Mountain pine Golden Glow - description and features of cultivation

Decorative conifers and shrubs have many advantages in landscape design. They are beautiful all year round, they clean the air around well and fill it with phytoncides. In summer, they look beautiful together with roses, cannes, and other large-flowered plants.

In winter, the pine tree does not expose the branches, like deciduous plants, therefore it remains a decoration of the flower garden. Pine trees do not require much attention, so they can be grown in different climatic zones.

Mountain pine Golden Glow belongs to the dwarf forms of coniferous shrubs. It has a wide lush crown, like a pillow. It is easy to distinguish a pine tree in a flower bed in winter. During this period, its needles acquire a yellow color.

Content:

• Description of Golden Glow pine
• Reproduction of mountain pine
• Site preparation and seedling selection
• Planting mountain pine
• Bush care
• Mountain pine use

Description of Golden Glow pine

Pine Golden Glow reaches a height of 1.3-1.5 m. The shape of the crown at a young age is spherical, and over the years it acquires a pillow-like shape, therefore the width increases. In adult shrubs, it reaches 1.8 m. The crown often has an asymmetrical shape. Shoots are short, directed upwards.

The mountain pine root system is highly branched, although the main root goes deeper than a meter. This allows the bush to withstand strong gusts of wind. The needles are thin, shiny, bright green. In length, they reach 6 cm. The needles grow in 2 pieces, slightly curling together. Each of them lives for 3-5 years. The color changes with the seasons.

In spring and summer, it is bright green, in the middle of autumn it turns yellow.

At the age of 6 years, cones appear on the pine. The length of each is 3-6 cm, the color is light brown, the shape is conical. The pine variety of the mountain Golden Glow is distinguished by its high winter hardiness (zone 3). It can withstand temperatures as low as 40 ° C and grows well in areas illuminated by the sun. Pine tolerates high snow cover well. Its branches do not break off from the snow.

Reproduction of mountain pine

Golden Glow Pine is propagated by seed. It makes no sense to use cuttings for propagation, they do not take root. Some species can be propagated by grafting. 4-year-old seedlings are used for the stock. This method helps to fully transfer the properties of the mother tree to the plant.

Features of reproduction using seeds:

• Pine seeds ripen the next year after pollination. They are collected, sent to stratification... It takes a month, but you can do without this stage.
• Sow in the spring in open ground or boxes. When growing in boxes, the number of seedlings will be higher. The soil is prepared loose and light. Fry it in the oven for disinfection.
• Seeds are treated with Fundazole or Fitosporin, soaking in solution according to the instructions.
• Sow to a depth of 2-3 cm, the distance between the seeds is 5 cm.
• Sprinkle on top with peat, which will protect against fungal diseases. You can simply pour the seeds into a box and mix them in the soil.
• Boxes or an area with sown seeds are covered with glass or foil.
• Seedlings will appear in a month. Periodically they are ventilated, watered, avoiding waterlogging of the soil.
• They are transferred to a permanent place after 1-2 years.

Useful video about planting mountain pine:

You can try to grow mountain pine from a cuttings, but they take root very badly:

• Annual shoots up to 10 cm long with a bark heel are cut at the end of April.
• The cuttings are kept in a root-forming solution for three days. During this time, the soil and dishes are prepared.
• A drainage layer is placed on the bottom of the box. The soil made from peat, sand and earth is poured on top.
• The cuttings are installed in a box with a depth of 4 cm.The distance between the cuttings is left at 10 m.
• Grown in greenhouses with bottom heating. It can be created by placing the pot in a box filled with manure or dry leaves.

You can grow cuttings outdoors. For this, the lower part is treated with Epin or Zircon. A layer of gravel and expanded clay is laid at the bottom. Layers of compost, earth and sand are placed on top.

Site preparation and seedling selection

Golden Glow Pine grows well on soils of any composition. It can be black soil, sandy loam, rocky areas. It even grows on moist and acidic clay soils. Pine does not like compacted salty soils. They make the bushes less resistant to diseases, they are more often visited by pests and diseases. In such areas, peat and sand are introduced into the soil before planting. The most beautiful bushes are obtained on sandy and sandy loamy slightly acidic soils. If there is a lot of sand in the soil, it is better to add clay. It will retain moisture better.

Mountain pine Golden Glow grows well on soils consisting of turf and sand with the addition of clay.

The pine planting site should be sunny. It does not grow in shade, although it can tolerate light shade. When buying a seedling, they carefully examine it. The needles should not be yellow or dry. Better to buy a bush in a pot. It is easier to transport and transfer.

But the plant must grow in this container, and not be transplanted into it before being sold. You can find out about this by looking at the pot outside. The roots should be visible from the drainage hole. The seedling should be no more than 5 years old.

If a pine tree with an open root system is planted, you need to carefully examine it. There should be no rot or mechanical damage on the roots. To have a chance to buy a healthy plant, it is better to purchase it in special nurseries or garden centers.

Planting mountain pine

Young shrubs with a closed root system can be planted at any time of the growing season. Open-rooted plants are planted in spring or early September. The pine must have time to get accustomed to the onset of winter cold and frost.

Landing rules:

• The bushes are planted so that in adulthood they do not interfere with each other. The minimum distance between them is 1.5 m, the optimum for creating beautiful compositions is 4 m.
• Pits are prepared in advance, several months before planting. It is taken into account that the length of the root is large, a hole for it is dug deep, up to 1 m. It is installed so that the root collar is on the surface of the soil layer.
• If pine is sold in a pot, they dig a hole 10 cm wider than an earthen lump. A drainage layer up to 20 cm thick is laid out at the bottom of the pit. Gravel, broken brick, expanded clay are used as drainage material. Drainage will protect the pine root system from decay.
• Humus is added to the ground, nitroammofoska, humus or 50 g of nitrogen fertilizer are added. Mix thoroughly. They fill the hole with the prepared composition, compacting it so that there are no empty gaps between the roots.
• Water the bushes, adding 1 bucket of water under each. The soil is mulched with cut grass, needles 5-10 cm thick. The thicker the layer of mulch, the better it will retain moisture in the root system.

Mountain pine transplant is carried out in winter, with a frozen lump of earth, inside which the root system is located.

Bush care

Mountain pine Golden Glow does not require special care:

• It tolerates drought well, so there is no need to water the plant that has taken root. The first month is watered once a week, bringing 2 buckets of water under the bush.
• The first weeks after planting, the plant is covered from hot sunlight. To do this, use spruce branches, non-woven materials or install a sheet of cardboard in front of the bush.
• If the soil on the site is dense, loosen it in case of compaction. At the same time, they make sure that the root system is not damaged.
• Young plants can be damaged by frost, their needles suffer from spring sunburn. To protect the plants, cover them with spruce branches or non-woven materials. In early April, the shelter is removed. When the plant becomes adult, it does not need to be covered.
• Mountain pine grows slowly, up to 10 cm per year. Usually it already has a beautiful shape and does not require crown formation. But sometimes it happens that it is damaged as a result of mechanical damage. In this case, the damaged areas are removed, and the formation of the crown begins.
• Golden Glow tolerates pruning well. Therefore, in the spring, the tops of the shoots are shortened by a third of the length. This causes the bush to become lush and fluffy. The same result can be achieved by pinching young shoots one third of their length.
• You can fertilize pine for the first 2 years with nitroammophos (50 g) and complex mineral fertilizers (Kemira station wagon, 40 g under a bush). Fertilizers are applied until mid-August. If fed later, young overgrown shoots will not have time to ripen and will die from frost in winter. In the third year, it is no longer necessary to fertilize mountain pine. During this time, a thick layer of needles forms under the bush, which, under the influence of moisture and high temperature, reheats. The plant absorbs nutrients that are released from the litter.

Mountain pine Golden Glow is not damaged by pests. But she can suffer from fungal diseases. To prevent infection, plants are treated with preparations containing copper in the spring. Pine is treated with the same means in case of damage by powdery mildew or other fungal diseases. Processing is carried out every two weeks.

More information about growing mountain pine can be found in the video:

Mountain pine use

Mountain pine Golden Glow is used in landscape design. It is planted in rock gardens, rockeries, looks good in group plantings and as a tapeworm.

Pine can strengthen slopes and is used to create hedges. Pine goes well with spruce, Balkan pines, larch, birch.