deciduous weeping plants. The intense greenery of thuja with a bluish tint of needles with small spotted inclusions will be an excellent photon for junipers.
In order for a composition of coniferous plants to look impressive and harmonious, its design must include the following factors:
- the best background for conifers will be a regularly manicured lawn
- so that the composition of their conifers (both trees and shrubs) looks harmonious and holistic, a place for best review(location of the gazebo or observation deck) must be located at a distance of no less than 2 times the length of the composition
- The most effective in landscape design is considered to be the location of coniferous species oriented to the west or east
- geometric shapes - in landscape design it is good to use the principle of contrast, for example, placing tall pyramidal conifers next to one of the low-growing spherical types of thuja. This arrangement of trees of different heights will help achieve some visual effects - against the background of low-growing mountain pines, several even medium-sized thujas will look very tall
Coniferous trees and bushes are ideal material for topiary, with which they acquire geometric and fantastic shapes
When creating plantings, it is necessary to take into account that mixed plantings have high biological stability, i.e. the ability to withstand the effects of adverse factors for a long time and retain their beneficial features. However, breeds are incompatible if they are affected by the same types of fungal diseases and pests.
Diseases
Ella Sokolova, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences
The incompatibility of tree species caused by their diseases is determined by the biological characteristics of the pathogens. The types of fungi that attack woody plants have different phylogenetic specialization, i.e., confined to one or more feeding plants. Some of them affect a wide range of woody plants, for example pathogens cytospore ( Cytosporaleucosperma) And tubercular ( Tuberculariavulgaris) necrosis of deciduous trees. Species with less broad specialization affect 2–3 breeds from the same or different families. Yes, mushroom Biscogniauxianummularia affects oak and beech, causing necrosis of trunks and branches; Lachnellulawillkommii develops on larch and fir, causing stepwise cancer of trunks and branches; Stigminacompacta is the causative agent of infectious drying of linden and elm.
All these types of fungi develop normally even in the absence of one of the affected species, but when they grow together, the likelihood of the disease increasing.
A very important reason for the incompatibility of tree species is the peculiarities of the development cycle of pathogens.
- Among the fungi that attack woody plants, there is a large group of rusts, which have a complex development cycle. It consists of three stages and several sporulations, successively replacing each other in different seasons:
- I – spring stage with aeciospores,
- II – summer – with urediniospores,
III – autumn-winter – with telio- and basidiospores.
The entire development cycle of some mushrooms can take place on one plant. In most rust fungi, stage I develops on one plant, and stage II and III develop on another, often systematically significantly distant. Such mushrooms are called different owners. In the absence of one of the host plants, these fungi cannot develop. Multihost rust fungi, which develop only on woody plants, are one of the main reasons for the incompatibility of tree species. Examples of the development of these fungi are the following species.
Pine and aspen
Melampsorapinitorqua – rust causative agent pine shoots And aspen leaves. In spring - early summer, stage I (spring) with aeciospores develops on pine shoots. Aeciospores disperse and infect aspen leaves, on which the II (summer) stage with urediniospores is formed. During the summer, several generations (generations) of spores develop, causing repeated infection of aspen leaves. At the end of summer, the III (autumn-winter) stage is formed on these same leaves. First, a dormant teliosporation is formed, in the form of which the fungus overwinters on fallen leaves. In the spring, basidiospores develop on them, which infect pine shoots, on which the first (spring) stage is formed. The development cycle ends.
Larch and birch
Melampsoridiumbetulae – rust causative agent larch needles And birch leaves. In spring, stage I (spring) is formed on the needles. Aeciospores scatter and infect birch leaves, on which stages II (summer) and III (autumn-winter) develop successively. Next spring Basidiospores formed on fallen leaves infect larch needles.
However, in the absence of larch nearby, the fungus can only develop in the summer stage on birch.
Weymouth pine, Siberian pine and currant
Cronariumribicola – causative agent of rust cancer of trunks and branches weymouth pine,Siberian cedar and leaf rust currants. The first (spring) stage develops on the pine tree. Aeciospores scatter and infect currant leaves, which undergo stages II (summer) and III (autumn-winter). In the spring, basidiospores formed on fallen leaves scatter and infect the pine, on which the first (spring) stage develops.
Spruce and bird cherry
Thekopsoraareolata – cone rust pathogen ate and leaves bird cherry. At the beginning of summer, stage I (spring) is formed on the scales of cones. Aeciospores disperse and infect bird cherry leaves, on which stages II (summer) and III (autumn-winter) develop. In spring, basidiospores formed on fallen leaves scatter and infect spruce cones, on which the spring stage develops.
And others
Other types of fungi of different hosts develop according to the same cycle: Cronariumquercus – cancer causative agent pine trees and leaf rust oak(I stage on pine, II and III – on Mongolian oak); Melampsoralaricis-caprea – causative agent of pine needle rust larches and leaves and you(I stage on larch, II and III – on goat willow).
Various host rust fungi of the genus develop in an incomplete cycle Gymnosporangium , causing rust of trunks juniper and leaves hawthorn, pears, mountain ash, apple trees. On fruit leaves, stage I (spring) is formed, on juniper - stage III (autumn-winter).
In order to avoid the occurrence of foci of dangerous fungal diseases in nurseries, crops and urban plantings, the incompatibility of the following breeds, which are sources of infection for each other, should be taken into account:
- Scots pine – aspen, Mongolian oak;
- Weymouth pine, Siberian pine – currant;
- spruce - bird cherry;
- larch – birch, willow, fir;
- juniper - hawthorn, pear, rowan, apple tree;
- oak – beech;
- linden - elm (especially small-leaved).
If we talk about diseases, then a distance of 250-300 m is considered safe - usually pathogen spores are spread over such a distance.
Pests
Tamara Galaseva,Candidate of Agricultural Sciences
Spatial isolation of some types of trees and shrubs is necessary if they are damaged by one type of insect pest. Insects that migrate from one tree species to another are called dioecious. They can only live and reproduce if there are two types of woody plants growing fairly close to each other.
Dioecious insect species include some species of aphids, whose flight capabilities are limited and they fly over short distances in search of suitable plant species.
Dioecious species of aphids, by migrating winged individuals, fly from the primary host plant (usually trees or shrubs) to plants that are the secondary host (usually herbaceous, less often woody species). Generations of aphids living on a secondary host are called migrants.
There are several species of dioecious aphids that fly (migrate) from one tree species to another. These include the following aphids from the family Pemphigidae(pemphigi) and families Adelgidae(hermes).
Elm-pear aphid (Eriosoma lanuginosum )
Aphids hatched from eggs overwintering on various types of elms (Ulmus) , suck juices from young leaves, causing the formation of large (6–7 cm in diameter) bag-like galls on them. Sometimes damaged leaves curl into a spiral and turn into a pale green, closed gall. In the second half of summer, aphids migrate to thin roots, less often to shoots pears And quinces, where several generations of aphids develop throughout the growing season. The development cycle is two years. They mainly harm 1–2 year old pear seedlings in the nursery. Found in the southern regions of the European part of Russia, the Caucasus, Ukraine, Western Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor and Central Asia. Introduced to North America and Australia.
Elm-currant aphid (Eriosoma ulmi )
As a result of aphids sucking leaves of various species elms curl into a tube with the edges inward and wrinkle.
At the beginning of summer, aphids migrate to the roots of various species currants (Ribes) And gooseberries (Grossularia) , in the fall - on elms, where they lay overwintering eggs. Generation annual. It is found in the European part of Russia, Ukraine, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, as well as Western Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor and Central Asia.
Hermes
Hermes are widespread dangerous pests of coniferous species grown in nurseries and planted in Various types urban plantings and personal plots. To avoid mass reproduction of hermes, you should not plant some coniferous species together.
A characteristic sign of the colonization of a tree by Hermes is a clearly visible whitish fluff on the buds, needles, shoots, bark of branches and trunks, as well as galls on spruce trees that appear on the blossoming buds and the ends of growing shoots. The galls on spruce trees are small, multi-chambered, similar to an immature spruce cone, at first hard, and after the hermes emerge from them, they become black and woody. The development of galls on spruce trees stops the normal growth of shoots, and the tree crown gradually thins out.
Fir shoots and needles affected by Hermes fir
The most harmful dioecious hermes include the following types:
Green spruce-larch hermes (Sacchiphantes viridis) damages various species larches (Larix) and types oil ( Picea ) . Hermes feeding on larch needles leads to its bending, yellowing and falling off. The galls on spruce trees are large (3.5–4 cm long and 2.5 cm in diameter), velvety green or dark green, the edges of the scales of the covers of the gall chambers are covered with crimson or yellowish-red hairs. The galls open in the third decade of July. This pest is found throughout the European part of Russia, Siberia and Ukraine.
Spruce-fir hermes ( Aphrastasia pectinatae) damages different types oils And fir. Several generations of Hermes suck the juices from the needles and green shoots of fir. Damaged needles curl, shorten, become covered with small yellow spots, and sometimes fall off.
Hermes spruce-fir gall
The galls on spruce trees are broadly ovoid, almost spherical, of varying color, initially light green, then yellow-green, matte, the size of a hazelnut, often larger than those found in the European part of Russia, Siberia and Ukraine.
To prevent mass reproduction of aphids, spatial isolation of the following plant species is desirable:
- spruce and firs,
- spruce and larches,
- elm and pears (quinces),
- elm and currants, gooseberries.
Competition occurs when interactions between two or more plants or populations with similar ecological needs adversely affect the growth, development, and survival of each. Basically, this happens when there is a lack of any vital resource necessary for everyone - light, moisture, nutritional components.
Nowadays there is practically nowhere without conifers. Thanks to their diversity and unpretentiousness, they have firmly taken a place in our hearts and gardens. They are used everywhere in large and small groups and flower beds. With their help, the volume, height and depth of mixborders (its structure) are set. But, despite all their splendor, you will want to get rid of the monotony and add bright colors to your flower garden. Which perennials exactly? garden plants Can I plant it next to my favorite conifers? After all, being in such a neighborhood, they will have to endure varying degrees of shading, acidic soil, and insufficient or, conversely, excess moisture. Choose the same perennials for your neighborhood with architectural conifers - the neighborhood must be worthy. Plants should emphasize and support each other. Inexpressive plants that quickly fade and lose their appearance will look simply untidy against the background of conifers.
On the background You can use types of perennials that will not get lost and will easily cover the empty spaces between the main plants with their monumental appearance and height. Such perennials form dense clumps and are decorative in themselves, even when they do not bloom. They are clearly visible from all sides and even from above. These can be plants such as aconite (blooming from May to September depending on the variety, 50-160 cm in height, poisonous), loosestrife (June-August, 80-140 cm), delphinium (June-September, up to 180 cm), buzulnik (July-September, 150-200 cm), Volzhanka dioecious (June, up to 200 cm), Kamchatka Volzhanka (July-August, up to 120 cm) and various ornamental grasses.
Harry McGregor / Flickr.com
In the middle ground, a place for mixed plantings bushes and trees lower, plants with beautiful shape and architectural inserts, you can use perennials with a beautiful bush shape and excellent long-term flowering: daylilies (June-September, up to 80 cm), hostas (June-August, 15-120 cm), irises (June-July, 5-150 cm), heucheras (a wide variety of species and varieties), astilbes (depending on the variety from June to August, 30-100 cm) and peonies (May-July, up to 90-100 cm). Magnificent geranium forms a very spectacular large and rapidly growing bush up to 70 cm high, blooms very profusely in June. Meadow geranium is well suited for a “forest” flower garden and will decorate it with its dense bush (40-70 cm in height) and flowering from May to September, depending on the variety. The mysterious dodecatheon vulgaris is perfect for growing under spruce trees where the soil is poor and dry. Its height is 25-40 cm, and it blooms in June interesting flowers, similar to cyclamen flowers.
Aleshkina Oksana / Myproplants.com
In the foreground(border) use structural plants that are maximally decorative throughout the season, creating bright spots of color if desired, or shading low conifers and ornamental bushes in the foreground with their colors. These can be speckled yaeryssa and bergenia, apical pachysandra and creeping tenacious, common warbler and periwinkle, bluebells, arabis and armeria.
M Fletcher / Flickr.com
If most of your favorite plants in the garden are conifers, it’s probably also because they require minimal care and you don’t like or don’t want to spend a lot of time on them. Then plants such as bulbous plants, primroses and annuals, which are sown directly into the ground, are also suitable for you. Primroses and bulbous flowers will decorate your flower garden from early spring, and annuals will pick up their song of joyful flowering until late autumn. Of the snowdrop primroses, you can use primrose with lungwort, scilla (scylla), snowdrop (galanthus) and violet, anemone and lumbago (sleep-grass). Small-bulbous plants include crocuses (saffron), pushkinia, muscari, white flowers, chionodoxa, and hyacinth. Dwarf irises - iridodictium and tulips - will look interesting. At your request, primroses will be replaced by unpretentious bulbs of summer flowering, this is an excellent neighbor of conifers - camassia (June, 20-100 cm), allium or decorative onions, and of course, lilies (summer-autumn, 20-150 cm). Colchicum or crocus will decorate the foreground of your mixborder with bright blooms from late August to November.
Gabrielle Ludlow / Flickr.com
From annuals in May, you can sow bidens directly into the ground (flowering July-October, 20-90 cm tall, strong aroma), viscaria (July-October, 20-30 cm), nemesia (June-October, 30-60 cm), nemophila (June-October, 15-30 cm), eschscholzia (June-September, 15-30 cm), annual carnation (June-October, 20-45 cm), godetia (July-October, 20-40 cm) and many -many other flowers.
It is the combination of decorative deciduous plants with beautiful flowering ones that will provide a variety of decorative effects for your flower garden. In a large flower garden or mixborder with coniferous plants, you will find many various options and places for planting perennials. There is light, and full shadow, and partial shade. There are places where it is drier, and there are places where it is always humid, where it is more acidic, and where it is not so much (near thujas, for example). Take advantage of these nuances of your site and decorate it with beautiful flowering perennials. Just conifers are boring!
Coniferous plants have long held a place of honor in landscape design. They are quite unpretentious, look and smell great, clean the air and remain green all year round. In addition, they go well with trees of other species, flowers, stones or lawns, which allows you to create a huge number of different compositions. The most popular types are flower beds, rockeries, alpine slides and hedges, although some prefer to plant single trees or even grow dwarf bonsai trees.
The modern market offers an impressive range of conifers different breeds, colors and sizes. Thanks to this, it is possible to improve not only a park or large areas of land with evergreen plants, but also a rather modest corner of an ordinary garden plot.
Features of the composition
In landscape design, as a rule, specially grown dwarf plant species are used, which are not cheap, so it is better to start by drawing up a sketch of the future composition on paper. One of the primary factors is, undoubtedly, the size of the area allocated for planting, as well as the features of the terrain. Despite the well-known unpretentiousness, It is best to plant conifers on the western or eastern side of the site.
A flat, level area is suitable for a rock garden or flower bed, and a gentle slope or artificial pond will be an ideal basis for an alpine slide.
When creating a layout, you should pay attention to the geometry of the planned composition. The elements must be harmoniously combined in shape and size. As a rule, the largest ones are the semantic center and are located in the middle or at the very beginning of the composition. It is better to place the difference in heights and shapes in a descending order: from larger and more massive to the outskirts, avoiding sudden jumps.
Care should be taken to select color range. Conifers can differ quite greatly from each other, providing a fairly wide palette both within the original green color (from pale light green to dark blue-green tones), and having a variety of mixed shades - yellowish, blue or purple. To prevent the canvas from turning out tacky, designers advise:
- choose no more than two colors for a composition of three elements;
- take three colors for a five-element composition.
- if there are more components, it is recommended to arrange them in groups according to color.
However, the main principle when constructing a composition, both in form and color, is the desire for reasonable minimalism, avoiding excessive variegation and excessive variety.
An important point is also the functional purpose of the future landing. If the goals are purely aesthetic - decorating a corner summer cottage or a desire to try your hand at landscape design, then optimal choice will be the creation of a rock garden, flower bed or alpine slide. More practical options are mixborders or hedges, which help not only to protect your territory from strangers, noise and dust, but also to zone the space in an original way.
A rock garden is a gently sloping garden without pronounced differences in tiers, the decoration of which uses dwarf trees, stones, bushes, flowers and small pebbles (most often gravel). There are three types of rockeries:
- European;
- English;
- Japanese.
In English, preference is given to grasses, bushes and creeping conifers. Japanese ones emphasize the design of stones and gravel, occasionally diluted with greenery. European rockeries are most common in the middle zone. Its semantic center, as a rule, is a vertical conifer of a conical or oval shape, around which other elements are placed - stones, creeping shrubs, lower spherical trees.
The principle of creating an alpine slide is the same as that of a rock garden - a combination of conifers with stones and other types of vegetation to create a miniature imitation wildlife. However the alpine slide requires more light, and the cascading structure gives it its charm. In such a composition, a clearly expressed tiering and arrangement of elements in a descending order is visible.
Particular attention should be paid to ensure that larger elements do not block smaller ones when viewing.
A flowerbed with conifers will be an excellent option for decorating a small garden plot or country house. This type of composition is especially loved by gardeners because it can be placed with minimal costs on standard several hundred square meters.
The main types of flower beds are:
- A large flower bed, usually located on the outskirts of the site. In the foreground, the composition is supported by medium-sized shrubs and creeping species.
- A compact flowerbed, of which the mobile model is a subspecies, is located in a small area and resembles a miniature rock garden. The composition also includes flowers and stones.
- The landscape flowerbed is stylized as an unprocessed wild coniferous forest in miniature. For decoration, raw stones, driftwood, and mosses are usually used.
- A symmetrical flower bed is planted from the center, where the most tall plant, descending through 1-2 plants of medium height to the shortest - creeping species of thuja and juniper.
Hedges and mixborders made from coniferous thuja and juniper are becoming increasingly popular. Such a fence not only reliably protects the area from unwanted visitors, traps dust and exhaust gases, but also looks invariably stylish and elegant. And from dwarf species you can plant small barriers, with the help of which it is convenient to zone an area or fence off flower beds.
Which plants to choose?
Choosing conifers for the garden is not such a simple matter, having a number of secrets and subtleties. Despite their easy availability, you should not take branches or seedlings of wild pines and spruces, as they will inevitably tend to restore their original height and size, destroying the harmony of the composition.
For decorative purposes, it is necessary to buy specially grown varieties of conifers that have a compact size and a predictable direction of growth.
Also, we should not forget about the other elements of the planned composition - deciduous trees, flowers, hostas, which will affect the choice of color and size of the coniferous one.
Species of coniferous plants are conventionally divided into three large groups:
- tall;
- plants of medium height;
- short.
Pine
Pine is one of the most common and famous trees. It is unpretentious to soil and climate, but requires a lot of space for its luxurious crown. There are many varieties of dwarf pines, including creeping mountain pine, which allows it to be used both in compositions and as a solitary tree. Popular ones include the dwarf fluffy pine called Nana, the spherical twisted Watereri and Panderosa with long yellowish needles.
Spruce
This tree is widespread in the middle zone and is also quite picky about living conditions. In landscape design, both ordinary spruce and its numerous varietal varieties are used. The most famous is blue spruce, which, due to the unusual color of its needles, always looks beautiful and solemn. A good choice for a large-scale composition would be a tall Hoopsie spruce, reaching a height of up to 15 m, or a fluffy Serbian spruce.
More compact options are the medium-sized Canadian spruce conika, frost-resistant tompa spruce, weeping inversa or dwarf species, for example, miniature cushion nidiformis, white-sided spruce with a characteristic white edging of branches or Lombers spruce.
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Fir
This tree is distinguished by thick needles and characteristic cones on the branches, which makes it a real pearl of any flower bed. However, unlike the previous ones, fir is quite demanding on the soil, does not like polluted air and cold weather, and needs regular watering.
You should also pay attention to the young, fast-growing shoots that appear on the tree, which should be removed in a timely manner.
Thuja and cypress
These trees adapt well to urban conditions, tolerate pollution and frost, and are easy to care for. Thuja has a scaly structure, while cypress can be either scaly or needle-shaped. Distinctive feature These plants have a huge variety of crown shapes, which allows them to fit organically into any composition. The most common type of thuja is the western breed, which has both tall and dwarf forms.
Due to their dense crown, cypress and thuja trees are ideal for creating hedges and mixborders.
Juniper
Junipers are quite diverse in shape and size, ranging from tall ten-meter trees to creeping shrubs. They are united by specific prickly and scaly-needle needles.
The most common and unpretentious is Cossack juniper, suitable both for use in compositions and for creating hedges. Typical colors of juniper are green and bluish with a bluish tinge, although some types of Chinese juniper have a rare golden hue.
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Yew
Yew is deservedly considered the most decorative of coniferous trees. It is distinguished by wide, long needles reduced from leaves, as well as bright berries. Despite the rather slow growth, Yew is often used as a base for living fencing. The main types used are berry, medium and pointed yew.
Combinations and combinations
Despite the fact that conifers are often picky about environmental conditions, they can be quite intolerant of other plants and each other. So, you should not plant cedar, pine or thuja next to spruce and fir, and larch will not tolerate any other conifers next to it. Birch or bird cherry are also undesirable neighbors for them, since they will take all the nutrients from the soil. Shrub and single roses invariably look impressive and stylish against the background of conifers. However, in this combination, flowers are at risk due to alkalization of the soil, so they need regular fertilization.
A beautiful and successful symbiosis is formed in conifers with deciduous shrubs, herbs and perennial flowers. Hydrangea or rhododendron are always a winning choice. The classic ideal combination is considered to be a simple combination of conifers and grass lawn.
