Evergreen sheep on the site: all about growing

Cereals are increasingly being used for decoration mixborders, discount. They even create special cereal gardens. The tallest of them is evergreen oat. It is distinguished by the gray-blue color of the leaves.

Content:

• Description of the plant
• Reproduction
• Growing
• Care advice
• Application

Description of the plant

Evergreen sheep is a perennial cereal plant of the Myatlikov family. The scientific name is Heliktotrikhon, the folk name is desert sheep, viviparous. Schell's sheep is also him. It grows as a bush. If the plant is not planted, it can grow as tussocks.

On suitable soil, the width of the bush reaches 1 m.

Features of the structure:

• The root of the evergreen is fibrous. It penetrates deeply into the soil, supplying moisture and nutrients to the terrestrial part of the plant.
• The stems of the evergreen sheep are straight, the leaves are narrow, linear, the width at the bottom is about 1 cm. At the top, they evenly taper and end with a sharp end.
• The length of the leaves reaches half a meter. Some needle-like leaves are curled or folded lengthwise. The color of the leaves is gray or greenish blue.
• The sheep bloom with whitish or gray-green soft panicles, which appear in July. The height of the inflorescence stem reaches 1 meter. The inflorescences are unpretentious, they visually make the bush taller and more airy.

The plant is widespread in Europe, Asia, Africa. It often grows in the mountains. The Alps and the Western Mediterranean are called its homeland. Wild species are used as livestock feed. But it cannot be called a very useful forage crop. More evergreen sheep are used as an ornamental cereal.

In the southern regions, it is an evergreen plant, its leaves do not lose their attractiveness all year round. In mid-latitudes, under the influence of frost and snow, its leaves wilt in winter, although they do not dry out.

Decorative varieties:

• Pendula, the stem of which reaches 1.5 m. At the end of the stem, there is a heavy drooping inflorescence. Leaves combine gray, green, blue shades.
• Saphir Sprudel is distinguished by its bright gray leaves with a blue tint. Its silvery shiny inflorescences are especially beautiful.
• Robust will not rust even in the most extreme weather conditions.

Ornamental varieties of oat look difficult to separate from each other by leaves.

Reproduction

Mainly sheep are propagated dividing the bush... It is better to do this in the spring, because during the autumn transplant, the bushes often get wet and may even disappear. The bush is watered, carefully dug out, divided into parts. If the roots are damaged at the same time, this is not a problem. It is even allowed to cut off the lower part of the root. The rest is washed in water, divided into pieces and planted separately.

If the soil in the new place is light and loose, sufficiently moist, they quickly form roots and form a new bush. You can cut off part of the bush with a sharp shovel and move it to another place. In this case, there is a slight risk of rotting damaged roots in the part of the plant that remains in the ground.

Evergreen ewes can be grown from seeds.

They are harvested in the fall after ripening. Seeds are sown in open ground to a depth of 2 cm. Make sure that the soil on the site does not dry out. If the area where they are sown is not trampled, the seeds will sprout.Care should be taken to ensure that weak young plants do not drown out the weeds. When they grow up and get stronger, caring for them is reduced to periodic examinations. Seeds can be neither harvested nor sowed. They are scattered around the bush and some of them sprout. You can wait until the young bushes grow up, then transplant them to a new place.

If evergreen sheep are grown for seedlings, it is better to do it directly in pots. If transplanted incorrectly, the weak root is injured, which can lead to the death of the plant. You cannot pull out a thin plant, pull it by the ground part. Therefore, it is necessary to plant seedlings by transshipment. The sheep are watered, pass the inside of the pot with the back of the knife, separating the soil from the walls. Turn the pot on its side, carefully remove the soil along with the plant and plant it in a permanent place.

Growing

Sheep grows well on dry, loose, light soils. Nutrients are optional. On the contrary, if evergreen sheep are planted in fertile soil, and even placed in the shade, its leaves will turn green.

Sheep tolerates evergreen frost and drought well.

On heavy soils, sheep grows poorly, especially when they are flooded with water. In this case, the root system of the plant rots, as a result of which the plant disappears.

No more than four plants are planted per square meter. Planting density depends on the purpose of the bushes. If a hedge is formed, they are planted closer to each other, at a distance of 50 cm from each other. Sometimes oats are planted alone, near flowers or shrubs of another species. If the soil is heavy, sand and gravel are added. They will serve as drainage for the evergreen sheep during rain or flooding.

Care advice

Evergreen sheep feels good in conditions close to the climate of the mountains. Does not like combinations of high temperatures with high humidity. In this case, it does not bloom well, in August the risk of rust increases, which will damage its decorative leaves.

A sheep grows in one place for about three years. Then it grows into a wide clump and seems unkempt. In the fourth year, the bush must be divided into parts and planted so that it does not lose its decorative effect. After the panicles have faded and lost their decorative appearance, they are cut off.

How to care for a plant:

• During the first winter, the sheep remain green, or rather blue, and do not lose their color. He meets the next spring with a slightly spoiled hair. "Gray" threads appear in it. So that such leaves do not spoil the general appearance of the plant, they are removed. Take it with your hand closer to the base and gently pull it out.
• After the third wintering, the bush is rejuvenated. In the fall, the entire aerial part is cut off. In the spring, the bush can be divided into several parts.
• The indisputable advantage of the evergreen sheep is that it has no pest enemies. And there are few diseases. You can fight rust by changing the growing conditions. Others will not be able to make the climate, but you can find another place where the bush will be better ventilated.
• Evergreen sheep should be watered sparingly. He needs watering during a drought. If the soil is too dry, the leaves will dry out and new ones will grow slowly.
• Evergreen sheep does not need frequent feeding. They can degrade the appearance of the plant. Fertilizers can be applied soon after planting, but in small quantities. The next year, in the spring, dissolve in water mineral fertilizers and watered once a year.

Application

The reason for the popularity of evergreen sheep is unpretentiousness to growing conditions, decorative type of bush throughout the year, resistance to drought, winds, frosts, and rains. It can beautify areas with poor soil where other flowers and shrubs do not grow.

Where and how the plant can be used:

• Evergreen oat is especially beautiful in an autumn garden, when most of the flowers have already dried up. He can decorate the site even in winter, until it is covered with snow.
• The blue-gray leaves and inflorescences of the sheep look great in rockeries, mixborders, against the background of variegated shrubs and trees. They sway in the wind, giving the composition volume, lightness and dynamics.
• Sheep looks original on alpine slides, near artificial and natural reservoirs. It is used in monoclumba with other cereals, especially those that change the foliage color to yellow or red in autumn. You can create an entire cereal garden by choosing neighboring plants of different heights, colors and leaf shapes.
• Evergreen ewes can be formed from bushes hedge... It will look spectacular, and it will not require special care. It doesn't need to be cut like a bush hedge.

Good partners for the sheep will be bells, phloxes, saxifrage, irises... It does not shade flowers, but only emphasizes their beauty.

More information can be found in the video: