Rhododendron planting and care outdoors in siberia

It is worth paying attention to the rhododendron because not all gardeners know how to properly grow it on the site. This is a rather complicated process with a lot of tricks. If you decide to acquire this ornamental plant, then the first thing you need to understand is that the rhododendron is a very capricious plant. Quite often it freezes in winter. However, if you take care of it properly, taking into account the characteristics of the plant, then this perennial will not cause big problems.

Choosing planting material

Before proceeding to planting a rhododendron, it will not hurt for novice growers to find out what this plant has bred several winter-hardy species... If you rely on the experience of gardeners, then it is best to grow the following varieties on the site:

• deciduous schlippenbach;
• Japanese rhododendron;
• katevbinsky.

Thus, if you want to get high-quality planting material, then you need to be especially careful at the place of purchase. It is best to contact specialized nurseries, where they will not only be able to offer you the desired variety of rhododendron, but also give recommendations on how to care for it.

Don't be tempted by the opportunity to purchase this plant from the spontaneous market. Many of the local sellers often cannot tell exactly what they are selling. And even if the purchased seedling can bloom in the summer and decorate your garden, it most likely will not survive the winter and you will have to look for planting material again.

Landing

Given the difficult climatic conditions of our country, it is best to plant bushes in any autumn month... If you have planned this event for the spring, then it is advisable to plant the rhododendron in April and May. This recommendation is not given by chance, since it is at this time of the year that the development of the flower comes to an end, and young plants have time to get stronger.

Experienced growers can afford not to follow this rule and plant at any time. The main thing is that a lot of time has passed between the chosen moment of planting and the phase of flowering and budding. Indeed, during this period, the plant has to expend a lot of energy, especially when it comes to building up green mass.

Soil preparation

For planting a rhododendron, you need to choose a suitable place, which should be protected from winds and direct sunlight... The land must be watered, and the root system of the plant must also be moistened.

All novice flower growers should understand that transportation will not become a serious test for the plant if it is first thoroughly watered with warm water.

If the moisture in the ground was not enough and the lump was dry, then before planting the bush, you need to do the following: it must be left in water for a couple of hours so that it receives the required amount of moisture.

To plant a rhododendron, you will have to prepare a planting pit: it should be 2 times the depth and width of the root ball. First they pour there specially prepared mixture, for which the following components are used taken in equal amounts:

• heather land;
• sphagnum peat;
• deciduous soil;
• rotted manure;
• humus;
• pine needles.

This mixture is used in the amount of 1/3 of the volume of the hole, the rest of the space is filled with earth, which was formed during digging the hole. You can prepare a pit for a rhododendron not only just before planting, but also during the off-season, which occurs in spring and autumn.

Planting recommendations

In order for the planting of a rhododendron in the Urals to take place without complications, it is necessary during its implementation follow certain recommendations.

• having transferred the plant to the planting pit, it must be placed strictly vertically. The space around the root system must be filled with the remaining substrate and tamped to avoid voids in the soil;
• in addition, you need to take care of creating high-quality drainage, thanks to which the problem of removing excess moisture from the rhizome and providing it with oxygen will be effectively solved;
• during planting, the soil in the root zone must be mulched with a layer of 5 cm. This operation is completed with abundant watering - moisture must penetrate to a depth of 20 cm. Leaves, needles or peat can be used as material for mulching. It is important to follow the exact procedure: first lay the mulch, and only then carry out abundant watering;
• sometimes rhododendron has to be planted during the flowering period. In this case, you first need to cut off part of its buds. If the planting holes are located at a sufficiently large distance from each other, then pegs must be driven into the ground so that strong winds do not pull out weakly rooted plants. When the time required for rooting has passed, the supports are removed.

Care

Having finished planting the rhododendron in open ground, they begin to carry out activities in the framework of plant care. The main ones are spraying, feeding and forming a bush... A very useful operation is weeding the soil in the root zone, which helps to protect the plant from weeds.

In general, the rhododendron does not need special care if all the rules were followed during planting, and at the end the root zone was mulched. Such an operation, which is obligatory for most plants, such as loosening the soil, is not recommended for rhododendron. Moreover, it can harm it as it can damage the root system.

Watering

It is quite simple to care for a rhododendron during watering. It is especially necessary to regularly spray the plants in the first year after transplanting, since they need to create favorable conditions for rooting. The plant experiences the greatest need for moisture on hot days. A hint that the plant does not have enough moisture can be given by the flower itself: during such periods, turgor disappears, and leaves become matte... Spraying the leaves has little effect on maintaining the optimum moisture level, so this procedure can be carried out relatively rarely.

If in the first year of life after planting the plant receives less moisture, then it begins to react very sensitively. At the same time, excessive moistening of the soil does not benefit the plant, since this makes it impossible for the roots to receive the required amount of oxygen. This can be determined by how the leaves of the bush begin to fall off and turn yellow. An operative measure for stagnant moisture is loosening the soil to a shallow depth. After it, you need to wait a while so that the soil can dry well.

In order for the rhododendron to feel good after planting, it is necessary to decide with the correct irrigation regime... It is largely determined by the rigidity of the soil on which the flower grows, as well as weather conditions.

Watering should be done only with acidified and soft water. During the active growing season, watering should be increased. If the plant has received enough moisture during the summer season, then it will have a better chance of tolerating winter drought well.

Mulching

Many of the available materials can be used to protect the surface layer of the soil from increased evaporation of moisture, with the exception of chestnut leaves. The fact is that during decomposition, they increase the alkalinity of the soil, and this greatly harms the rhododendrons, which need acidic soil. You also need to correctly determine the thickness of the mulch layer, and for this they are guided by the size of the plants.

With a flower height of up to 50 cm, you can limit yourself to mulch with a layer of 4-6 cm.For higher specimens, the layer of mulch is increased to 10-15 cm.If tall plants up to 2 meters are grown, then the mulch should be laid on the surface of the soil with a layer of 30 cm.With the onset of spring it is completely removed.

Pruning

Taking proper care of your rhododendron involves pruning it regularly. These plants initially have the correct shape. Therefore, measures have to be taken only with respect to young plants - for this they pinch a place next to the central bud, which will help to form the correct crown. Full pruning is carried out only if the plant has a very large crown.

It is necessary to remove branches with a diameter of 24 cm. At the end of the operation, the sections must be processed with the available materials at hand. You can use oil paint, and in the absence of it, garden var, which will help to avoid infection of the plant.

Top dressing

Already in the first year of life after planting, fertilizers have to be applied to the soil. Given the young age of the bush, feeding is carried out in small portions in liquid form. There is a group of signs by which you can determine that a plant needs fertilization:

• lightening foliage;
• decrease in the growth of shoots;
• fading gloss;
• falling foliage;
• lack of buds.

Most often, feeding is carried out with semi-rotted manure.

Before applying organic fertilizers to the soil, let it stand for several days to activate microbiological processes... Gardeners most often use superphosphate as mineral fertilizers.

You can start feeding only after good watering, which will help protect the root system from burns.

Experienced gardeners often use the following types of fertilizers to give the necessary acidity to the soil:

• potassium nitrate or sulphate;
• ammonium sulfate;
• superphosphate;
• magnesium sulfate.

For the first time, feeding is carried out in early spring, and they are completed before the beginning of August.

Wintering

Among other measures for the care of garden rhododendrons, wintering is also important, on which the flowering of the plant depends on the next year. As a shelter, you can use roofing material or make another frame shelter. The greatest harm to rhododendrons is carried by strong winter winds and a thick layer of snow. To protect against these external factors, gardeners arrange special houses, using polyurethane foam or polypropylene for their manufacture.

You can determine the favorable moment when the shelter can be removed by the ambient temperature: it should warm up to + 10 degrees. at lower temperatures, it is worth postponing the removal of the plant from the shelter, as otherwise it may suffer.

Most often shelters are removed already in April, so the young leaves will be perfectly prepared for the first rays of the sun. During this period, the rhododendron comes out of dormancy, and therefore its need for moisture increases.

It is necessary to clean the shelter in cloudy weather. If this is done too late, then the plant may support it. Usually rhododendrons are sheltered for winter in mid-November. Usually by this moment there are no longer any warming, and the air temperature starts to decrease day by day.

Conclusion

The rhododendron has many fans among gardeners. Therefore, many would like to know about the features of its cultivation in the open field.This question is especially relevant in view of the fact that in the conditions of the harsh Russian winter, which is not uncommon for the regions of the Siberian region, it is not so easy to grow it as a perennial plant. Every inhabitant knows that even in May there are frosts, so the summer is very short.

However, knowing the rules of agricultural techniques for planting and caring for this plant, you can enjoy the flowering of this beautiful plant in our latitudes every season. To do this, you need to pay close attention to the plant at every stage of its life and carry out appropriate activities, to which the flower will surely respond with colorful and bright flowering.

But we must not forget that not everything depends on leaving. When growing rhododendron in Siberia, it is very important to choose a frost-resistant variety so that it can withstand the winter cold well and in the spring it begins to bloom without delay. Then a caring gardener will be rewarded for all his efforts, which he will show during the cultivation of rhododendron.

Garden rhododendron

Rhododendron is a woody, abundantly flowering plant. It is beautiful as a tapeworm, looks good in a group of plants. The peak of flowering occurs in the spring and early summer, and the rest of the time it attracts the eye with shiny foliage and a neat bush shape. With proper care, planting and reproduction of a flower is possible in Siberia and the Urals.

Is it possible to grow rhododendron outdoors

Rhododendron is considered a heat-loving and moisture-loving plant that blooms profusely only under certain conditions.

If you create such conditions and correctly choose the variety, then rhododendron will decorate the garden for many years.

Radodendrum requirements for the landing site:

• the site should be protected from winds;
• light should be diffused, light partial shade is preferable;
• groundwater should not be close to the soil surface;
• trees with powerful roots that take all moisture from the soil should not grow nearby. Invalid neighbors - birch, willow, alder, maple, linden, poplar;
• favorable neighbors - any conifers;
• the soil should be loose, moist, breathable... Rhododendrons grow only on acidic soils, alkaline soil is destructive for them. If the site has neutral or alkaline soil, then in the planting pits, the garden soil is completely replaced with special soil.

The choice of a variety must be approached competently, and acquire a species for which the climatic conditions of the region where it is planned to grow is suitable. For Siberia, hybrid evergreen varieties are suitable - Amursky, Daursky. For warm regions - Caucasian, Japanese.

When to plant a garden flower

Planting time depends on whether the root system of the rhododendron is open or closed.

Rhododendron, whose roots are in the container, can be transplanted to a permanent growing site at any time. It is important that the earthen lump does not crumble during transplantation. The day before planting, it is abundantly moistened with water, and the edges of the soil are carefully separated from the walls of the container with a thin sharp knife.

Rodendron sapling open-rooted It thrives best in autumn, when the weather is cool and the air is humid. In the spring, you can also plant such a seedling, but in order for it to take root, it will have to be watered often and sprayed daily.

A seedling with a closed root system can be replanted at any time

How to choose the right seedling

A seedling is considered the best for planting in the garden. two or three years of age... It should have several shoots that are located closer to the root collar. Shoots should not be thick and short - this is a sign of overfeeding with growth stimulants. Such a plant will not survive in the garden.

When choosing a rhododendron seedling, it is important to pay attention to its appearance. The foliage should be free of damage, swelling or dried leaves.

If the seedling is in a container, then bad signs are:

• mold on the soil surface;
• many long roots protrude from the drainage hole;
• the soil is overdried and leaves the walls of the container.

When choosing a seedling, you should pay attention to the appearance

Landing in a permanent place

At the chosen place you need dig a hole, 50 cm deep, 50-60 cm in diameter... If groundwater passes close, then the hole should be dug 15 cm deeper, and a drainage layer 20 cm thick should be laid on the bottom. Limestone should not be used as drainage.

The pit is filled with a special nutrient mixture, which consists of garden soil, peat, coniferous litter, compost or humus in equal proportions. If there is a lot of sand in the garden soil, then some of it can be replaced with clay chips.

Rhododendron is planted so that the root collar is exactly at ground level... The soil around the roots is slightly compacted so that there are no air gaps. Water abundantly. The trunk circle is mulched with needles, peat or shavings from coniferous trees.

Evergreen tree care

Rhododendron care has features:

• watering should be abundantso that the earth gets wet to a depth of 30 cm;
• watered by sprinkling;
• water for irrigation acidified with citric acid, vinegar, oxalic acid at the rate of 1 ml per 10 liters of water;
• it is necessary to water as soon as the soil dries up a little;
• weeding is carried out only by hand. The root system of rhododendrons is superficial, and the roots are very thin and can be easily damaged by mechanical stress, so you need to take care of them carefully;
• in hot weather, foliage is necessary spray daily.

Top dressing is carried out from the third year after planting. In the spring, when the buds begin to form, they feed them with Azophos, which is diluted at the rate of 20 grams per 10 liters of water. 3 liters of solution are poured onto one adult bush.

Rhododendron is fed with Azophos after the beginning of bud formation

The second feeding is carried out after flowering. In 5 liters of water, 0.5 tablespoon of superphosphate is diluted, the same amount of potassium salt and 1 tablespoon of ammonium sulfate. This is a portion of top dressing for 1 bush.

Ash, lime, calcium and chlorine must not be used for fertilization.

Preparing for winter in the garden

Most types of rhododendrons for the winter need to be covered:

• the trunk circle is covered with a thick layer of leaf litter;
• over the bush install the frameon which agrofibre with a density of 60 g / m2 is pulled;
• when frosts are established, a layer of snow should be sketched on top of the shelter.

The shelter is removed when the temperature becomes above 0 degrees.

If you take into account all the requirements of a rhododendron when planting, and create conditions suitable for its growth and flowering, then caring for it will not be difficult. The most important thing to do is water it, and water the foliage with water in hot weather. With good care, this shrub can live in one place for more than 25 years.

An incredible rhododendron, planting and care in the open field for which are rather laborious procedures, will delight the grower with beautiful and healthy growth, if you know how to grow it from a cuttings, how to fertilize it in June and other months, which mineral fertilizers are best, what are the most frost-resistant varieties, as well as many other features of the cultivation of this amazing shrub ...

Cutting rhododendrons in summer and other breeding methods

A rose tree (rhodon - a rose, dendron - a tree) is called a rhododendron, planting and caring for which in the open field is not difficult, but requires care and attention. Rhododendron can be creeping and tall, evergreen and deciduous, and it can be propagated in different ways - by cuttings and layering, grafting, dividing the bush, and seeds.

Seeds rhododendron is sown in late February - early March in boxes on the surface of the ground, without burying, and on top they arrange a greenhouse made of film or glass.The sprouts that appear are hardened and transplanted to street beds, for the winter, the seedlings of the rhododendron are well covered, and in the spring they are transplanted to a permanent place.

Cuttings rhododendrons in the summer occurs with semi-lignified tops of the bush - the apical bud and leaves are removed from the cut shoot, leaving only the top two, then the cuttings are soaked in a solution that stimulates root growth, and rooted in acidic soil consisting of peat, sand, needles.

Layers It is easiest to propagate rhododendron - at the beginning of summer, the branch of an adult bush is bent to the ground, pinned and sprinkled with soil in the middle part, after making a cut, the top is raised and fixed, and the area pressed to the ground is regularly watered. Already in the fall, you can cut off the mother branch and transplant the resulting daughter rhododendron bush.

rhododendron seeds - pictured

Many people wonder if it is possible to divide a rhododendron bush, yes, but this is a rather traumatic procedure for the plant. After digging up and dividing the mother bush, the resulting new plants are sent to grow until they get stronger, and the old bush will also need special care. Wild rosemary specimens with a very weak root system are strengthened in a greenhouse.

Rhododendron - planting and care in the open field

You should know if you decide to grow rhododendron - planting and care in the open field of this plant has its own characteristics. So, planting and transplanting a rhododendron is best done in the spring - in April-May, or in the fall, in September-November. The rose tree loves light fertile soil with high acidity (pH 4-5), with the addition of peat and soil from a coniferous forest, and also prefers partial shade, the northern side of the site, however, with strong shading, it blooms poorly, and in the open sun, regular spraying of the bush is necessary.

To plant a rhododendron, they dig a hole with a depth of at least 40 cm - its diameter should be twice the diameter of the roots, peat mixed with coniferous soil, rotten manure, loam is poured into the hole.

The root system of the rhododendron is fibrous, superficial, so the soil under the bush is loosened with care. The flower does not tolerate drought well, so the rhododendron is watered abundantly - the earth should be moistened by 20 cm, and before watering, the water is defended so that it becomes soft, or rain moisture is collected. It is useful to acidify the water by adding a little peat to it a day before watering. It is impossible to fill in the roots of rhododendron, they can rot, so even in the heat you do not need to water more often than usual, but spraying the foliage is a necessary procedure.

The natural shape of the bushes does not require such a procedure as pruning a rhododendron - you just need to remove the dried branches, rejuvenate the bush from time to time and trim it to the desired height. Pruning is carried out in early March, when the rhododendron has not yet woken up, removing no more than a quarter of the bush, while cuts of branches 2-4 cm thick are treated with garden pitch.

Rhododendrons bloom profusely every year, and in between "rest", and in order to stimulate flowering in a "lean year", faded inflorescences are immediately removed - then the plant directs nutrients to the laying of future flowers.

Varieties of Vasey, Japanese, Daurian, yellow bloom after about 5 years, and in Katevbinsky, Smirnov, sticky, Pontic, marigold, coarse-haired and some other varieties of rhododendron, flowering begins at 6-8 years.

At the beginning of spring, mineral fertilizers are needed for rhododendrons - for this they take two parts of ammonium sulfate, one part of superphosphate and potassium, and apply at the rate of 80 g per square meter, and after flowering, in June, they carry out the next top dressing, but the concentration of fertilizers is halved.

Phosphorus and potassium in equal proportions are fed rhododendron in the middle of summer at the rate of 40 g / m², this is done to stimulate the setting of flower buds and increase winter hardiness, but the abundance of nitrogen fertilizers during this period is unacceptable, as it leads to the rapid development of shoots and interferes with the setting of flower kidneys.

For the winter, rhododendron bushes are mulched with peat, and over them they arrange frames made of arcs, which are covered with agrofibre and polyethylene, which completely closes with the onset of frost.

The most common fungal diseases of rhododendron are chlorosis, rust, spotting, gray rot. They fight spotting and rust on the leaves of rhododendron with the help of copper-containing preparations, and you can get rid of chlorosis by adding iron chelate to the water during watering or by yourself dissolving a little citric acid in water along with iron sulfate.

Pests - scale insects, spider mites, bedbugs, weevils that infect rhododendron - are dealt with with the help of special fungicides and insecticides, for example, Tiram.

Rhododendron - winter-hardy varieties and their features

This alpine shrub - rhododendron, winter-hardy varieties of which are popular throughout Russia - tolerates cold well, but under natural conditions it winters under deep snow.

For example, rhododendron ferrugineum - rusty rhododendron - requires shelter in those regions where there is not enough snow, and pink amoena rhododendron winters well in the temperate climate of the middle zone, but also needs warming in especially frosty winters. Rhododendron mix is ​​frost-resistant. Cold resistance is inherent in evergreen varieties - Adams' rhododendron, Daurian, Caucasian.

rusty rhododendron - pictured

Not only in Siberia, but also in the temperate climate of the middle zone, it is safer to grow winter-hardy varieties of rhododendron, since frost-resistant plants survive temperatures of -30 ﹾ C even without shelter. The most popular cold-resistant varieties of rhododendron with a bright color of inflorescences are:

• Grandiflorum - purple;
• Nova Zembla - bright red;
• Caractacus - deep pink corrugated flowers;
• Album Novum - pink;
• Pohjola's daughter is purple;
• Elite - contrasting colors, tolerates frost down to -35C
• The Hague - pink
• The University of Helsinki is the most frost-resistant, winters at -40C.

Your site is beautiful if it is adorned with rhododendron, which may take some extra effort to plant and maintain outdoors, but will be rewarded with a delightful bloom.

Shrubs and trees that form the numerous genus of rhododendrons attract gardeners with flowers of different sizes, colors and shapes. But if the summer resident liked the rhododendron, planting and care in the open field will force him to completely surrender to this business. The plant will respond only to competent and attentive care with growth and beautiful flowering.

In nature, rhododendrons are found in many parts of the world. Russia is no exception. The Far East, Caucasus and Siberia are home to several species that are perfectly adapted to local conditions. The most winter-hardy of them are used for growing rhododendron outdoors in the Urals and in other regions with harsh climatic conditions.

Time and place for planting rhododendron in the ground

On the basis of the most beautiful wild-growing species, breeders have created many cultivars. Such plants, during flowering, are strewn with white, pink, purple, sometimes fragrant corollas. Varietal rhododendrons are most often planted in gardens, but they may not be hardy enough.

In order for planting a rhododendron in the middle lane and caring for it in the open field to be successful, you need to choose not only spectacular, but also hardy plants.

There are two favorable periods for planting shrubs in the ground:

• spring, from April to mid-May;
• autumn, from September to October.

The specific period is chosen based on the climatic and weather conditions of the region. The farther south, the earlier the soil warms up after winter, and later winter comes. In the northern regions:

• if you plant a seedling early, it will freeze from frost;
• if you delay in the fall, the plant will not have time to acclimatize and will not be able to survive the winter.

In the Urals, in Siberia, in the Northwest, seedlings that have fallen into the garden in the spring and have received the most attentive care in the summer take root better. In the south, shrubs are planted in summer, but only when there are no flowers on them.

Plants of this genus have a superficial root system. On the one hand, this helps them gain a foothold on the slopes, but on the other hand, it complicates the care of the rhododendron after planting in the open field and worsens the position of other species growing in the vicinity. To limit the growth of roots, the area allocated for the rhododendron is fenced in by digging in slate, roofing material, dense material for waterproofing.

How to plant a rhododendron outdoors

A hole about 40 cm deep and 60 cm wide is dug under the rhododendron.The bottom, if necessary, is covered with a layer of drainage, and a cone from the mixture is poured over it:

• 3 parts sour high-moor peat;
• 1 part of the land from coniferous crops;
• 2 parts of garden soil;
• 1 part washed coarse sand.

Do not forget that in addition to the substrate with high acidity, the plant needs minerals. They are added as a complex fertilizer.

If the rhododendron shrub was without water for a long time before planting in the ground, the root system is immersed in water for several hours. It will cheer up the plant, and it will quickly acclimatize in a new place.

The seedling is placed on top of a man-made mound so that the root collar, when filling, is not lower than the ground level. The roots are gently untangled and spread over wet soil. When the pit is filled up, the soil is compacted and watered again to soak the ground by at least 20 cm.

After planting, the trunk circle is densely covered with mulch based on peat, pine needles, chopped moss, pine bark or oak foliage. In the first year, you do not need to let the shrub bloom. This plant will require a lot of precious forces necessary for rooting. Therefore, all the buds that appear are neatly cut off, and caring for a rhododendron in the open field after planting it in the spring begins with the installation of a support that will save the still weak crown from wind and other risk factors.

Outdoor rhododendron care after planting

Caring for a rhododendron in the garden is not much different from caring for other ornamental shrubs. The plant requires:

• soil moisture:
• regular, but very careful, so as not to damage the root system, removing weeds;
• the same gentle loosening of the trunk circle;
• soil fertilization;
• help with pest attacks.

During bud formation and flowering, rhododendrons need to get enough moisture on a regular basis. If the plant is in drought conditions, it not only blooms worse this year, but also turns out to be unprepared for the next season. The optimum soil acidity for planting rhododendron in open ground in the Moscow region or in another region is 4.5–5 units. It is useful to add rotted needles from the forest litter or non-acidified peat to the irrigation water for this ornamental crop.

You can determine the moment when the rhododendron needs watering by paying attention to the leaves. If they have lost their tone and gloss, do not hesitate! Abundant watering and irrigation of the crown will return the plant to its former beauty.

Rhododendrons are fertilized from early spring to the end of flowering in the second half of summer. It is also worth feeding the shrubs before flowering, and fertilizers must be applied to the wet soil after watering.

As top dressing, it is useful to use products with an acidic reaction, as well as organics, including:

• manure;
• compost with the addition of rotted forest litter;
• horny bone meal.

Rhododendrons almost do not need formative pruning; sanitary cutting of old, frost-affected or dried shoots is carried out in early spring, before the juices begin to move.

In the summer, when flowering is in progress, it is important to remove wilted inflorescences in order to save the strength of the shrub for laying flower buds next year.

During planting and caring for rhododendron in the open field, it must be borne in mind that the culture is thermophilic in winter, without shelter it can be seriously affected. Frost protection is prepared in advance. Already by October in the north and by November in the middle lane, the root zone is sprinkled with peat, and then, before the offensive, the crown is tied up and covered with spruce branches and burlap. It will be possible to remove the shelter only in early spring, preferably on a cloudy day, in order to avoid sunburn and cracking of the bark.

Video about choosing a site and planting rhodendrons