Root system of pines. Features of coniferous trees

Pine is a very valuable pine tree, quite widespread in the territory of our country. The evergreen tree is our constant companion. We have grown accustomed to seeing him on New Year's Eve in the house, forever remembering his wonderful fragrance. Yes, and in forest plantations predominantly pine trees. Under favorable conditions, they reach forty meters in height. But sometimes even a century-old tree can remain forever a small dwarf. This plant is very photophilous. It can be safely attributed to long-livers.

Description of pine

The tree reaches forty meters in height. It belongs to plants of the first magnitude. Circumference of the trunk can reach one meter. The pine bark has a reddish-brown color with furrows of exfoliating parts. At the base of the tree it is much thicker than the top. Nature is so conceived for protective purposes. The thick pine bark in the lower part protects it from overheating during fires.

The young plant has a conical shape of the crown. Growing up, it grows round, becomes wider, and the aging tree acquires an umbelliform or flat shape. Pine needles, as a rule, are of a greyish-green color. It is a bundle consisting of two needles. They are located on the entire branch. Khvoinki very prickly and pointed, slightly flattened, with a thin longitudinal strip. Needles live three years. In the autumn period, it partially falls. Most often this happens in September. Khvooinki before it are painted in yellow, making the pine look variegated.

Pine cones

The description of the pine would be incomplete without mentioning the cones. They are located either one by one, or two or three pieces on legs looking down. The green pine cone has a conical shape and a dark green hue. Sometimes a brown color is possible. And only in the second year it ripens, acquiring a brown or brown shade. The length of the cone varies from 3 to 6 centimeters, and the width is 2-3 cm.

Her life begins with the formation of a small red ball. It's a pine bud. It appears in late spring, at a time when young shoots from the kidneys begin to grow on the tree. First they do not have needles, and cones of cones are located on their apexes.

All the summer buds grow and with the arrival of autumn become a green color the size of a pea. They remain like this all winter. And with the advent of spring, they begin to develop further. By the end of summer the cone reaches adult size. And by the next winter it will turn brown, ripen, but not yet open. Its scales are still tightly pressed, so the seeds of the pine are not yet poured. And this process will begin only on the third spring, when the snow melts. The cones will begin to dry out in the sun, as a result the scales open, and the winged seeds of the pine leave their house.

Pines distinguish between female and male cones. They are located in different places. Women are on the tops of young shoots, and men are near their base. So it is the men who pollinate their female pollen. Fertilization occurs only after a year. All this time, the pollen, hitting a female cone, is at rest.

The structure of pine

In fact, the structure of the pine is the same as that of any other tree. It has a trunk, a root, branches with needles. The root system of pines deserves special attention. Currently, four types of root systems are distinguished:

• Powerful, which consists of a highly developed stem root and a pair of lateral ones, which is characteristic of well drained soil.
• Powerful with a weakly expressed rod, but strong lateral roots that grow parallel to the surface of the earth. This option is typical for dry soils with deep groundwater.
• Weak, consisting only of short branching processes. Such a pine root is found in marsh and semi-wretched places.
• A shallow but fairly dense root system in the form of a brush is characteristic of solid soils.

The root system of the pines depends on the structure and nature of the soil on which the tree grows. Its lamellar shape makes the pine very valuable. It enables the use of trees for artificial afforestation. Pine is planted on marshy, dry and unsuitable lands. It should be noted that the root of pine begins to grow at a temperature above three degrees. It penetrates into the depth of 230-250 centimeters and in the first years of life is intensively growing. By the age of thirty, the roots reach their maximum size and maximum depth. In the future, there is a quantitative increase in the surface processes. Horizontally in different directions they grow to ten or twelve meters. As the observations show, the roots of the pine penetrate into the depths through the gaps left by the rotten roots of other trees. On such ready moves downward rushes whole bundles of young shoots.

The trunk of a pine

Pine growing in dense plantations, has a fairly even and slender trunk without knots. In rare plantings in conditions of spaciousness, the tree grows less tall and with a more sarcastic trunk. The bark on different parts of the pine has a different color and thickness. At the bottom of the tree it is thick and red-brown, and in the middle part and at the top - yellow-red with thin, exfoliating plates.

How does a coniferous tree grow?

If we talk about how and how much pine grows, it should be noted that the greatest increase in height occurs at the age of thirty. And by eighty years the tree has reached thirty meters.

Most of the pine trees are fast growing. At the age of 5 to 10 years they grow annually from 30 to 60 centimeters. Then the annual growth can reach one meter under favorable conditions. Further, from 30 to 50 years, the pine not so much grows in height, how much the thickness of its trunk increases. So, how much does the pine grow? Coniferous trees are long-lived. On average, they live from 150 to 300 years. Is not it impressive figures?

Pine Crown

The shape of the pine crown in the forest depends primarily on age. The young tree has the shape of a cone. Then it gradually changes and becomes umbelliform to old age.

Typically, the branches on the tree are arranged in tiers. On each of them, on one level, four to five branches diverge in the sides. These are the so-called whorls. And every year new ones are formed. However, age by this principle can not be determined, except that only in young plants, because the old, as a rule, lower tiers die and turn into boughs.

Growing pine

The Chinese legend says that the pine is a magic tree that drives away trouble and brings people happiness. Therefore, planting it near the shelter symbolizes longevity and well-being. And do not be afraid of the size of the tree, because there are tall pine trees, and there are decorative, dwarf forms. If you want, you can choose the right option.

Planting a Pine Tree

When choosing seedlings, you need to pay attention to what the root system of the pines looks like, whether it is damaged, whether there is an earth clod. All this is very important. After the transplantation of pine is a stress for the plant itself. The less damage, the easier and faster the tree will survive. We want to emphasize that the seedling should not be older than five years. The adult plant is better to be transplanted in winter with a clod of earth.

In general, there are two periods when you can plant coniferous plants:

• Spring - April-May.
• Early autumn is August-September.

How is the transplantation of pine? First of all, a hole is prepared up to a meter deep. If you are sure that the soil on your site is heavy, then before planting it is better to make a drain, pouring on the very bottom of the gravel and sand (the thickness of the layer should be 20 cm). It is recommended to fill the landing pit with a fertile mixture of sod land with sand, adding nitroammophoska. With acidic soil, 200 grams of hydrated lime should be added.

When transplanting it is important not to damage the roots of pine. The depth of planting should be such that the root neck is above the ground level. If you plan to plant not one plant, but a whole group, then between trees you should maintain the correct distance. Here it is necessary to consider the size of future trees. If it is a large pine, then the distance should be large, if these are dwarf plants, then you can reduce the distance. On average, between the coniferous trees provide a distance of one and a half meters and up to four. With the correct planting, the pine quickly heals and does not get sick. Most young seedlings tolerate a transplant quite calmly. But with age, this process becomes more painful.

How to care for the pine?

Pine is a beautiful coniferous tree. In addition to beauty, its indispensable dignity is unpretentiousness. And this means that the tree does not need strong care. However, in the first two years after transplantation, it makes sense to make fertilizers. In the future, fertilization can not be produced. The fallen pine need never be removed, it forms under the tree a litter. It will accumulate organic nutrition, which is necessary for normal growth.

Pines are drought-resistant trees, and therefore do not need watering. Only young plants and young trees need to be hydrated. But conifers do not like waterlogging. Even water resistant varieties endure two or three watering per season. Adult plants do not need watering at all. They well tolerate not only the summer heat, but also the winter cold. Young plants can suffer from scorching sun rays. To prevent such trouble, they are covered with lapnik or pritenyayut. The shelter can be removed in mid-April.

Features of reproduction

Pines can be grown from seeds, but decorative forms are obtained by vaccination. The plants do not reproduce with cuttings. To get seeds from cones, you just need to dry them properly, for example, on a battery. Soon the buds will crackle and open. Seeds can easily be obtained. They are sown in small boxes. At the bottom put drainage, on top of it pour a loose mixture of sand and peat, sprinkling with a layer of earth, and pour water. The depth of planting of seeds is 5-10 millimeters.

Pine seedlings are recommended for growing on sandy loams and light-clay soils. Seed sowing is done, as a rule, in the spring, although it is possible in the autumn. Crops recommend mulching. In three weeks, the first shoots should appear. Seedlings in the open ground are grown up to three years, and then transplanted to a permanent place. While the tree is not yet quite large, there is less risk that the root system of the pines will be damaged during transplantation.

There is also a technique for growing seedlings in greenhouse conditions for two years. Those who are familiar with the grafting system can try to propagate the tree in this way. For this, cuttings are taken from a gain of one to three years. As a rootstock, trees of four or five years old are used. All needles need to be removed, leaving it only near the kidney located above the rootstock. The graft is done in the spring, before the buds are bloated. You can also try to do this in the beginning of summer. If vaccination is done in the spring, then use the last year's escape, and if in the summer, then take the escape of the current year.

Formation of tree crown

Pines, as a rule, do not need a haircut. However, with its help, you can pause, or rather slow down the growth of the plant, making its crown more dense. To do this, you do not even need any special tools, you just need to break a third of the young growth with your fingers.

In general, with simple tricks from pine it is quite possible to make a garden bonsai or just a pretty miniature tree. Very popular umbelliferous haircut pine. If you really set out to grow bonsai, you need to ensure that it does not lose its decorative form. He needs special pruning shoots once a year. An adult shaped bonsai shear with garden scissors. A young plant does not yet have a densely formed crown. Therefore, each shoot is cut out separately. Coniferous shear from the end of May and almost until the end of June. The best time is the period when the needles have not yet blossomed.

Pests of coniferous plants

Although pine and unpretentious plants, however, even they are affected by some diseases. Conventionally, they can be divided into infectious and non-infectious. The latter diseases are caused by unfavorable conditions. This may be a lack of lighting, poor soil, excessive moisture.

Infectious diseases are caused by bacteria, fungi, viruses, all sorts of worms and parasites. The most dangerous are fungal diseases. The source of infection can become the coniferous litter itself, because it accumulates a mass of viruses and fungi. They are dangerous because they grow in the dead tissues of the tree, secrete toxins, as a result of which the tree dies away.

Pine may also be affected by pests. Often plants suffer from a scab. At the same time, pine needles fall. It is extremely difficult to fight such parasites, it is better to spray them with chemicals when the larvae exit. A subcortical bug is also common. Rust pines cause fungi, which affect the needles. The disease manifests itself in early spring when yellow-orange spots appear on the greenery, which causes further yellowing of the needles.

However, with proper care and timely processing of special preparations with all pests can be handled in a very short time. Basically pine is a wonderful and rather unpretentious plant, always pleasing to the eye with its unusual pristine beauty. Knowing some of the nuances of proper care, you can easily grow such a wonderful tree on your site.