The evergreen beautiful fir fell into temperate latitudes from the subtropics or tropics of the Northern Hemisphere and quickly gained universal love. In the wild, the genus has more than 50 species, among which balsam fir and its varieties are very popular.

Grade description

Balsam fir is an evergreen tree with a regular conical crown. The height of fir in the forests of North America can reach 25 - 35 m. Branches descending to the ground level are covered with a smooth bark of gray-brown color. The shiny needles in the upper part are painted in dark green color, and decorated with white stripes at the bottom. Cylindrical bumps up to 10 cm long change color as they develop.

Balsam fir can grow in one place for up to 200 years.

In culture, dwarf varieties are of particular interest:

  • Kiwi is a miniature shrub that does not exceed a height of half a meter in adulthood. Dark green needles over the years lose the bluish tint inherent in young specimens.
  • Hudsonia is a popular dwarf mountain fir with black and green needles.
  • Balsam fir Nana is a dwarf shrub up to 1 m in height with a rounded crown formed by sprawling and branched shoots.
  • "Green Globe" - a coniferous tree with a height of 1 m and dark green needles, which in spring at the ends of the shoots acquires a golden hue. A crown in the shape of a regular ball does not need a haircut.

Features of growing plants

Having decided to plant a culture on a personal plot, the gardener should take into account a number of cultural features:

  • gas intolerance;
  • frost resistance;
  • shade tolerance;
  • long falling and stainless needles.

Planting fir

In order for the balsam fir to grow healthy and bring aesthetic pleasure, it is necessary to correctly conduct planting work.

Preparing seedlings before planting

If planting material was purchased with an open root system, then the seedling rhizome should be soaked in an insecticidal-aqueous solution, which will destroy the infection and pest larvae. When buying seedlings in a flower shop, their root system is usually located in a container with an earthen lump. In this case, the roots are immersed in a clay mash, after which the planting material is planted in the ground.

How and when to plant balsam fir in open ground

All varieties and types of fir can be planted both in the middle of the spring season and in early autumn.

Landing work is carried out on a rainy or cloudy day according to the following algorithm:

  1. On a shaded area with fertile and well-drained soil, landing pits with parameters of 50x50 cm are dug.
  2. The distance between the pits, due to the specific development and location of the roots, is maintained within 2.5 m.
  3. A 20 cm drainage layer of broken brick or gravel is placed at the bottom.
  4. Drainage is sprinkled with a small amount of complex mineral fertilizers, which, in turn, are crushed by sawdust, protecting the roots of the fir from burns.
  5. Next, a seedling is established, the rhizome of which is sprinkled with a mixture of clay, peat, humus, sheet soil and sand in equal parts.
  6. After landing, the area around the trunk is compacted and moistened.

Plant Care Rules

Thanks to the characteristics of balsam fir, such as frost resistance and shade tolerance, caring for a crop is quite simple.

  1. Watering, loosening and mulching. It is recommended to water the crop three times during the summer season at the rate of 20 liters for each specimen. After irrigation or rainfall, it is recommended to loosen the near-stem circle and then mulch it with a layer of straw or peat 8 cm thick.
  2. Top dressing. If seedlings were planted in fertile soil, then the first enrichment of the soil is carried out using complex mineral fertilizers after 4 years of development in a permanent place.
  3. Pruning. The shaping haircut of balsam fir is not required, since it independently forms a lush and regular crown of dense branches. For sanitary purposes, pruning is carried out in the spring, when dry, injured branches are removed.
  4. Preparation of fir for winter. Despite the frost resistance of the culture, due to the superficial root system, the near-trunk circle of young specimens with the onset of cold weather is mulched and covered with fir spruce branches. Caution! With the advent of spring, the needles of two-, three-year-old plants planted in sunny areas can suffer from sunburn
  5. Protection of conifers from diseases and pests. The decoration of balsam fir can be affected by fir hermes, fir cone leaflet and fir shoot moth. If during a tree inspection signs of the vital activity of one of the above pests were revealed, the crown is treated with an insecticidal solution. If you violate the recommendations for care, the decorative inhabitant of the garden may be affected by rust. To cure a tree of a fungal disease, it is necessary to cut the affected shoots and burn them, and then spray with fungicide.

Propagation of an evergreen tree

It is possible to propagate fir seeds and cuttings.

Cuttings

To preserve varietal qualities, a vegetative propagation technique is used, in which:

  1. For harvesting cuttings, annual shoots with apical buds on the north side of the tree are selected.
  2. The process of cutting cuttings 8 cm long with heels is carried out in the spring on a cloudy day.
  3. The tank is filled with a mixture of peat, sand and sheet land in equal parts.
  4. Planting material is buried in the substrate and covered with caps.
  5. The tank is transferred to a bright place, from where it moves to the air in summer.
  6. In winter, a container with cuttings is aged in the cellar, and in the middle of next spring it is again taken out onto the street.
  7. Cuttings take root only in the second year.

Seed way

If the gardener was able to get seeds from highly located cones, then you can try to propagate the type species in a generative way.

  1. In winter, seed is kept in refrigerators for stratification.
  2. In mid-spring, the seeds are planted to a depth of 2 cm and covered with a film that prevents the formation of a crust.
  3. When shoots appear, the beds are loosened and watered.
  4. In winter, in the first year, seedlings are covered with fir spruce branches.
  5. And in the spring, new rooted specimens are planted at a permanent place of growth.

Landscaping fir

Despite the decorative and spectacular appearance, balsam fir and its varieties are not very suitable for landscaping urban garden and park areas, since they do not tolerate gas polluted air.

However, country houses and personal plots in sleeping areas may well be decorated with this luxurious conifer:

  • Tall specimens look great in single landings against a bright lawn.
  • Medium-sized firs are used in group ensembles.
  • With the help of dwarf varieties, rockeries and the lower tier of the Alpine hills are formed.

Thus, an attractive and undemanding balsam fir with proper care will become an exquisite evergreen decoration of a territory remote from industrial areas.

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