Thuja is a beautiful, evergreen plant. A real decoration of any garden. With the onset of spring, the coniferous plant requires increased attention. First of all, the tree needs to be uncovered, then trimmed, the soil loosened, fertilized, watered. Today we will talk about the rules for caring for thujas in the spring.
Removing the covering material
The first thing to do in the spring is to remove the shelter that was installed for the winter. This is done when the root system has woken up. But how can this be determined? There is nothing complicated. Just look at your deciduous trees in the garden. If buds have begun to swell on their branches, then you can safely uncover the thujas.
You can’t leave thujas permanently without covering protective material. You need to gradually accustom the plants to the changed conditions. To do this, you can open them for a few hours, and then cover them again. Or another option is to open them first on one side, then on the other.
Why do thujas cover themselves for the winter?
From the moment of planting, young thujas must be covered for the winter for three years. This is not done to protect against frost. One of the main reasons for autumn “wrapping” is to prevent snow from sticking to the branches. Under the weight of the snow cover, the shoots can break and the crown can become deformed.
In addition, the plants are still weak. Their root system is not very well developed and can suffer from adverse weather conditions. And the sun shines very brightly in the transitional spring-winter period. “Aggressive” ultraviolet radiation in February and March often burns the delicate greenery of the thuja.
Important! Polyethylene or cellophane should not be used to cover the thuja. They do not allow air to pass through. The plant will rot and die under such a cover. The best materials are white cotton fabric, polypropylene bags, burlap. First, a frame is installed over the tree. Then it is covered with covering material.
Removing mulch
If you have spread mulch for the winter, carefully move it away from the trunk circle. This measure is necessary so that the soil around the plant warms up faster. After that, loosen the soil to a depth of 5-8 cm so that oxygen can freely pass to the root system. At the same time, it is necessary to weed – remove all the weeds.
There is no need to remove the mulch completely. When the weather settles and stable warm days come – at the end of April-May, the protective layer can be returned to its original place. Sometimes the branches are wrapped for the winter so that they do not break under the weight of the snow. In the spring, do not forget to remove the threads around the crown.
Treatment of yellowed needles
After the thuja opens in the spring, its needles may turn yellow or even brown. This happens if the wrong material was used to cover the plant. It could let the sun through and the needles lost their rich green color. But there is no reason to despair. The situation can be fixed. It is necessary to spray the young seedling with one of the growth stimulants. The best preparations for this purpose are “Epin” or “Zircon”. They are used according to the instructions. Spraying with the solution is repeated 2-3 times a week until the plant recovers and starts growing.
Having opened the thuja, did you notice that the bright shade of the needles became pale, lost intensity? There is nothing to worry about. A little time will pass and the colors will become more pronounced. After all, now the plant will have constant access to sunlight and a large amount of oxygen.
Pruning shoots
The next stage of care is pruning. It is carried out immediately or a few days after removing the cover. Pruning can be of several types:
Preventive
It is often called medicinal. All yellowed shoots are removed – they will not recover. Blackened parts of branches should also be cut off. They are affected by fungal bacteria. If they are not removed, the infection will spread to the entire plant. Preventive pruning is an important measure for caring for thuja. The best time to do it is April. After the work has been done, air circulation inside the crown improves.
Decorative
It is carried out when it is necessary to give the tree some form or to change the density of the crown. Often, topiary haircut is done to give bizarre and original forms. With its help, voluminous geometric figures can be formed from thuja: a ball, a cube, a pyramid. Thuja, trimmed in the form of a spiral, looks spectacular.
Advice! When carrying out preventive pruning on large thujas, do not forget to look deep into the crown. Yellowed, dead branches may remain unnoticed there. If they are not cut out, over time they may extend beyond the crown, spoiling its shape. In addition, dead shoots are a favorable environment for the development of diseases.
Spring care: basic rules
The thujas are open. The spring sun illuminates their branches. Under the influence of warm rays, the needles actively give off moisture. For this reason, the plant needs regular watering. But it is important to observe the measure. Overwatering is as dangerous for a coniferous tree as excessively dry soil.
In spring, try to stick to the following watering schedule:
- 1 time per week before the heat sets in
- 3 times a week if the soil dries out quickly
In this case, observe the following rules:
- 1 bucket of water – tree from 3 to 5 years old
- 2-3 buckets of water – plant older than 5 years
Important! In summer, the volume of liquid for irrigation should be doubled.
Additional fertilizing
Conifers need spring fertilizing. And thuja is no exception. But how to choose the right fertilizer for thuja? What nutrients does it need? In the spring, when watering, be sure to add humates to the water. Most often, these substances are made from peat. They are environmentally friendly, natural plant growth stimulants.
Humates: what are their benefits?
They contain humic acids. They stimulate metabolic processes both in the plant itself and in the soil around it. Humates also help the plant absorb more nutrients from the soil by activating the root system.
Humates do not accumulate in the soil and do not harm it. On the contrary, they improve the soil structure, improving its fertility. Thuja watered with humates absorbs nutrients and moisture from the soil better. As a result, the coniferous plant becomes healthier, its decorative qualities improve.
What fertilizers should be applied?
Everyone is used to the fact that most garden crops need nitrogen in the spring. But thuja does not need it. It can react to such feeding by yellowing or losing branches. The best choice for conifers is balanced mineral or biofertilizers. They must contain phosphorus. Magnesium is needed for a rich, green color of the needles.
Feeding rules
It is advisable to choose complex fertilizers for thuja in the form of granules. They do not need to be dissolved in water. It is enough to scatter around the plant, having previously loosened the soil. Two weeks after this, the trunk circle should be mulched.
This is done like this:
- loosen the soil slightly
- add some compost
- mix with soil
Preventive spraying
In spring, not only plants wake up, but also pests. If you do not fight them, then a “mass attack” of parasites can worsen the appearance of the plant, lead to illness or death. You also need to protect the thuja from diseases and fungal infections.
Spraying against diseases
Insecticidal and fungicidal treatment is carried out using a garden sprayer. The solution is prepared strictly according to the instructions. The entire crown, outside and inside, as well as skeletal branches, is treated. Prevention is needed against such common thuja diseases as:
- Snow and common shoot
- rust
- fuzarioz
- root rot
For processing, it is necessary to choose complex systemic preparations: “Skor”, “Rayok”, “Topaz”, “Horus”, “Strobi”, “Fundazol”. To prevent root rot, “Ordan” and “Rakurs” are suitable.
Supporters of biological preparations can use such products for treating thuja as: Fitosporin, Alirin, Gamair.
Advice! It is advisable to use biological preparations when the air temperature is within the range of +12-20°C.
Pest control treatment
Young and adult thujas often suffer from insect pests. Among them: aphids, scale insects, false scale insects, thuja leaf miner and silver leaf moth, sawflies, leaf rollers, spider mites. To protect against all of these parasites, the plant is treated with insecticides.
In the spring, processing is carried out in 2 stages:
1. Early spring, low temperatures. At this time, spraying is carried out against wintering pests: larvae and eggs. “Preparation 30+” and “Prophylactin” are best suited for these purposes.
2. The air temperature rose above +10°C. The remaining pests wake up. Such preparations as “Fufanon”, “Aktara”, “Calypso”, “Confidor Maxi” will help to get rid of them.
For insecticidal treatment, biological preparations can be used: “Aktofit”, “Fitoverm”. But they will only work at air temperatures above +17-18°C.
