Trees in late spring. Tree pruning in spring. Preparing trees for winter

By the end of winter, from the second decade of March, the snow gradually begins to decrease. The density of snow cover in different winters is not the same. By the end of winter, it always increases. The snow is especially compacted in winters with frequent thaws and during strong winds. Dense settling snow causes serious damage to fruit trees, especially young ones.

In the first half of March, a dense snow crust around young plantings of woody plants must be destroyed, for example, with a garden pitchfork. But they must be handled with care. Under the snow, individual branches of young plants are not visible, and they can be easily broken. The crust of frozen snow is easier to break in the afternoon, when the snow becomes loose from the rays of the sun.

Spring work in the garden is more convenient to carry out on skis.

Some gardeners "powder" the snow, for example, with wood or peat ash. It is scattered in a thin layer around the tree after a snowfall.

Why do they do it? A dark surface, as you know, is more likely to heat up from the sun's rays, so powdered snow, becoming dark, begins to melt faster.

Some gardeners shovel the snow off the tree. But this is a very laborious work in the garden. True, it can be alleviated by shoveling snow only from the south side.

Particular attention should be paid to young plantings. No less attention should be paid to those trees that are densely planted; there is a lot of snow accumulating here, and therefore there may be frequent breakdowns branches. These areas should be monitored first.

Very often on the plot you can observe the following picture: fruit trees and shrubs grow 2-3 m from the house. Large blocks of snow fall (or are carelessly thrown off) from the roof, they damage the trees very badly, breaking off large and small branches.

Snow accumulation

Some gardeners practice a technique that delays the flowering of trees. It consists in the following. In winter, the gardener accumulates snow (sometimes ice) under the crown of a tree and covers it with sawdust. In the spring, it does not melt so quickly, thereby delaying the awakening of the tree by the beginning of the growing season. Proponents of this technique believe that such trees are not damaged by frost. It is very difficult to agree with this opinion. Any technique should always be approached taking into account the biology, breed, variety and conditions in which this or that culture was formed over hundreds of years.

Enter the garden in late March or early April, when the snow is already starting to fall and the ground is bare. Take a look at the trees. At first, the snow settles more strongly or melts around the trunk, and only then begins to melt in the near-trunk circle. The soil, freed from snow, was warmed by the sun for the first time in the winter months, and this meeting does not pass without a trace for it. The rays, hitting a dark surface, quickly warm not only the crown, but also the upper root layer of the soil. The roots awaken, and the active life of the tree begins in a deep correspondence of its parts - aboveground and underground. This is the pattern of nature, the rhythm of the life of a tree. But this rhythm will certainly be broken if you artificially delay the awakening of only one part of the tree of the root system, because the above-ground part of it at that time is already ready for active life.

What happens in this case? The growth and development of the tree is disturbed. Therefore, such a technique cannot be considered justified from the point of view of tree biology. We do not recommend using it.

Late winter cutting of cuttings and checking of overwintering of plants

With the beginning of snow melting comes the deadline for cutting last year's annual growths used for grafting.

Usually, in mild winters, standard zoned varieties of fruit trees are not damaged by frost, and this cutting time is quite acceptable. But for the purposes of self-control, they should always be checked to make sure that all tissues of the shoot are viable.

Why do you have to do it?

Sometimes a mild winter can damage both shoot tissues and buds. Checking plants that have emerged from conditions of relative dormancy (winter) allows the gardener to intervene in the plant organism in a timely manner, to help him quickly mobilize nutrients to eliminate the lost parts of the plant.

Let's take an example. After a harsh winter, fruit trees received severe damage to the above-ground parts. It was already noticeable at the end of winter. To eliminate the severe consequences of salt frosts, a number of agricultural practices were proposed: heavy pruning of the most affected trees, early spring fertilization with nitrogen fertilizers to enhance growth, summer watering of trees, foliar spraying of the leaf canopy, etc. After all these measures, damaged trees quickly recovered. But even here, against the general background of a harsh winter, it was necessary to find out in each individual case how strongly a given tree reacted to the low temperatures of winter. To a large extent, this is helped by clarifying the degree of damage to leaf and flower buds, as well as individual tissues of branches on a fruit tree.

At the end of winter, it is necessary to review and clarify the condition of tissues and buds on shoots harvested at the beginning and end of winter.

How to do it? What should you pay attention to?

For example, at an apple tree or a cherry tree, actions low temperatures flower buds are more susceptible than leaf buds. If we compare the degree of frost damage to two trees of the same age and variety, then a tree that had a large crop before a harsh winter will be damaged more than one that was without a crop. If in summer the trees growing on a site with excessive moisture are compared with trees that do not receive sufficient watering, then the former will have more frozen shoots.

Trees that are over-nourished with strong growth during the summer are much more damaged in a harsh winter than those with less growth.

The easiest way to check for damage to a tree after winter is to cut tree branches and let them regrow at home. The results obtained in this case cannot be completely trusted. Very often they indicate more severe damage than is found in the spring. The degree of damage can be more accurately determined in early spring. To do this, the fruit bud on the shoot is cut with a razor along the middle. If the central part of the bud with already fully formed flowers, with stamens and pistils is dark brown in color, then this means that the bud is severely damaged by frost. Sometimes you can see that the primordia of the flowers themselves are alive, but the base of the kidney or the vascular bundle leading from the shoot to the future flowers is brown. This is an indicator of damage that can occur after or at the time of flowering, when nutrients stop flowing into the bud or young ovary and they fall off prematurely (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. Top: Cross-section of a flower bud shows that the first two flowers died in their infancy. At the extreme right bud, all parts of the apple flower are alive, below: three (on the right) cherry buds show death of flowers, two (on the left) are not damaged by frost.

And how do you know if the annual growth is damaged?

With a sharp knife or razor, cut off part of the bark along with the wood. If it is light brown or brown in color, then this is a sign of frost damage. The leaf bud on such a shoot shrinks, becomes loose. Cutting it along, it can be noted that the sap-carrying bundle that connects the shoot with the kidney is broken and has Brown color. Such shoots cannot be used for grafting into the crown or for setting up a bridge on fruit trees damaged by hares or mice (Fig. 2). You can easily control yourself by comparing the degree of damage to the branches that are under the snow all winter and above the snow cover. In the former, as a rule, damage to the tissues of the shoot and kidneys is not observed.

Rice. 2. The right annual shoot of an apple tree is severely damaged by frost; the left one is completely intact.

During early spring pruning in the garden, when the buds have not yet swollen and it is not yet clear whether the leaf bud is alive, in order to determine its condition, a test cut is made along the bud with a garden knife. Why do they do it? In the event of the death of many leaf buds, a stronger pruning is carried out, thereby preventing unnecessary exposure of the branches. This is especially true for crops such as plum and cherry.

The degree of damage to tissues and kidneys can be more accurately determined by cutting off the branches and placing them in water. But here it is necessary to fulfill a number of conditions: firstly, move the branches from the garden to the room so that there is no sharp temperature drop; secondly, before putting the branches into the water, it is necessary to update the cuts, while doing them in the water, and thirdly, it is better to cover the bunch with branches with a plastic bag, which creates a more humid environment and the buds do not dry out. After a week, leaf and flower buds will begin to swell, and it will be very easy to determine the degree of death.

Early spring moisture retention in the soil

The first rays of the March sun for the gardener serve as an invitation to visit the garden, at this time it is very snowy. A lot of snow in the garden is good.

The data of meteorological observations say that the water reserve in the snow cover is 100-130 mm (Moscow region), in other words, for 1 m 2 of a garden plot, a layer of snow of 10 cm contains from two and a half to three buckets of water.

Usually melting starts from April 5-10. The snow is compacted, water appears under it. In a sheltered garden, especially coniferous trees, the snow melts relatively slowly. In open places, it comes off quickly.

Many different methods are practiced to preserve and accumulate moisture in the soil. In the garden, to use any technique for this, of course, is unlikely. Manual clearing of snow, even in a small garden, is very laborious. Therefore, gardeners are trying to come up with something that would facilitate this work in the garden. For example, they powder the snow with peat dust; already after eight to ten sunny days it completely disappears. The soil from which the snow has melted also quickly begins to thaw and absorb moisture from adjacent row spacings, where the snow has not yet completely melted. Thus, a significant amount of moisture can be retained on the site.

Almost every site has a slight slope. According to him in early spring rushes a stream of spring water. In individual gardens, this water usually flows down paths below the common soil horizon. To delay the flow of water, you can apply multiple damming with earthen mounds. Do it in late autumn.

Sometimes, along the perimeter of the garden, they arrange (also since autumn) an earthen rampart 15-20 cm high; It does a great job of keeping moisture in the area.

fruit and berry plants they are especially afraid of stagnant water, since there is very little oxygen in it, and the roots of the trees seem to suffocate. And, in addition, in the soil in such a site there is an accumulation of substances harmful to them. Strawberries are especially sensitive to prolonged flooding.

In early spring, trees heavily damaged by mice are grafted with a bridge. If the bole is gnawed by rodents by one third or more, then the vaccination is carried out in without fail. Cuttings are selected depending on the length of the wound. For a bridge longer than 40 cm, you need a cutting 50-60 cm in size. In this case, you need to look not just for annual growths, but for top annual shoots, which, as a rule, are always longer. The thin tip of the shoot is not suitable for introducing it under the bark.

The number of cuttings grafted by the bridge depends on the size of the wound and the age of the damaged tree. For example, when eating ring bark, three or four bridges are inserted into a four-year-old tree, and seven to eight bridges are inserted into a 12-year-old tree.

If you are doing this work in the garden for the first time and are not sure of the success of vaccinations, then the number of bridges must be increased.

It is not difficult to graft with a bridge on a tree that has one even bole. It is much more difficult to graft when a fruit tree grows as a bush. In case of severe damage by mice, it is sometimes advisable to remove even a part of the main skeletal branches: in this case it will be more convenient to put up bridges.

It happens that in older plants with a thick bark, mice eat only the upper skin, cork layer and partially primary bark. The cambium remains intact. Such damage is not dangerous. It is enough to smear the wound with garden pitch or petrolatum, and the remaining cambium will begin to actively divide and form new tissues in the spring.

Often mice damage the bark and cambium down to the wood. If the damage is circular (ring), then the normal movement of plastic substances formed in the leaves is disrupted in the tree. Gradually, the root system weakens, and the tree dies.

Looking at the flowering, but damaged trees, you might think that everything worked out, there will be no trouble. Indeed, at first glance, everything seems to be going well. However, the processes of growth and development have already been disrupted, and the tree is supported only by the nutrients accumulated over the previous year. In some cases, a tree in this state can even produce a crop, and in the fall shed its leaves and go into the winter as if healthy. But, unfortunately, this is his last breath. In the spring of next year, it will no longer bloom.

In the spring, during the melting of snow, it is imperative to inspect the trees and determine the degree of damage to them by mice.

How to do it?

At the time of sap flow, a small (3-5 cm) longitudinal incision is made on the trunk with a knife, capturing the healthy and damaged parts of the tree. If the bark from the wood lags behind on both parts, then damage is not dangerous, since the cambium will soon restore the lost tissues.

If, in the part gnawed by mice, the tissue does not separate and only wood remains, then this is a sign of dangerous damage; the gardener must prepare for grafting with a bridge (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. The lower part of the apple tree was eaten by mice. The damaged area was smeared with clay and tied with burlap. After removing the strapping, the living areas of the bark are washed and wiped dry, and then the cuttings are grafted with a bridge. In case of ring damage, the cuttings of the shoots are placed evenly around the bole. After grafting, the places where the cuttings are inserted under the bark are carefully lubricated with garden pitch, and then all the bridges are tied (bandaged).

The damaged part of the tree is covered with a mixture of clay and mullein (1: 1), and then tied with burlap. After some time, the bandage is removed, the healthy part of the bark is washed from above and below and proceed to the vaccination itself.

Having chosen a place to insert the cutting, first a transverse incision is made, and after it, a short longitudinal one. In order for the cutting to fit more closely to the wood, a little bark is cut off on both sides of the damaged part. These notches are clearly visible in Fig. 3 (second photo from the left).

An oblique cut on the lower part of the cutting is inserted into the lower incision. Having determined the place, make a second oblique cut at the upper end of the cutting and insert it into the cut of the bark. This is a rather complicated operation, because the arcuate shape of the handle and its weak elasticity often cause its tip to break off. After grafting one bridge, the insertion site must be immediately coated with garden pitch and then continue grafting. After all work is completed, the bridges must be tied (bandaged) with some material.

Quite often there are cases when shoots form below the grafting site or from the roots. It can be used for unilateral grafting by selecting only the most suitable shoots. They are injected, as in the first case, under the cortex above the site damaged by mice (Fig. 4).

Rice. 4. If the tree trunk is damaged and it has a shoot, then it can be used for grafting above the damage site

Figure 5. To cut a branch, it is first filed from the opposite side, and then cut out completely. After that, they clean the wound on the ring with a garden knife. Rice. 6. The correct cut of the branch on the ring is shown. In this case, the fold of the bark fits the cut from all sides, and the wound quickly overgrows with callus. Rice. 7. The cut of the branch was done poorly, and the wound long years will not grow. Rice. 8. To make it easier to cut a large branch, it must be bent in the opposite direction from the knife blade. Rice. 9. The figure shows how correctly (in the center) it is necessary to shorten the one-year growth with a knife or pruner. A very long stump is left on the left, and a very deep cut is made on the right, which can lead to poor growth of the upper bud.

After grafting with a bridge, flowers should not be left on the tree. This is too much load for a damaged tree. Flowers take a lot of nutrients from him, and very few of them enter the crown. Therefore, at the time of the appearance of the buds, it is necessary to cut off all of them if the bole has ring damage, and part of them if certain parts of the bark are damaged. During the summer, the formation of root shoots or shoots from the lower, untouched by mice part of the trunk may begin. They should not be removed, as at first they supply the root system with plastic substances. In case of unsuccessful grafting with a bridge, shoots (if it is cultivated) can be the basis for building a new crown.

If the bole is partially damaged, then this year you can not do the grafting with a bridge, but plant the wild animals of the breed purchased in the nursery that are damaged (for an apple tree - apple seedlings, for a pear - pear seedlings). To do this, a hole is dug from the side of the damaged bark and wild rootstocks are planted obliquely. Their shoots should touch the trunk. In the first year, the wildling is allowed to grow only upwards; for this, all side shoots are pinched. The following year, in the spring, the upper end of the wild game is grafted “by the bark” into a bole above the injury site. The larger the wound, the more wild animals are planted.

April. Spring work in the garden

Pruning fruit trees

The time when it is necessary to form fruit trees and shrubs, cut and cut branches in young and adult gardens. We advise you to start these spring work in the garden with black currants, then gooseberries, white and red currants, pear and apple trees, and lastly cherry and plum.

Since the beginning of April, berry crops can still be under the snow, and therefore it is quite a difficult task to properly prune or cut their branches. In this case, they usually begin to cut tall plants. The cutting technique is shown in fig. 5-9.

In garden plots, various methods of maintaining branches are used. In some cases, they are lifted from the ground with ropes, ribbons, wire; in others, stakes or whole fences from supports are placed under the branches. All this suggests that the cropping is not done.

A well-formed fruit tree, with the exception of varieties with brittle wood, or a berry bush does not need supports to support its crop. Only, as an exception, sometimes you can use a chatalovka (wooden support) or some other methods. If you decide to prune a tree whose branches are supported in this way, then first of all you need to remove all garters, various supports, slingshots, etc. When pruning and shaping a tree, you need to see the natural arrangement of the branches.

It is usually recommended to start pruning when the air is already heated by the sun and the thermometer shows a positive temperature. At this time, the snow cover settles. In the Moscow region, this happens approximately at the beginning of the second decade of April.

I must say that the snow cover in some cases makes it easier to trim the garden. Firstly, climbing onto a snowdrift near a tree, it is easier to work closer to the top of the crown. It is more convenient to collect branches in the snow. True, by noon, work in the garden is complicated. The sun heats the snow, it becomes loose, and the support under the feet is unreliable; every minute you fail, and the work in the garden moves more slowly.

In these cases, you can put boards on the snow or stand on skis. But all this, of course, is not so effective, because it is not very convenient and familiar. Pruning should be carried out in the early morning, when the snow is not yet heated by the sun, dense enough and you can walk on it.

Often, pruning is not completed before the snow melts in the garden. At that time upper layer the soil thaws by 5-15 cm. Water runs from the hillocks in friendly streams, collects in puddles, but snow is still visible in the garden, gradually disappearing in the rays of the bright spring sun. It is at this moment that one should not walk around the garden with belated garden work, because there is only one harm from walking. Each step leaves a deep footprint in the swollen and limp soil, and it is easy to step on and damage undersized cultivated plants. Especially when the garden plot is densely planted.

After a week or two, the deplorable results of such belated work in the garden are visible: strawberries, bulbous plants are dented, branches of berry crops mixed with cut ones are trampled into the mud, earthen paths are damaged.

That is why it is impossible to walk in the garden at the moment when the spring water comes down.

Late pruning of fruit trees in spring

pruning fruit trees and shrubs in the garden are engaged before the start of sap flow!

If pruning is not completed in the snow, it can be continued after the soil has dried out a little. Do not be afraid of the sight of swollen buds on fruit trees, especially on berry bushes. Pruning can be continued in this case.

Latest Scientific research allow pruning until the flowering of adult fruit trees.

Late pruning of stone fruits is undesirable: plums, cherries, sweet cherries, apricots, because. they may develop severe gum disease. If the trees have already begun to awaken, the buds are swelling, then pruning, if there is no urgent need, is better to postpone until next year. In the same year, you can carry out minimal pruning: cut out broken branches, cut out branches that interfere with others, some small twigs. All sections must be covered with garden pitch.

If the branch is poorly placed in the crown of the tree, try to carefully pull it to the side, tilt or lift it so that it takes up the free space of the crown, does not interfere with others, and finds itself in best conditions. To fix it, you can use slats and ropes.

If the trees are very frozen, then it is better to carry out a full pruning after the surviving buds start to grow and it becomes clear which branches are frozen.

Top dressing of fruit and berry crops in early spring

For rapid growth or restoration of parts damaged by frost, fruit trees and berry bushes need enhanced nutrition. In spring, nitrogen becomes especially important for plants. It is part of organic and mineral fertilizers.

The introduction of nitrogen fertilizer of one form or another into the soil in early spring contributes to the rapid growth of all parts of a fruit tree or berry bush. Such fertilizer is necessary for plants after severe winters, when they lose either fruit formations or growths of recent years due to low temperatures. If last year the trees did not bear fruit, but laid a large number of flower buds, then nitrogen fertilization from spring is also necessary.

At the beginning of the growing season, nitrogen in the form of mineral fertilizers is usually easier to apply than manure. But these fertilizers give a high effect only if the soil is sufficiently moistened: nitrogen moves more easily in the soil and is more fully absorbed by the root system. Mineral forms of nitrogen fertilizers should be applied in early spring.

How to determine the best time for the first feeding?

If nitrogen fertilizers are applied when the snow has not completely melted and the soil has not thawed everywhere, then the dissolved nitrogen, together with spring water may leave the garden in large numbers. Therefore, this period does not fit at all. - too early.

If mineral nitrogen is introduced when the soil has already dried out, then it will dissolve more slowly and will not be able to fill the entire root layer of the soil. This means that this period is also not suitable - too late.

The best period should be considered a short period after the complete descent of the slug. By this time, the soil is already thawing, although it is very saturated with water; the water freezes at night, and in the morning a thin crust of ice breaks under your feet, especially if you walk along a lowland, between rows, along large clods of soil. Top dressing at this time is usually called by the "shard" (Fig. 10). During the day, the ice melts, there is little water, it is not enough for the streams that run along the slope. The nitrogen remains in the garden. This period, when the fertilizer is most fully used, should not be missed.

Once again, it should be recalled that this state of the soil does not last long and it is very important not to miss it. On light sandy soils, this period begins earlier and ends faster than on heavy clay soils.

Fertilizers are applied by spreading them over the soil surface. If this ammonium nitrate, then 10 g of fertilizer is applied per 1 m 2 of the trunk circle, if ammonium sulphate or calcium nitrate is 15-20 g, urea is 5-8 g. The second top dressing is carried out in May - June.

Regrafting trees

Orchards often use grafting on fruit trees to quickly change varieties without planting new trees; for the better preservation of some low-hardy varieties by grafting them into the crown and, finally, for the treatment of boles and bases of skeletal branches if they are damaged by rodents or have bark that has died from sunburn or frost.

Almost all fruit and berry plants can be re-grafted, but in country gardening, vaccinations are used in a limited number of plant species. So, any varieties of apple trees are grafted onto an apple tree, including a wild one, pear varieties - onto a cultivated and wild pear, as well as quince, and chokeberry and red mountain ash varieties - onto forest ash.

The most convenient time for grafting in the spring is the period of active sap flow, when the bark of the plants (where this grafting is done) is easily separated from the wood (end of April - first half of May).

Of the large number of grafting methods for your first experience, we advise you to use cuttings grafting according to the bark method.

The grafting of a new variety should be done on a trunk or in the main skeletal branches of such trees, which have proven themselves in the garden as highly winter-hardy. These include many seedlings of apple and pear trees that have survived severe winters, selected forms of Chinese women, a number of varieties of Siberian, Ural and northwestern origin, as well as a number of zoned varieties.

In the gardens of the Moscow region there is a fairly high percentage of trees that have sufficient frost resistance, but their quality cannot be considered good. Tentatively, we can assume that gardeners in the Moscow region grow about 6% Moscow Grushovka, 5% Anise, 1% Chinese, 5% Cinnamon striped. This is a very large reserve for improving the assortment by regrafting. All these varieties are good skeleton-formers. And, finally, the variety Antonovka ordinary, it takes about 30% of all varieties of apple trees. If there are several trees of these varieties in the garden, then some of them can be re-grafted onto new, more valuable ones.

By using regrafting, you can make a major overhaul of your garden without planting new trees, with minimal effort and expense.

What is the transfer technique?

Take, for example, a ten-year-old Cinnamon Striped tree. The variety is quite winter-hardy, so there is no reason to think that the tree froze over in winter. First of all, it is necessary to decide whether to remove the entire crown or re-graft in two years. It depends on the place of vaccination. It is possible, for example, to graft into a bole, then you need to make the least number of vaccinations; can be grafted into the base of skeletal branches, then the subsequently grown branches will replace the existing crown; it is possible to graft cuttings on two-three-year-old wood, i.e. almost along the periphery of the entire crown; in this case, you need to do a lot of vaccinations (this technique is used very rarely).

The cuttings grafted along the periphery of the crown come into fruition the earliest of all, the cuttings grafted into the stem later than all come into fruition.

Regrafting on the main branches of a ten-year-old tree of the Cinnamon Striped variety can be traced in Fig. 11. He has a good crown, however, the left lateral bough has somewhat surpassed the leader shoot in growth, and the formation of a fork is planned at the front right bough.

Rice. 11. A - general view of a 10-year-old tree before regrafting; B - the crown of an undesirable apple tree variety is cut off; B - in each main skeletal bough, depending on its diameter, a different number of cuttings are grafted (one variety can be grafted into each bough); D - in the summer in the year of vaccination, strong growths are formed, which create a new crown of the tree.

Rice. 12. Highly winter-hardy varieties were adopted into the non-winter-hardy bole and main skeletal branches. After a harsh winter, the trunk and the main skeletal branches died, so all grafted varieties will also die. Rice. 13. If the variety is not winter-hardy, then new varieties should be grafted into the root collar of the tree.

When cutting the crown, the leader bough should be left in the center. and cut the rest of the branches below. The cuts themselves should not be made strictly horizontal to the soil surface, they should be perpendicular to the branch axis. Slices are cleaned with a sharp garden knife and proceed to grafting. They start with the leader bough, then graft the side branches and then the lower branches. This garden work cannot be carried out in the reverse order, since here you can inevitably touch the already grafted cuttings. In each branch, the part that is closest to the center of the tree is first grafted. The places where the branches are cut are cleaned with a garden knife. Then a perpendicular incision is made with a copulation knife. It is better to start grafting at horizontal and inclined branches in their upper part. After grafting one cutting, the place of grafting, part of the end of the stock and the end of the cutting, if it does not end with an apical bud, are covered with pitch. Then proceed to the next vaccination. Having finished it, several turns of strapping tape are applied to the edge of the stock; they check the quality of coating with garden pitch of the parts subjected to this operation and, in conclusion, hang a label indicating the variety, the number of grafted cuttings, and put the date of vaccination on the back of the label.

Very often in the gardens there are non-hardy varieties that freeze slightly above the stem from year to year. Then the gardener decides to regraft such a tree. In this case, cut off all branches previously damaged by frost; shtamb at first sight is absolutely healthy. But he's not hardy. In the event of an unfavorable winter with little snow, the grafted parts may not freeze, but the trunk will freeze, and then a lot of work in the garden will be in vain. On fig. 12 shows a regrafted Chinese Kulon tree with new, quite resistant varieties. Years passed, the grafts turned into strong branches with an abundance of good quality fruits. But after a harsh winter, the bark of the trunk froze. The sap flow was disturbed, and the dying trunk of the non-hardy variety Kulon-Kitayka brought death to all vaccinations, although they were not damaged by the past frost.

It is absolutely unreasonable to graft new varieties into the crown of such non-hardy varieties as Papirovka, Melba, Pepin saffron, Bellefleur-Chinese and similar ones. Even the Antonovka and Anis varieties, under especially unfavorable conditions, cannot always be used for this purpose, since both the trunk and the skeletal branches can be damaged in some very severe winters.

When re-grafting trees, it is necessary to carefully look for completely stable skeleton-forming ones.

But what if the variety is not winter-hardy and you still want to replace it with another, better variety? In this case, it is necessary to cut off the entire part of the tree in early spring to the place of grafting (preferably along the root collar) and graft cuttings (Fig. 13) of a new variety into it.

Raspberries

In early spring, raspberries tied and bent in autumn must be untied and then tied either to a trellis (stretched wire) or to a stake. Some gardeners pay little attention to this work in the garden and carry it out late, when the buds on the shoots are already swollen or, even worse, the shoots themselves have appeared. Decoupling and distribution of the shoots on the trellis at this time causes many buds or tender shoots to break mechanically, which reduces the yield of this crop.

Bending down raspberries in autumn sometimes leads to the hollowing of individual shoots in the bush itself. Therefore, in the spring, before tying raspberries to the trellis, it is necessary to view and remove all damaged shoots.

After tying, the ends of the tops of all shoots are cut with secateurs. They are shortened by 10-15 cm. This technique enhances the growth of branches, which give the most valuable and high yield of berries. Raspberry shoots should not be cut to size as an ornamental crop.

In gardens, raspberries are propagated by offspring. They are formed on the roots and can grow close to the bush, as well as 1.5 m from it. It all depends on how far the superficial root system of the raspberry bush extends.

Under normal growth conditions, an adult raspberry bush produces a small number of offspring. Those of them that are on the periphery and come out of the general row of plants (during a row planting) are dug up in the fall and used for new plantings.

If you need to propagate a new valuable variety and get a large number of offspring, then in late autumn or early spring, the aerial part of the plant is cut off and the center of the old rhizome is removed. In the spring, a large number of shoots will develop from dormant buds on raspberry roots. This year they will not produce a crop. Digging up shoots is usually carried out with a garden pitchfork in order to less damage the roots of the plant.

For better growth of new shoots, care for such a mother bush consists of early spring mulching of the soil with peat and several waterings, which must be completed at the end of July.

It is important to protect young shoots from the raspberry fly. To do this, during the period of the appearance of buds (controlled by nearby fruit-bearing bushes), periodic spraying with a solution of chlorophos (20 g of an 80% preparation per 10 liters of water) is carried out.

strawberries

In the non-chernozem zone, spring work in the garden on a plot with strawberries is started in late April - early May. Strawberries at this time look rather deplorable: the leaves are almost all dry, dusty, drooping, and only two or three fresh green leaves stretch from the middle of the bush. The soil between the rows was compacted, dried out and cracked in places.

First of all, all last year's leaves are removed in such a site (Fig. 14).

What is the best way to do this?

With the left hand they grab the leaves located on any one side of the row, and with the right hand they cut their petioles closer to the base of the bush with a garden knife. The cut sheets are taken out and burned immediately.

The leaves can also be used for composting. In this case, they are stacked in heaps so that under the gusts of wind the leaves do not spread throughout the site.

Following the removal of last year's leaves, they start small (5-8 cm) digging of the plantation. Before that, phosphorus-potassium fertilizer and manure are applied, if these fertilizers have not been applied since the autumn of last year. After that, the plantation is loosened with a rake and mulching material is laid out along the rows.

Peat is often used for this purpose. It not only contributes to good moisture retention in the soil, but also creates a favorable temperature regime for the root layer of the soil in spring.

If the planting of seedlings was not carried out in the autumn (it remained not taken out of the soil on the plantation), then they proceed to its selection and planting. Since the weather is clear at this time, the planting must be carried out quickly so that the root system of the strawberries does not dry out. The soil for planting should be prepared in the fall.

In some years, a young planting of strawberries bulges out, which is expressed in the appearance of a root base on the soil surface. Such seedlings must be deepened into the soil to the level of the heart. This work in the garden in the spring is done as early as possible, while the soil is in a soft-plastic state.

Strawberries two weeks earlier. The dream of every gardener is to get the earliest first berry or first fruit. The dream turns into a real necessity if there are small children in the family.

Growing early strawberries with a high yield has begun to find a large number of fans in recent years.

They begin by choosing a place on the site that is illuminated by direct sunlight. Then, in early spring or in the second half of summer, high-quality strawberry seedlings are planted, mainly early varieties. It should be planted in one row. The distance between plants in a row should be 25-30 cm. Each row of strawberries is covered separately. To do this, use a tunnel shelter. Due to the fact that the edges of the covering material are either buried in the soil or strengthened in another way, the distance between the rows of strawberries has to be 100-110 cm.

In the first year of growth, strawberries are carefully looked after. All whiskers are removed immediately as soon as they appear. In late autumn, frames are installed along the rows. For this purpose, it is best to use hollow tubes with a diameter of 15 to 25 mm made of plastic materials, an iron rod with a diameter of 5 to 8 mm, willow branches and, finally, a frame can be made of wooden slats. In the first cases, it will be semicircular, and in the latter - in the form of a trapezoid.

The height of the frame should be 35-50 cm, and the width (near the ground) - 60-70 cm. Separate arcs are placed with a distance of 80-100 cm between them.

It is more expedient to put the frame in the fall, but it is also possible in early spring, as soon as the snow melts and the soil thaws.

If the frame is set in the spring, then before covering it with covering material, twine or soft wire should be pulled between the arcs. This is done so that the material does not sag in case of rain.

It is usually enough to stretch the twine along the very top of the arches and along the sides. The ends of the twine are pulled tightly to a stake obliquely hammered into the soil, which is located in the center of one of the ends of the tunnel shelter. This achieves sufficient rigidity of the entire structure (Fig. 15).

The covering material is cut 100-120 cm more than the length of the entire frame. In calm weather, excess material can be decomposed. First, it is placed on the frame and trimmed. Then, for better tension, bricks are placed along the edges. Now, along one long edge of the frame, the earth is selected to a depth of 10-15 cm. The end of the material is filled into it and compacted with earth, if it is a film. The same is done from opposite edges. The edges of the covering material can be pressed to the soil with a brick or board.

If the frame is made of slats, then the covering material can be strengthened with thin slats.

Strawberries should be covered in early spring as soon as new leaves begin to appear. Before shelter, you should loosen the beds and remove all old leaves.

During April, watering strawberries is not necessary, as there is enough moisture supply. When flower stalks appear, the bushes should be sprayed with a solution of chlorophos (20 g of 80% chlorophos per 10 liters of water) to kill the weevil. After spraying, close the bed tightly again. If the bed is covered with a film, then on sunny hot days moisture appears on the inside of the film. It's good. At the beginning of flowering, either the ends of the shelter, or one of its sides (preferably the southern one), are slightly opened for a day. Berries are picked daily. By the end of the harvest, strawberries begin to ripen on an ordinary plantation. By this time, the covering material is removed (the frame can be left). Further care consists of loosening the soil, removing weeds and mustaches, which form very early and in large numbers.

Reproduction of currant

Of the berry crops, currants, especially black ones, are easily propagated, and in more than one way. If the gardener wants to get two or three seedlings, then for this purpose, branches from a perennial bush are rooted; if you need to get a larger number of plants, then use lignified cuttings.

With any method of propagation, branches or cuttings are taken from the most productive and free from bud mites and terry bushes. In order to make sure that they are free from diseases and pests, the bushes are carefully examined in early spring, when it is easy to detect rounded buds damaged by mites; during flowering, check whether the flowers are damaged by terry. And finally, the final conclusion about the state of the bush is helped by determining the yield from it, since the healthiest plant can give the highest yield. But in view of the fact that the yield is sometimes reduced due to low temperatures, not only in winter, but also during the flowering period, as well as after flowering, when negative temperature and the ovary falls off, a real assessment of the degree of yield of a blackcurrant bush should be given only after three to four years of fruiting. By this time, you can accurately evaluate the plant.

In spring, the soil under the bushes is dug up and harrowed. Then, departing from the center of the bush by 30-60 cm, they make a hole half a bayonet of a shovel deep. Compost, rotted manure or garden soil is placed in it. Then a two- or three-year-old branch is bent down and, if it is difficult to do so, pressed to the hole with an iron pin 40 cm long (with a rod diameter of 3-4 mm), the bases of the branch are covered with peat (one - two shovels), and earth is poured on top. The entire mound is compacted. By autumn, the bent part of the branch forms roots; if they are weak, then the layers are not separated for another year. White and red currants usually form very weak roots in the first year, so both are grown for two, and sometimes three years.

In case of drought, the mounds are moistened. In the autumn of the first or second year of cultivation, the cuttings are separated from the mother bush with secateurs and planted in a permanent place. The aerial part of the layering is somewhat shortened. In the first year, from 5 to 12 layers can be obtained from one bush, depending on the variety and type of currant.

The roots of the cuttings form faster if you make a longitudinal incision in that part of the branch that is sprinkled with soil, or make semicircular cuts in the bark and treat them with growth substances (one tablet of heteroauxin per 1 liter of water). This solution either treats the wound or waters (once) the hole with the branch at the time of its laying.

Currants of all kinds also propagate by cuttings. To do this, one-year strong shoots are used, which are not cut from the end of perennial branches, but take the so-called zero shoots, i.e. those that are formed from the soil or from the base of perennial branches.

The thicker the diameter of the shoots, the better the quality of the resulting plant. Therefore, from a shoot 65 cm long, you can get three cuttings of 20 cm each, with the lower and middle ones giving good bushes, while the upper one is worse.

To get a large number of annual shoots High Quality in the spring, almost all perennial branches are cut out in the bush. By autumn, the bush forms new shoots, not only of high quality, but also in large quantities.

For cutting blackcurrant cuttings, bushes from two to five years old are used, and for red and white currants, it is permissible to use older plants for this purpose.

Chopped cuttings are immediately planted in pre-prepared soil. The depth of its digging is 30 cm. It is very good to add peat or compost to the soil for digging in the amount of three buckets per 1 m 2.

best term for currants when planting cuttings - autumn. The cutting is obliquely buried in the soil so that one or two buds are on the surface. The distance in a row is 15-18 cm, between rows - 30-35 cm. Late autumn or early spring, after loosening the rows, mulching with peat is carried out.

In some unfavorable winters, cuttings may bulge out of the soil. Then in the spring, as soon as the soil thaws, they are again buried, and the soil is trampled.

During the summer, the site is periodically watered using sprinkling. If it was not mulched, then loosening is carried out.

At the end of June, a young annual shoot is pinched over the third or fourth leaf. At first, this retards growth, but then more and more shoots form from dormant buds, and by autumn the one-year-old shoot turns into a branching plant that can be planted in a permanent place.

To obtain high-quality seedlings, blackcurrant plants are not dug up in the first year, and in the spring of the next year, the entire aerial part is cut off, leaving three to five buds. In the second year, strong two-year-old seedlings develop from them, which produce a crop in the first year.

May. Spring work in the garden

Check the planting of young seedlings fruit crops. Sometimes they incorrectly plant fruit and berry crops - for example, plants of apple trees, pears, cherries, plums are too deep. Subsequently, this leads to inhibition of the growth and development of the tree, to a decrease in yield, and in conditions of heavy wet soils, even to the dampening of the bark on boles. After a few years, these trees die.

It is better to carefully check last year's plantings and, if it is found that the root neck of the trees is deepened, immediately correct the mistake made.

Usually, when planting, it is recommended to raise the root collar of a tree 3-4 cm above the soil level on light sandy soils and 5-6 cm on heavy loamy or clay soils.

How to correctly locate the root collar in a grafted apple, pear, cherry, plum or mountain ash? The root neck is the place where the roots pass into the aerial part of the tree, i.e. in a stem. To accurately determine this place, it is necessary to wipe a part of the stem and the beginning of the main roots with a damp cloth: the border of the change in the color of the bark from greenish tones to light brown will be the root collar.

Sometimes a thickening on the trunk is mistaken for the root neck, while this is the part of the game where the inoculation was made. And this mistake entails another: focusing on thickening, trees are planted incorrectly - very deep.

It is equally important to pay special attention to the advance preparation of landing pits. Very often, a planting hole is dug and filled in on the day or on the eve of planting a tree; the necessary fertilizers are laid in it and filled with earth. This is completely unacceptable. The hole should be dug five to six weeks in advance and filled with soil and fertilizer three to five weeks before the fall planting.

If planting is carried out in the spring, then the pit should be prepared in the fall. Only in this case, the loose soil completely settles and the tree planted later will not have a deepening of the root collar.

In the spring, the gardener has a lot of urgent things to do in the garden, often the weather also drives him on. But, despite the short time of spring work in the garden, deepened by improper planting or settled young grafted fruit trees must be raised before the leaves bloom (Fig. 16).

How to do it? Carefully remove the top layer of soil above the roots with a shovel, then pull the tree (if it is a new plant) up until the root collar appears (2-4 cm above the soil horizon). When young tree pulled out of the pit, it must be held by the bole wild, i.e. that part of it, which is located between the root collar and the grafting site.

Earth is added to the resulting hole and compacted, especially under the roots (you can use a stick with a blunt end). After that, a hole is made in the pit and one or two buckets of water are poured into it.

It is much more difficult to raise mature trees - from five years or more. In this case, you have to dig out a lot of earth, removing a large layer of soil above the roots, under which, in order to carefully lift the tree, they bring a wag wrapped in soft material. (Mature trees that have undergone such an operation are given especially careful care.) Unfortunately, sometimes I do it wrong. Above the roots, a layer of soil is removed until the root collar is exposed, sometimes deepened by 10 or even 25 cm, and this work is considered completed. And it turns out that tree plantings are much lower than the level of the soil surface of the garden, i.e. the tree turns out to be sitting in a hole. In spring or late autumn, water flows into this depression, and the bole long time is in abnormal conditions for him. And the tree sooner or later dies from the decay of the lower part of the stem. This is one of the reasons for the annual death of a large number of trees in country gardens.

As for berry bushes - currants and gooseberries, a slight deepening does not harm them, on the contrary, it creates favorable conditions for further growth. You can plant these crops in spring and autumn.

The central non-chernozem belt is located in a zone of sufficient moisture, however, in May and June, there is still little precipitation, at this time there is not enough of a fruit tree. Early in the spring, they start digging. Unlike the autumn spring digging is carried out necessarily with subsequent harrowing (hand cultivator or rake).

Finely cloddy soil better retains moisture accumulated during the autumn-spring time, protects it from evaporation. This technique is called “closing the moisture”.

Sometimes, having dug up the garden, they start harrowing only after one or two weeks. This must not be allowed. Over such a long period of time, large clods of soil quickly evaporate moisture from the surface, harden, and later they are no longer easy to break.

If on the soils of heavy texture you have to work in the garden with a shovel and a rake, then on sandy ones, if the garden was previously kept under black fallow (it was loosened throughout the summer), the soil can be loosened either with a cultivator or with a rake.

Since spring, the soil in the garden is harrowed without digging. During the summer, the earth is covered with a green carpet of various herbs. They are cut down: for the first time - by the time the colza and dandelion begin to bloom, and later - as the grass grows up to 15 - 20 cm.

Mowed grass is evenly scattered under the crowns of fruit trees. In this case, it takes on the meaning of mulch. They mow the grass in the garden not only in those places where the garden is kept under sodding, but also in others where the most malicious weeds have grown: dandelion, colza, couch grass, creeping buttercup, etc. At the same time, the grass is also transferred to tree trunks.

True, sometimes neither weeding nor other methods help to clear the garden of weeds. But the cutting of grasses during flowering protects the territory of the garden from self-seeding of various weeds. This is very important for a gardener to know. In addition, the turfing of a fruit-bearing garden helps to improve the mechanical composition of the soil. However, it can also be harmful. This happens, as a rule, in dry summers, when the garden is left without water.

This situation is especially dangerous for fruit-bearing trees, since a lack of water in the soil can lead either to shedding of the ovary, or to obtaining small and poor quality fruits. This happens because the grass that has grown in the garden takes a lot of moisture from the root layer of the soil, thereby weakening the general condition of the trees. Therefore, if your garden is grassed, we recommend watering it in case of prolonged dry weather.

Gardens located on waterlogged soils are best kept under turfing and periodically mow the grass.

For turfing, the following herbs can be sown: meadow fescue - 1.2-1.6 g per m 2; meadow timothy - 0.5-0.6 g per m 2; wheatgrass - 0.9 g per m 2; bluegrass meadow - 0.5-0.7 g per m 2; awnless fire - 0.4-0.5 g per m 2; hedgehog team - 0.4-0.5 g per m 2; white clover - 1.2-1.5 g per m 2; perennial ryegrass - 1.5-2 g per m 2.

Some gardeners cover tree trunks with peat or manure (mulch) to insulate the roots of fruit trees in autumn.

How in this case it is necessary to carry out digging in the spring? The amount of mulch applied here matters. If its layer is 5 cm or more, then in spring bad conditions to warm up the soil. In this case, the vital activity of the root system is somewhat delayed, while the aerial part of the tree is already showing signs of growth.

Therefore, first of all, the mulch from the trunk circle must be removed with a rake, and the soil should be dug up and harrowed. After one to two weeks, when the soil in the trunk circle warms up, it can again be covered with mulching material. If since autumn the mulch has been laid in a layer of 2-3 cm, then the heating of the soil in the near-trunk circle will proceed normally, if only peat was used as mulch, then faster.

Should the mulch be dug up in the spring with the ground in the trunk circle and will it improve the nitrogen nutrition of the tree?

First of all, we must proceed from the fact that, firstly, if the amount of mulching material is limited and it is not possible to provide the garden with sufficient watering, then it is better to keep the mulch on the surface of the tree trunk; secondly, almost any mulching material either does not contain nitrogen at all, or contains it in small quantities (if straw manure has been introduced since autumn), or, even worse, reduces the nitrogen content in the soil.

For example, if sawdust, sawdust manure (containing 80% sawdust), shavings, wood chips, forest floor, etc. are used as mulching material. The soil gives a lot of nitrogen to the decomposition of these wood wastes, and in order to replenish it, when digging such a mulch, it is imperative to apply nitrogen mineral fertilizer.

As you can see, mulching materials like nitrogen fertilizer are of no value. They only contribute to the conservation of moisture in the soil, and when digging, they create a better soil structure, in which air exchange and the beneficial activity of microorganisms are enhanced.

watering

Fruit and berry plants from the beginning of snow melting to the last decade of May are provided with a sufficient amount of moisture in the soil. At this time, irrigation can be replaced by loosening, especially after heavy rains, when the compacted soil quickly forms a crust on its surface, which contributes to the evaporation of moisture from the soil. Loosening to a depth of 6-8 cm with rakes, cultivators or rippers protects the soil from intense evaporation.

In the first half of summer, when shoots, leaves and ovaries are actively growing, water consumption by plants is especially high. Therefore, they need watering at this time (June - July).

If during the summer months, with clear weather, rains do not fall for 5-10 days, then some crops begin to experience a lack of moisture. This is primarily observed on light sandy soils in high relief conditions or in areas where perennial forest trees grow. Irrigation is also needed here. Among the crops that need them, first of all, it is necessary to name all the plants planted either in the spring of the current year or in the autumn of the last. Plants transplanted in adulthood require mandatory watering, and first of all during the first two to three years.

The sequence in watering adult plants is approximately the following. Raspberries are watered first, then strawberries, currants, plums, gooseberries, cherry, pear and apple trees.

Watering, if possible, should be timed to coincide with certain phases of growth and development of a particular culture.

Apple tree and pear it is best to water in June, when the fruit-bearing trees shed their excess ovaries. During this period, the trees begin increased growth of fruits and shoots.

The second watering is carried out a month after the first (July 15-20), two to three weeks before the collection of summer varieties, the third watering - in August (autumn and winter apple and pear varieties are watered first).

stone fruit crops - plum and cherry the first time is watered after flowering, the second - two weeks before harvesting the fruit and the third time - after harvesting.

Blackcurrant, white, red and gooseberry watered once every two weeks before harvest and after harvest.

strawberries in case of drought, water for the first time during the flowering period. There are often frosts at this time, and watering can be timed to coincide with the days preceding the cold snap. The flowering of strawberries is extended, therefore, if watering is carried out even at the end of flowering, it will still have a great influence on the growth and increase in the ovary. The second watering is carried out two to three weeks after harvest.

Raspberries are watered for the first time in a dry summer at the end of May, then every 10-15 days. Finish watering during the period of maximum harvest.

In the garden, it is difficult to control the effect of watering, i.e. how deeply the water penetrates the soil and how much it saturates the soil layer where the bulk of the horizontal roots lie.

Under favorable conditions, the bulk of the horizontal roots of fruit and berry crops in the Moscow region reaches a depth: for raspberries - 20 cm, for strawberries - 30 cm, for currants and gooseberries - 30-40 cm, for plums and cherries - 30-40 cm, for pears - 50 cm, for an apple tree grafted on dwarf rootstocks - 40 cm, grafted on semi-dwarf rootstocks - 50 cm and grafted on seed rootstocks - 70 cm. The depth of the bulk of the root system on sandy soils is 10-15 cm more.

For each crop, it is important to moisten the soil exactly and to the specified depth. Approximately 1 m 2 of the trunk circle, i.e. zones where the root system is located, it is necessary to use water for one-time watering of apple and pear trees (at groundwater levels below 3 m) on sandy loamy soils 4-5 buckets, on light loamy soils - 5-6 buckets, on loamy soils - 6-7 buckets, on heavy loamy and clayey - 8-9 buckets.

The irrigation rate for strawberries, currants, gooseberries, plums and cherries can be reduced by 2 times, and for raspberries - by 3 times.

In dry summer conditions, three irrigations are carried out. You should not water the garden uncontrollably, saturating most of your garden with water. Such irrigation often brings harm rather than benefit, since water completely fills the soil, displaces air, and therefore normal gas exchange is disrupted. The growth of the root system and the vital activity of microorganisms are suppressed. When excessive watering is replaced by a long period of rainy days, fruit and berry plants fall into a critical situation, in which the activity of the active (suction) root system ceases, which is partly manifested in abundant and premature yellowing of the leaves and their fall. Excessive watering is especially dangerous on dense, non-structural soils with a high level of groundwater.

Young fruit trees up to 10-12 years old grafted onto ordinary seed rootstocks, apple trees grafted onto dwarf rootstocks up to 15-18 years old years, it is possible to irrigate within the near-stem circles both by the inlet of water along the near-stem zone, and along the annular grooves. In the latter case, the duration of watering increases, as the water in the groove is slowly absorbed. Currants and gooseberries are watered within the crown of these plants. Raspberries and strawberries are watered over the entire area occupied by these crops. For these two crops it is very good to use sprinkling.

Watering adult gardens at the age of 15 years and more is carried out using furrows arranged either around trees or along their rows. The distance between furrows on light soils should be 50-60 cm, on heavy soils - 80-100 cm. do with a hoe, not a shovel. Furrow irrigation gives poor results on sloping plots, as it increases soil erosion in the garden. They do not suit him in those places where mature trees have perennial grassing. Because it is not always advisable to spoil the area with the sowing of grasses by making furrows. In such cases, gardens are most conveniently watered from a hose with a special nozzle that sprays water.

Watering with sprinkling is most suitable for a country garden.

Control over the rate of water during irrigation is carried out as follows. If the garden is watered with furrows, then it should be noted how many minutes the bucket is filled with water supplied from the hose, then calculate the area occupied by one furrow. It can be roughly assumed that one furrow serves one square meter of soil. If it is necessary to calculate the watering of a tree at the age of 10 years with a furrow 3.5 m long, then, for example, for the lungs loamy soils it takes 5 - 6 buckets times 3.5.

When watering by sprinkling or otherwise, the degree of soil moisture can be determined as follows: the next day after watering, under the crown of a fruit tree, they dig a hole to the depth of the main mass of the root system. Take a handful of soil and squeeze it in the palm of your hand. If a lump is formed that does not crumble, then the soil is sufficiently moistened.

In a dry autumn, the last, so-called winter watering, is carried out. First of all, fruit-bearing apple trees, cherries, plums and pears need it. The rate of this last watering per 1 m 2 is increased by one or two buckets compared to the one that was already indicated above.

Berry crops do not need winter watering as badly as fruit crops, because they have enough of the rains that fall in the fall.

Watering the garden during a drought should be carried out as sparingly as possible. The most complete absorption of moisture occurs on loose or previously loosened and mulched (needle bar, grass, shavings, straw manure) soil. Peat (dry) mulch does not allow rapid absorption, so watering the soil covered with peat has to be done with intermittent sprinkling with a finer spray of water.

In an adult garden, if it is under long-term turfing, the soil is somewhat compacted, and therefore water runoff is possible. In this case, the watering rate is slightly increased.

Deep watering gives good results when the tip is from a hose with a jet of 1.5-2 atm. injected into the soil to a depth of 40 - 50 cm.

As seen in fig. 17, watering with one watering can of water did not allow deep penetration of moisture into the soil. Watering on the same soil with three watering cans already gives better moisture for the root systems of berry crops, as well as cherries and plums (a, b).

Rice. 17. Scheme of moisture penetration in the garden to different depths (cm) with different irrigations:

a - along the furrows; b - on a black pair; c - for many years of turfing. The top three diagrams show the penetration of moisture during irrigation in one bucket, the bottom three diagrams - three buckets per 1 m 2.

However, in the first and second cases, watering the soddy soil by sprinkling did not give the necessary penetration of moisture to the roots (c). Irrigation with a furrow (a) contributed to a deeper penetration of moisture into the soil. This suggests that during a drought, a garden kept under turfing should (per one square meter, in loamy soils) have a high watering rate - not less than 4-5 buckets. And in order for the soil to absorb all this moisture, the irrigation itself must be done intermittently, otherwise part of the water that has not been absorbed into the soil at the time of irrigation will drain to lower places.

Protecting the garden from spring frosts

In the Moscow region, once every 5-7 years, frosts are observed during the flowering period of the apple tree. Probability of Damage flowering trees plums, cherries and pears are higher than apple trees, for the reason that they bloom a week earlier.

The danger of damage to flowers by frost is especially high in early spring, when gardens can bloom in the second decade of May. This is especially true for gardens located in lowlands, hollows, ravines, as well as in tight clearings. Orchards located on the upper parts of the terrain, as well as near large water bodies, are less susceptible to frost.

Buds of an apple tree die at a temperature of -2.75 to -3.85 °, stamens and pistils of a blossoming flower - at a temperature of -1.5 to -2.5 ° and a young ovary - at -1 °.

Due to the uneven blooming of flowers, a fruit tree, with small frosts, manages to maintain the ability to bear fruit so much as to give a relatively good harvest in the future. It helps to equalize the overall yield of the garden and the selection of varieties with different flowering periods, for example, the Pepin saffron variety always begins to bloom much later than other varieties.

When the temperature falls below the critical temperature, heat-loving crops in the garden are damaged, from which they die. It is interesting to note that such critical temperatures occur for 1.5-2.5 hours, and temperatures below 0 ° are observed for 4-5 hours.

When forecasting weather with critical temperatures in the garden, smoke should be carried out for fruit crops, for berries and strawberries - shelter or for both - general watering.

What is the essence of such plant protection? Frost in the spring occurs due to the influx of cold air masses and the loss of heat by the soil and plants (at night).

When smoking, the intensity of heat transfer from the soil decreases, thereby weakening the cooling of the plants themselves, for which it is enough to increase the temperature by only 1-1.5 °.

When watering, the soil and plants receive an additional amount of heat, since the temperature of the irrigation water is always higher than the air and soil surface during frost hours. When watering, the deeper horizons of warm soil are moistened, which increases its thermal conductivity, as a result of which the upper layers receive a large influx of heat and the effect of frost is reduced.

In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to spraying the crown and watering the soil under the trees. Water is applied to flowers, leaves and branches in the form of the smallest spray. In frost, they are covered with a thin crust of ice, which protects the plants from the cold.

When sheltering berries and strawberries, plants cool less.

Strawberries under the film (when receiving early harvests) on frost days are additionally covered with burlap, cloth or matting.

In the conditions of a country garden, wood chips, shavings, sawdust, rotten straw, hay, needles, forest floor, last year's leaves, tops of potatoes, phloxes, irises and other perennials, as well as small branches from tree pruning and raspberry cuttings, moss are used to create smoke piles. , peat.

Smoke can be increased by adding pieces of roofing felt or roofing material to the pile, and flaring up by watering it with used mineral oils or fuel oil. You can also add waste of various resins.

Smoke piles are placed perpendicular to the direction of the wind, the distance between them should be 5-8 m. In a garden of 6 acres (600 m 2), 6-9 piles are lit. In a garden with an area of ​​12 acres (1200 m 2), 12-18 heaps are lit.

The smoke pile is arranged as follows. First, dry material is placed on the ground, which can easily burn. Dry branches are inserted into the middle of it and a layer of dry material is poured on top. Peat, forest floor or other damp material is placed on top of it. Then the whole pile is covered with sawdust or garbage. The diameter of the heap is 1-1.5 m, the height is 1-1.2 m. If the heap gives a lot of fire, then it must be sprinkled with damp material or earth or poured with water from a watering can. In the presence of required material one gardener can prepare a garden for frost protection in 4 - 5 hours.

All these methods are well known to gardeners. However, it must be said that not all of them are correctly applied. Often one or two fires are lit in the garden all night and early in the morning "just in case". Even if the frost had passed, then a small number of fires would not heat the entire territory. Work in the garden in the spring is wasted, material is wasted.

In addition to the forecasts that can be heard on radio or television, an ordinary outdoor thermometer should be hung in the garden (in the flowering zone of fruit trees). If the temperature starts to drop to 0.5°C and continues to drop, then it's time to start smoking the garden. Here it should be taken into account that critical temperatures occur for 1.5-2.5 hours, and the temperature below 0 ° C lasts 4-5 hours.

Smoke is best done in collaboration with neighbors, by common efforts. After all, if one gardener burns heaps in his garden, and the other - no, then in calm weather the smoke will cover the trees of the neighboring garden with a thick veil. And you need your neighbor to take care of you too, otherwise your garden will have a bad time.

There will be no benefit from smoking if instead of smoke from a fire there is a strong flame. After all, a smoke screen is needed, and the richer it is, the more reliably it will protect a flowering garden.

A good material for smoking is smoke bombs. They are very convenient to use, as they can be moved from place to place and thereby regulate the smoke density in the garden.

The strongest drop in temperature occurs an hour before and during the first and second hours after sunrise. One must always be prepared for this: prepare heaps for a fire in advance, material that can easily kindle them.

If the air temperature at sunrise does not fall below 0.5°C, then smoking must be stopped.

There is an opinion that morning frosts are terrible only for fruit trees. It is not right. They often suffer berry bushes, and first of all, gooseberries and currants, both in the state of flowering and at the time of the formation of the ovary (the berries that have just started fall off).

Perhaps more than other horticultural crops, strawberries are subject to spring frosts. This is due to the fact that frosts on the soil surface are much more frequent in spring than at the level of crowns of fruit trees.

There are a number of ways to protect berries.

First way. Tie the currant with a rope, and cover the bush with paper, some kind of cloth or film.

The second way. With the help of sprinkling devices during frost hours, constantly spray bushes with water.

The third way. Cover strawberries with straw or rolled strips of paper, film and especially good covering material. Before sheltering, the beds should be watered, and in order for the shelter to hold tighter, the edges of the paper or film are covered with earth. Work in the garden should be carried out on the eve of the expected frost.

Remontant strawberry

It is possible to extend the collection of strawberries until August - September only by using it remontant varieties: Ada, Inexhaustible, Sakhalinskaya, etc. But there is one feature here. The first fruiting in remontant varieties occurs at the same time as in ordinary ones. And after a pause, it resumes again. But since the first fruiting coincides with the fruiting of ordinary varieties, it is advisable to remove all the first flower stalks on remontant strawberries by plucking. Then growth intensifies, mustaches appear, and flowering resumes on them and on the mother bush.

In September, when cold weather or frost sets in, the flowers are poorly pollinated, and the ovary is either deformed or completely absent, and often at this time there is not enough heat for its growth and development. In this case, on a bed with remontant strawberries you need to put the frame and cover with material. On sunny days, it must be slightly opened.

Remontant strawberries bear fruit abundantly and for this require not only rich soils, but also large planting distances. The best of them - 70x40 cm.

The peculiarity of this variety of strawberries is that flower stalks form on the mustache that appears during the summer. They take a lot of nutrition from the mother bush. Therefore, you can remove all the whiskers, this achieves more abundant fruiting of the main bush.

Most high yields remontant large-fruited strawberries give in the second - third year. Therefore, by the end of the third year, the plants are removed, but before that, the most rooted rosettes are isolated for new plantings.

With good agricultural technology, gardeners get a little more than 1 kg of berries from 1 m 2, and the main collection occurs at the end of summer and early autumn, which is very important.

hunting belts

In the last days of May, trapping belts are placed on the boles of fruit-bearing trees: these are strips of paper, burlap ribbons and some other material. They are reviewed periodically. All pests found under the belts are destroyed.

Trapping belts should not be applied very high - at the point of departure from the stem of the main skeletal branches. The most suitable place for them is the lower part of the trunk, about 15-20 cm from the soil surface (Fig. 18).

Rice. 18. Trapping (sticky) belt, superimposed on the trunk of an apple tree. If there is no pronounced bole, then one trapping belt is applied to each skeletal bough

Removing dead branches

In May, you can notice that individual branches and branches of fruit trees and shrubs are either strongly delayed during bud break, or do not bloom at all. These are branches that died from various causes. They need to be cut. For example, currants are very badly damaged by glass and gall midges, from which shoots and entire branches have an oppressed appearance.

In raspberries, some of the young shoots that started growing this year have drooping tops, which usually darken and dry out. This means that the young shoots are damaged by the larvae of the raspberry stem fly. They should be cut down and destroyed immediately. Gardeners must know for sure that in no case should dead branches be left on fruit trees or shrubs; uncut, they can be a breeding ground for various fungal diseases, as well as woodworm pests.

It's no secret that right choice seedlings for laying a garden is only half the battle. In order for a tree to take root and stably bear fruit, you need it competently. This is where beginner gardeners face different issues.

We answer the most common of them.

The timing depends on the condition of the seedling, and on the weather. In the southern regions, and sometimes in the middle lane, gardens are planted in the fall. In the spring, trees should be planted before the buds swell on the seedlings. And for stone fruits (cherries, cherries, plums, cherry plums), early spring planting is even preferable to autumn, after which the seedlings often freeze.

In any case, it is important to remember: they plant in the spring, before the seedlings start to grow, and in the fall, during the shedding of leaves.

What age seedlings better take root one-year-old or two-year-old?

For planting, a healthy one-year-old seedling is preferable. Two-year-old (and older) seedlings usually do not have enough buds on the bottom of the trunk to develop a good tree frame, and take root worse.

Is it possible (and how) to revive dried seedlings?

Even if the seedlings have not dried up, it is advisable to completely immerse them in a barrel of water (bath, etc.) immediately before planting and hold for 6-12 hours. This technique helps to revive and slightly dried seedlings after transportation. If the plant is dry, it is useless to plant it.

Do seedlings need to be shaken when planting?

Yes, uniform shaking and compaction of the seedling during planting allows you to fill all the voids between the roots with soil.

"Grandma's" stone

And I also want to tell you about an amazing method that annually helps me to harvest good yields from fruit trees, despite the spring return frosts during flowering.

I learned about it from my grandmother, who grew up in the harsh conditions of Siberia. Her father, when planting, laid a large stone under all the seedlings. Grandma couldn’t explain why he did this, but she offered to try the method on, with which I harvested every 3-4 years.

In the fall, my husband and I dug a hole under the tree, lowered several large stones there (closer to the roots), sprinkled it with earth and laid a layer of mulch on top. The following year, the plum really pleased with the harvest.

And after a couple of years, we were convinced that the plum bears fruit every year, no matter what the weather is like in spring. Is it really all about the "grandmother's" stone? I read on garden forums that the stone, heating up in the soil in summer, gives off heat to the roots for a long time, and in the spring the tree blooms later, due to which it does not fall under return frosts. I don’t know if this is true or not, but when I laid the cherry orchard, I put good cobblestone under all the seedlings.

On heavy clay soils a stone located in the zone of the root system improves the air regime of the soil. On light soils, the positive effect is apparently achieved through additional "communication" with the tree.

If you decide to lay a stone when planting, you need to dig a deeper and wider hole, and then fill it with fertile soil. During this procedure, I advise you to mentally tune in to good growth and the fruiting of the tree - all this is perceived by the seedling as an order.

For example, it has been statistically proven that tapping with the butt of an ax on the trunk of an unfruitful apple tree in winter with the threat of cutting it down makes the tree actively bear fruit the next year.

With the onset of spring comes the need for a variety of work in the garden. It is important to complete the preparation of the garden on time, on which not only it will depend appearance but also health. The turnaround time for gardening depends on the region. In cold areas, gardening begins a month or even two later than in warmer areas. Start work when the temperature is above zero, the snow should already have melted.

Work in the garden can be divided into several stages:

• Garbage collection in the garden.
• Water drain cleaning.
• Track repair.
• Water features in the garden.
• Fertilizer and mulching:
• The fight against harmful insects
• Lawn treatment.
• Treatment of shrubs and trees.
• Planting and sowing.
• Caring for bulbous plants.
• Caring for perennials
• Garden decoration with baskets and pots, benches.

These steps are given in the order in which they are best performed. But each gardener can build work in the garden in a way that is more convenient for him, it is only important to observe the temperature regime, humidity, use sunny, clear days, good weather for work. For some, some items may be redundant. For example, for those who do not have water facilities or lawns in the garden.

Garbage pickup

So, winter is over, it's time to clean up. Windbreak, dry plants, leaves, remains of shelters, various supports, other garden debris must be removed immediately after the winter frosts have ended. If weeds appear in the garden, then they must also be removed. They can begin to grow under a layer of snow with the onset of heat, when the snow melts, the first sprouts can immediately be seen. Cleaning should also touch on greenhouses, where it is necessary to wash glass and frames. Gutters, garden furniture and garden paths also need to be treated, which can be read in the following subsections of the article.

Gutter cleaning

If the drain pipe is clogged, then it is necessary to put a basin or a bucket under it and push a hard wire through the bottom hole, eliminating the blockage. Then you need to continue cleaning from above: remove debris from the inlet and pull it out with a thick wire hook. With a long stick, it is necessary to clean the pipes along the entire length from the top to the very bottom.

garden paths

If during the autumn and winter the garden paths become unusable, there is a drawdown or destruction, then it is necessary to eliminate all this or replace the paths. If paths have not yet been laid in the garden, then best solution will install them.

If the already installed tracks are damaged during the winter, then they need to be repaired. Concrete paths are restored with concrete, it is kneaded and cracks and damage are poured. If the path is paved, then the cracked tile, stone is replaced. The old part is pulled out, and a new one is put in its place. The same goes for wooden specimens.

If uncovered paths have sunk in the garden, then you can add earth or sand and return them to their previous appearance. You can read more about garden paths in the article.

Water features in the garden

After the work on the paths is completed, it is the turn of water facilities. Swimming pools can be installed in the garden, artificial pond, stream, source, waterfall, fountain, miniature pond. It is necessary to examine the small ones drained for the winter water bodies for damage after the winter, remove excess debris, clean with chemicals and hard brushes, draw water. All these works must be carried out in warm weather, when the temperature is 5-10 degrees above zero. If large water bodies are installed in the garden, which are recommended to be drained once every three years, then (if the reservoir is not drained) it is necessary to collect garbage from the surface of the reservoir using tongs for the reservoir or nets, rakes, cut off the dying leaves of plants.

If there is a need to drain the reservoir, then April-May is most favorable for this. When toads or frogs live in a pond and you need to save the eggs they lay, you can drain the pond in early autumn. The inhabitants of the reservoir temporarily move to tanks with water from the pond, and plants are also sent here. You need to put the container in the shade. After drying, all silt is removed, which can then be used as fertilizer, algae are thinned out, based on their personal preferences (one owner likes when there is a lot of greenery in the pond, the other when there is very little).

If any damage is noticed, then it is necessary to eliminate them with the help of resistant coatings and paints for concrete coatings. When you need to repair the film, a special glue will do. Usually, PVC film is used for the device of artificial reservoirs; glue is sold for it, which is called “Glue for repairing PVC film”. If butyl rubber was used, then glue for gluing such rubber or a special tape is suitable. Polyethylene ponds can no longer be glued together, this is the lack of material.

With the onset of heat and temperatures reaching 5 degrees or more, you can start the fountain. It is better to drain the first water after starting. If poor water quality (turbid, dirty) is noticed, then it is necessary to remove limescale, rust, algae with chemicals(you can take Special Reiniger, Decalcite Super, Anticalcite). If cracks appear on the bowl of the fountain or on the sculpture, then they must be treated with coatings or waterproofing paints.

The pool should be looked after almost the same as any artificial reservoir. For the winter, water is drained from the pool, and in the spring, after the snow has melted, at a temperature of 5 degrees above zero, they clean up: sweep, clean, fill with water. If water has accumulated in the pool (melted snow, rainwater and so on), then to start the pool you will need to add quite a bit of water, so that in the end it turns out to be filled with 1/3 of the total volume of the pool. Large dirt can be removed with a net. With an underwater vacuum cleaner, you need to clean the bottom of the pool filled with 1/3 of water. It is desirable that the filtration system operate continuously throughout the day.

If there is a need (hard or sagging land, an abundance of weeds), then at the end of March the ground in the garden can be dug up, removing all weeds. Then you can start fertilizing and mulching the garden.

Fertilizing and mulching the garden

Mulching is the introduction of mulch into the soil (hay, straw, pieces of cardboard, grass, leaves, bark, sawdust), that is, various organic residues that rot as a result of the action of worms and microorganisms, as a result, humus appears in the soil (organic matter containing fulvic acids, humin, ulmin, humic acids), which is an indicator of soil fertility. Mulching reduces the growth of weeds, retains moisture and helps maintain temperatures in the ground located around a tree or shrub. There is also inorganic mulch - it is plastic, stone, cut rubber, gravel, sand. Such mulch also reduces the growth of weeds, helps to maintain moisture and temperatures in the ground.

Fertilizer is the application of various fertilizers (organic, mineral and others) to the soil that improve plant growth, productivity, they nourish plants and improve the soil.

Perennials, shrubs, and trees are best mulched with garden compost or good garden soil. Garden compost is an excellent fertilizer, it contains a lot of nutrients needed by plants, improves the structure and composition of the soil, retaining moisture near the roots of trees and shrubs. This property of compost helps the garden during droughts and hot days. If the soil on the site is fertile, then only this fertilizer can be dispensed with. If some plants need top dressing, then dry organic fertilizers such as droppings, manure, bone, blood, fish meal, charcoal, ash are suitable, which are needed in small quantities before the mulching process.

Top dressing (fertilization) and mulching (mulching) are very important works, they create favorable conditions for perennial plants, trees, shrubs, especially those that bloom in late spring or early summer, for example, calleriana pear, three-lobed apple tree, honeysuckle Tatar, vangutta spirea, Smirnov's rhododendron, Japanese quince, white locust, common hawthorn.

Fertilizers are organic, bacterial, mineral and microfertilizers.

Organic fertilizers enrich the soil, improve its structure and physical properties, readily soluble, are nutrients and humus. These are manure, compost, shavings, bird droppings, sawdust, green manure (crushed annual leguminous plants buried in the ground).

Bacterial fertilizers convert nitrogen into other forms available to plants, increase soil fertility. These include azotobacterin, nitragin, phosphorus-bacterin.

Mineral fertilizers contain a large amount of nutrients that plants need. This type of fertilizer is divided into two groups: complex and simple.

Simple mineral fertilizers are those that contain one element. As part of complex two, three or more nutrients.

Mineral fertilizers are divided into three groups. It depends on the content of the elements. There are potash, phosphorus and nitrogen mineral fertilizers.

Microfertilizers contain zinc, manganese, iron, copper, boron, molybdenum and so on. They fight against fungal diseases. They must be applied very carefully, in small doses. Ferrous vitriol, manganese and boron fertilizers are known and widely used.

Fertilization with top dressing

At the end of April, they bring under fruit and ornamental plants (they pour it on the surface of the earth around the tree and pour water abundantly on top or immediately add it to the water and water it) complex fertilizer, and exactly one month later, at the end of May (in any weather, except for rainy days), the operation is repeated. You can take azophos or Kemira-universal, or ammophos, or nitrophos. Consumption is half a cup per 1 sq. meter. Coniferous plants need less mineral fertilizers. You can reduce their number by half. Fertilizers can be applied simultaneously with weed control and soil loosening (soil loosening can be done at any time, in dry weather, the same applies to weed control, the temperature must be above zero). Organic fertilizers such as compost and manure are best for raspberries, gooseberries, and roses.

Please note that each plant has its own recommendations for fertilizer and top dressing, this information can be obtained when buying a plant or from landscape specialists.

Spraying: disease treatment and prevention

Before the buds swell, you can do preventive spraying of all plants from fungal diseases with 3% Bordeaux liquid. 400 g of quicklime is taken, 300 g of copper sulfate is added to 10 liters of water. After the buds bloom, the procedure must be repeated, but the liquid must be taken already 1% so as not to burn the leaves.

If on roses and fruit trees black or rusty spots form on the stems, leaves, drying or fading shoots appear, then spraying is necessary.

Spots can appear even before the leaves bloom, on the trunks, stems of plants.

The fight against harmful insects

It is also necessary to remove slugs from plants. You can put any old tile in the garden, in a cool, shady place, under it slugs will regularly appear, which must be removed. This is a kind of trap. Daylily crops can be attacked by a daylily beetle (rattle), which should be destroyed, and eggs removed from the leaves.

Cracker (day lily)

Daylily masonry

Slug

Slug clutch

Lawn care

In the spring, you need to pay attention to lawns. After the soil dries out, it is necessary to comb them with a fan rake and remove last year's leaves. Try not to uproot new grass. If empty spots nevertheless appeared on the lawn as a result of mold, then it can be sprayed with foundationazole (20-40 g per liter of water) or ferazim, other chemicals containing carbendazim. These substances also contribute to the rapid growth of grass on the lawn.

It is necessary to carry out treatment in dry weather, when there is no wind. After two or three days, the procedure is repeated. On each of the packages of the drug will be detailed instructions application, it must be strictly followed.

And then you need to sow lawn grasses. If the soil is clayey, then it will need aeration, that is, oxygen access to the roots. This is done with the help of a pitchfork, which is often stuck to a depth of 10 cm, or with special slips on shoes equipped with long spikes. Aeration should be carried out before sowing.

Lawn grasses need fertilizer. Suitable nitrogen, they stimulate growth, as well as ammonium nitrate, urea. These fertilizers are scattered (scattered over the lawn) immediately after the soil thaws, it takes 2 kg per one hundred square meters. You can water the lawn, for example, with a florist (20 ml of product per 10 liters of water, 1 liter of the resulting solution per 2 sq. M of the lawn), this treatment is done 1 time in 20 days from spring to autumn or other preparations containing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. On hot days, when the sun is very hot, you do not need to apply fertilizers, as the grass can burn out.

Processing of trees and shrubs

It is best to whitewash fruit trees at the very beginning of spring, even before the snow has melted.

In early spring, pruning of trees and shrubs, climbing plants that bloom in autumn, late spring and summer on the shoots of the first year, as well as roses, is necessary. It is important not to confuse and prune those plants that bloom on old shoots. Thin young shoots are easy to distinguish from old ones with a thicker and more powerful trunk.

Pruning is a very important procedure for trees and shrubs. It must be completed before the active vegetation of plants begins in the new season. Pruning is started as soon as the temperature rises above zero. The first step is to cut berry and ornamental crops. Old, diseased, poorly located, rubbing branches are subject to removal. Then cut off healthy branches, forming a crown.

All these processes must be completed before the beginning of May. The temperature regime is not important here, the main thing is to have time to trim before the start of sap flow.

Forsythia, daphne, camellia, rhododendron, Japanese quince, winter-flowering erica, witch hazel, mahonia, magnolia, keria, cherry, pieris and others bloom in spring. And later, lilac, apple tree, ceanotus, viburnum, wisteria, mock orange, azalea and so on bloom. Some of these plants, in which the crown has grown a lot, need shaping pruning. It is carried out after flowering has ended so that new shoots can form and the plants also bloom the next year. As a result of spring pruning, cuttings appear, which can later be planted. By cuttings, abutilon, abelia, barberry, balsam, wolfberry, verbena, gazania, hydrangeas, helichrysum, willow, diascea, cypress, camellia, cherry laurel, clematis, cinquefoil, juniper, daisies, roses, pelargonium, currants, skumpia, poplar, reproduce very well. sunflower, forsythia, felicia, fuchsia. The cuttings are planted in a clean pot filled with special compost, which can be purchased at a gardening store. It is desirable that the composition contains a fungicide that does not allow the roots to rot. From above, the cutting should be covered with a bag to create a warm and humid atmosphere, but away from direct sunlight.

When cutting plants, you need to remove last year's leaves, which may contain a nest of golden tail, hawthorn, and other harmful insects. Such leaves must be burned. Gypsy moth egg-laying can also be found; it looks like reddish-colored pads covered with down. This is a very dangerous pest.

hawthorn

gypsy moth

Goldentail

In April, at a temperature of 5-8 degrees, you need to remove the insulation from roses and other crops that do not tolerate frost. This should be done gradually so that the plants have time to get used to the weather. It is best to remove the insulation materials completely on cloudy days so that the plants do not burn the sun. Conifers tied with burlap are released no later than the beginning of May (temperature 10-15 degrees), after the soil has thawed.

Don't be in a hurry to work in the garden. For example, you can dig the soil when it starts to stick to the shovel, it is better not to walk around the site at a time when it is buried in mud so as not to disturb the soil structure.

In the middle and end of spring, you can rake the soil from the sprinkled tree trunks, remove the bandages that protect against rodents. If damage is found on the bark, then they must be covered with a mixture of mullein and clay (mix the mullein plant in equal proportions with clay and dilute with water until the density of sour cream) or garden pitch (50% grease, 40% wax, 10% spruce resin, heat pine until dissolved and stir). And from above it all needs to be wrapped with a film.

Seeding and planting

In April-early May, when the soil has thawed, but the leaves have not yet begun to bloom, you can start planting perennials. Shrubs and trees are planted first. The place is chosen in advance, the landing pit is carefully prepared. It is dug in such a way that the size of the recess is 1 meter wide and 0.8 meters long. This is necessary so that subsequently it would be easier for weak roots to make their way into the ground. Pits are suitable for shrubs, 0.5 m deep and 0.8 wide. At the bottom of the pit, 50-100 g of potassium sulfate and the same amount of potassium chloride, 1-1.5 kg of double superphosphate, about 1 kg wood ash, 1-2 buckets of compost or rotted manure, about 1.5 kg of fluffy lime. These fertilizers must be mixed with half of the earth that was dug from the top of the pit. The root system of seedlings should not dry out. Trees planted in autumn must be inspected, corrected if they are lopsided or deeply buried in the ground. To do this, it is necessary to water the seedling abundantly in order to return it to its original place without damaging the roots, correcting it a little, then you need to fix the tree by tying it to a vertical peg. It is necessary to fill up the earth if the roots are bare or the earth has subsided, but without falling asleep at the same time the root neck of the tree (the place where the trunk passes into the roots).

When planting trees, it is necessary to water the seedlings twice. The first time when landing, and the second a day later. Then you need to loosen the earth, and then cover with mulch. If the weather is hot or windy, then the tree will need to be watered very often.

If you plant trees later, then there is a risk that it will not survive. If sap flow starts, but the tree has not yet taken root, then special care is needed. When the buds began to unfold at the plant, it means that sap flow began, if at this moment the branch is cut off, then you can see abundant juice. Special care includes abundant watering, soil mulching with peat, sawdust, finely chopped bark. Pits and tools (shovels) can be prepared in advance, even in autumn or winter. True, for work in the winter, you will have to make a lot of effort to dig a hole of a suitable size. Trees planted in spring yield a year earlier than trees planted in autumn. Planting trees depends on where you live. For the north, the best time is March-April. For the inhabitants of the south, autumn is more suitable, but you can plant trees in the spring.

After the threat of night frosts has passed, the soil has warmed up enough, you can start planting or sowing seedlings in the garden ornamental plants who love warmth. These are verbena, pelargonium, fuchsia, petunia, heliotrope, nasturtium and others.

bulbous plants

In spring, snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils, hazel grouses, tulips, ornamental onions and other plants begin to bloom. After the end of flowering, the leaves die off on their own, except for the snowdrop, which must be divided immediately after the end of flowering. They divide it like this: the excavated plant is carefully divided into parts, while it is important not to tear the roots, but to release them gradually. Each divided part after division must be planted in place and watered.

Garden areas with drooping yellow bulbous leaves can be mulched with fresh compost as a top dressing. It is imperative to mark the places where the bulbs are located, so that later they are not accidentally damaged and do not occupy this territory for other plants. 30-40 days after the tulip flowers wither, you can start digging them up. It will be possible to plant other plants in this place, for example, annuals. Bulbs of summer flowering plants should be planted in the ground in early spring. But cannes, nerine, dahlias and other heat-loving ones are best planted after the end of frost.

perennial plants

To early flowering perennials include lungwort, primrose, hellebore, bergenia. Then Goryanka, obrieta, aquilegia, geranium, periwinkle, forget-me-not and others bloom. In early spring, before the vegetation of the new season begins, it is necessary to prune winter-hardy perovski, verbena, last year's penstemons, ornamental grasses and other plants that are recommended to be left for the winter. After the usual spring processing Perennials don't need anything. It is only necessary to cut the yellow leaves and old flower stalks on time. A peduncle is a section of a plant stem on which flower buds and flowers are located. The old peduncle is a yellowed, withered section of the stem with already withered (dried) flowers.

Garden decoration with baskets and pots, benches, gazebo

In the spring, you can create beautiful compositions in hanging baskets, pots. They will decorate the garden and serve as its highlight. If benches are installed in the garden, then it is necessary to inspect them, tint the shabby places, preparing the benches for the season. This is best done in warm weather. It is necessary to select a paint that is suitable in color and texture, it is good if it is resistant to fading and to the effects of precipitation. If the bench is varnished, then you can refresh the layer, if it has noticeably faded, scratched. It is not necessary to choose a varnish of the same shade as the shop was opened, it can be darker, it can be lighter. You also need to check the gazebo, if necessary, then open it with varnish, repair, paint, clean inside the gazebo and around it.

It is important to carry out the entire range of work in the garden on time, without missing anything. A garden always requires a certain investment of labor and effort. But it's worth it. A beautiful, clean and well-groomed garden will delight its owner for more than one year.

K category: Garden

Tree planting

If we keep in mind that it is possible to dig up trees only from the end of September or from the beginning of October, and in November sometimes planting becomes impossible due to frost, then it will become clear that sometimes drunk trees for autumn planting can come too late; they have to be dug in until spring. If frosts have set in, and the trees are on the way, then the place intended for digging trees should be covered with horse manure so that the soil does not freeze, since digging in frozen ground is very difficult and harmful. But even for those gardeners who prefer spring planting, it can be advised to write out trees in the fall and dig them in for the winter, since trees are often late in spring, especially when they are discharged from more northern areas. There seems to be nothing more unpleasant than being forced to be late in the spring with planting due to the untimely arrival of the prescribed trees. That is why, when planting in the spring, it is certainly better to take out trees from the fall in order to be able to plant in early spring, which is of great importance for success; it is especially harmful to plant trees in late spring, when buds are already beginning to bloom. When extracting trees in autumn for spring planting, it must be borne in mind that the roots do not stop vital activity even after the leaves have fallen. It has been noted that even after the leaves have fallen off, the roots form laps in places damaged during discharge, or on artificial cuts. For this reason, it is very important to cut the roots during the autumn digging of trees, and not to postpone this operation until spring (cutting the roots before planting, or the so-called refreshing of the roots). If you carefully cut the roots (as well as before planting) and then dig in the trees, then in the autumn there are nodules, and such trees take root sooner and are better accepted in the spring.

Spring pruning of trees stimulates vegetative growth and accelerates the maturation of branches. Arborists of the Industrial Alpinists company will professionally clean trees in early and late spring in Moscow and the Moscow region. We serve organizations and private clients. Pruning is carried out on large-sized trees growing in any conditions. We take out the cut fragments of the tree and clean the place of work.

Why spring pruning is relevant

The debate about when is the best time to prune trees seems to go on forever. In favor of spring cleaning are the laying and formation of young branches, as well as favorable weather conditions. This procedure is performed before the start of sap flow (until the kidneys swell). For fruit trees, breaking this rule is unacceptable (otherwise, the yield will decrease). Ornamental species can be cleared after the formation of foliage.

Having removed even a small branch, it is necessary to immediately cover the cut with a garden pitch or other special tool.

Trees such as maple, chestnut, mulberry, poplar can be safely cleaned after the end of sap flow. When injured, they have active sap flow. Therefore, such a procedure, even in late spring or summer, is not terrible for them.

Among conifers, various types of juniper, arborvitae, yew and spruce perfectly tolerate shearing. Other types of evergreen large-sized plants are subjected to light spring sanitary pruning. It is necessary to form their crown not by cutting branches, but by pinching young shoots. Moreover, it is quite difficult to work with conifers - the juicy pale green tips of the branches are quite fragile, easily bent and broken. Yes, and there is a high risk of breaking the top.

The slightest damage to evergreens, if the crown is not properly formed, will lead to a violation of the verticality of the tree. With the growth of two tops, one of them must be urgently removed.

Fruit trees are pruned annually in spring. This stimulates yield and helps prolong the life of the plant. but garden trees should be cut correctly - otherwise you can forget about large and abundant fruits.

Rules for spring tree pruning

The most important rule of any (including spring) removal of branches is the use of a rust-free tool. In this case, the toolkit must be well sharpened. Garden tools should not tear the tissues of the plant, but carefully cut off the excess. You should work very carefully, without harming the remaining branches.

This is especially true when removing large branches. Before cutting them, it is necessary to remove as many small branches growing on them as possible. And only after that you can start sawing a massive branch, cutting it off in parts. The edges of large cuts are carefully protected. Such an operation will contribute to the rapid growth of callus (connective tissue that promotes the healing of wood wounds).

Sections made not at the pole are rarely overgrown. Therefore, such places, when pruning in the spring months, must be carefully treated with a wound healing composition.

In addition to torn edges, cuts should be without grooves. They will become a place of accumulation of water, which will lead to rotting of the wood. The putty used must be waterproof, sterile and antiseptic. Only in this case, the microorganisms and spores that have entered the wound will die and leave no chance for new pests to settle at the cut site.

Types of tree pruning in spring

In early spring, both strong and weak cleaning of trees are performed. At flowering species a strong one promotes active flowering, with a weak one, many small flowers are formed. During this period, the following types of branch removal are performed:

• Formative. Helps create a special shape of the crown. This creates a certain type of "green cap" with the desired density of temporary and skeletal branches.
• Regulatory (supportive). In addition to maintaining the shape, such pruning maintains certain crown parameters in terms of light levels.
• Rejuvenation. It is especially indicated for aging and old trees, since as a result of such pruning, the growth of young branches is activated.
• Recovery. Returns flowering, fruiting and growth to those affected by weather conditions and neglected, decrepit large-sized plants.
• Sanitary. Gives you the opportunity to remove damaged, intersecting, dead or diseased branches and helps to increase the illumination of the leaves.

In a metropolis, it is quite difficult to perform spring pruning of large trees. Cramped conditions, a large number of people and vehicles make such work difficult and dangerous. Therefore, for this work, a logging ticket is required. The climbers of the company "Industrial climbers" will not only provide this service quickly, professionally and at a reasonable price, but will also carry out the removal of the trimmed material, as well as cleaning the territory. Contact us, we will cut the trees as needed!